Preparació de l'entorn de treball

Introduction

This research is guided by John Berry’s theory of acculturation. Berry’s theory of acculturation is elaborated in a series of publications dating from the 1970s. According to Ward (2008), Berry’s work on acculturation has set the pace in organizing and synthesizing research and theory on acculturation and in modeling and crafting frameworks for processes of

acculturation (p. 105-06). The main concern of this theory is: “How do people raised in a different cultural context manage to adapt to a new context that affects them?” (Berry and Sam 1997). Berry and Sam (1997) highlight numerous factors that usually lead to the above cultural shifts or changes (acculturation) including immigration and colonization.

Conceptualizing Acculturation

Acculturation is conceived as a group and individual-level phenomenon (Berry 1992). At the individual level, acculturation refers to “a change in the psychology of the individual” (Berry and Sam 1997; Berry 1992, 1997). Changes that occur in the individual’s psychology like changes in attitudes, values, abilities and motives are called behavioral shifts. At the cultural level, there is a need to understand “[k]ey features of the two original cultural groups…prior to their contact, the nature of their contact relationships, and the resulting cultural changes in both groups and in the emergent ethnocultural groups, during the process of acculturation” (Berry 2006:289).

Berry further notes that “At the individual level…we need to consider the psychological changes that individuals in all groups undergo, and their eventual adaptation to their new

eating or dressing,” or “problematic” but still psychological and stressful norms that produce “uncertainty, anxiety, and depression” (Berry 2006:289). Berryconceives of these changes as

acculturative stress (Berry 2005:708).

The concept of behavioral shifts is associated with other concepts like culture learning and culture shedding (Berry 1992, 1997). Shifts in behavior involve acquiring or learning new behaviors (culture learning) or unlearning those already acquired in the immigrant’s culture (culture shedding). According to Berry (2005:707), these changes are non-problematic. But, although Berry and others conceive of individual acculturation as a psychological phenomenon, clearly it goes beyond this. To view culture learning and shedding as a narrow psychological process ignores the social aspects of “culture” and of “learning” or even “unlearning.”

The above concepts are important insofar as the strategies of acculturation (see strategies below) pursued by acculturating individuals are concerned. Apart from the strategy of separation where an individual rejects the host culture and sticks to his own, all strategies involve some degree of culture learning and shedding. In regards to this research, the above concepts (culture learning and shedding) were the basis for investigating aspects of the host (Brookings) culture that participants had adapted to.

According to Yue and Le (2012), culture learning focuses on “intercultural contact and regards social interaction as a mutually organized and skilled behavioral performance” (p.137). It is concerned about the new comers’ intercultural competence, ability to communicate and

knowledge of the host society. At the same time culture learning addresses whether the individual seeks or is seeking knowledge about the host culture, which then subsumes the

person’s competence in his or her own culture’s communication and knowledge (Ward, Bochner, and Furnham, 2001).

In contrast, acculturative stress is a type of stress whereby stressors (e.g. anxiety, depression, feeling marginalized and alienated) are rooted in the process of acculturation. Acculturative stress involves conflict and results in new forms of behavior and poor adaptation (e.g. poor health, identity confusion, problems in school and work) (Berry 1992, 2005).

The central idea revolves around the question of how to acculturate (Berry and Sam 1997). In other words, acculturating groups and, for that matter, individuals are faced with a choice. Berry presents this choice as a dilemma. Acculturating individuals ponder two issues: “cultural maintenance (to what extent are cultural identity and characteristics considered

important by individuals, and their maintenance strived for) and contact and participation (to what extent should individuals become involved in other cultural groups, or remain primarily among themselves)” (Berry 1997:9, 1970; Yue and Le 2012). Berry (2006: 290) however notes that the above questions are “relative preference(s);” individuals may or may not take any of the choices7_.

Following from the above, acculturation is a bi-dimensional phenomenon (Yue and Le 2012) composed of attitudes and behaviors practiced in everyday interaction (emphasis original- Berry 2006). According to Berry (2005), attitudes constitute “an individual’s preference about how to acculturate”; behaviors are “a person’s actual activities exhibited in day-to-day

intercultural encounters” (p.704). This distinction is crucial as far as this research is concerned. Not only did the research investigate the choices spouses of international students make about how to acculturate (i.e. their attitudes) it also explored the activities through which they go about it.

7 _{This observation is important in particular because it reflects the four strategies that emerge out of the}

choices made by individuals in regard to the two dilemmas. But the question that remains is whether individuals really ponder these issues at all.

Strategies of Acculturation

Berry (1992, 1997, 2005, 2006), and Berry and Sam (1997) identified four strategies of acculturation: integration; assimilation; marginalization; and separation. These strategies stem from the above two issues/dilemmas, that is, to maintain one’s culture or to participate in the host culture. Integration is adopted when individuals value both their cultural identity and want to maintain it, and interact with the host cultures. On the other hand, assimilation occurs when the acculturating individual engages in day-to-day interactions with the host culture, but is not inclined to hang on to his or her culture. When the individual disdains interacting with the host culture but is more interested in his/culture, the strategy is called separation. Finally, the strategy of marginalization is defined when the individual has no or little interest in maintaining his culture,8 _{and also has little interest in interacting with his hosts (Berry 2006: 290-91). These}

strategies are illustrated in the model below:

Figure 3.1: Strategies of Acculturation of Non-Dominant Groups

Adapted from Berry (2006:291)

8 _{According to Berry (2006:291) this might arise from “enforced cultural loss.”}