Culture Shock

The “Dis-ease” of Culture Shock

At one time, culture shock was considered a negative consequence of culture contact, with some suggesting that it was a sign of mental instability. That orientation to culture shock was debunked in the late 1960s when large groups of certifiably sane young Peace Corps volunteers arrived in villages throughout the world and promptly experienced the stress of something they were told was culture shock. The fact that volunteers were carefully screened, substantially assessed, and still seemed to react to their new cultural isolation suggested to many observers that it was not merely the hopelessly neurotic voyager who found sojourning challenging. While culture shock may be dis-ease, it is not a disease.

Stage Models of Culture Shock

During the 1960s and 1970s, many writers attempted to develop stage theories about culture shock, describing various symptoms and attitude transformations that occurred sequentially. [Page 647]A number of them described a U-curve model, moving from the high point of arrival through the low point of culture shock and ascending in anticipation of the return home. A few authors added a second curve, sometimes called the W-curve, creating a similar dip upon arrival home, when the individual may experience reentry shock, often described as the more distressing of the two reactions.

Most of the stage theories described the early phase after arrival to a new culture as a pleasant state of curiosity and anticipation when hosts require little of the visitor, and the visitor in turn knows little of the culture. As an outsider, the individual may not even recognize problems as they occur and therefore feels no need to resolve them. People may experience “culture surprise,” which occurs when they first arrive in an unfamiliar culture and begin observing superficial differences. The surprise relates to what they see, such as observing religious rituals, touching behaviors, or even different toilets.

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