In addition when seeking to understand how new settlers respond to the parenting changes and challenges introduced by their new environment, there is a need to understand the concept of ‘acculturation’, which is defined as a process whereby individuals or groups from different cultures engage in and experience alterations to their original culture (Berry et al. 2006; Berry 1997). Acculturation also refers to behavioural and psychological changes that occur when different cultures meet, affecting individual behaviour, ethnic identity, attitudes and values, and which often causes stress arising from adjustment to a foreign country (Bemak et al., 2003, Berry, 1997, Berry et al., 2006, Tingvold et al., 2012). It also relates to health and other factors that may be affected by the degree to which people subscribe to and keep their own cultural beliefs, attitudes, and values.
As shown in Table 3.5, acculturation is the process whereby the characters and attitudes of people from one culture are modified due to the presence or impact of another
culture, and is seen as a single continuum ranging from exclusive involvement in a person’s original culture and beliefs to exclusive involvement in the dominant or host culture (Berry, 2003). Such changes sometimes result in acculturative stresses as individuals try to understand the characteristics of the new culture, or try to give up their original culture partially or entirely (Berry, 1997, Berry et al., 2006, Poppitt and Frey, 2007). These require comprehensive coping strategies and/or support to mitigate stress which may include awareness or psycho-education about the impact of stress on families in the settler environment (Poppitt and Frey, 2007). Table 3.5 shows the four categories of acculturation and in what way it impacts on those who are acculturating.
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Table 3.5:Acculturation Categories (Berry, 1997, 2003)
# Category Processes and impacts
1 Assimilation Takes place when individuals adopt the cultural norms of a dominant or host culture over their original culture. 2 Separation Takes place when individuals reject the dominant or host
culture to preserve their culture of origin. Immigration often facilitates the creation of ethnic enclaves.
3 Integration Takes place when individuals can adapt to the cultural norms of the dominant or host culture while preserving an aspect of their original culture. This process is often synonymous with
biculturalism.
4 Marginalisation Takes place when individuals reject both original and dominant host cultures.
Berry’s concept of acculturation includes potential influences (including demographic variables such as education, age, marital status, gender), personality characteristics, and motivations as well as socio-cognitive factors (Berry, 1997). However, there have been limited efforts to analyse how such factors relate to acculturative stress. Such an analysis should include observed integrative representations which consider those variables and then evaluate causal linkages among them.Nevertheless, Berry et al.’s (2006) work examined how immigrant youth adapts and acculturates, with results similar to the above categories of acculturation. Berry et al.'s (2006) four distinct acculturation profiles are:
• Integration (oriented towards both original heritage and new national culture); • Ethnic (oriented toward original culture only);
• National (oriented toward new national culture only); and • Diffuse (orientation is ambivalent or marginalised).
The authors evaluate these categories against psychological and socio-cultural adaptation and suggest that migrants who adopt an integration strategy have the best psychological and socio-cultural outcomes. Those with diffuse profiles have the worst outcomes while those with ethnic and national profiles fall in between. Their research stressed the significance of encouraging youth to uphold a sense of their heritage and cultural identity, while establishing close ties with the wider society.
Poppit and Frey (2007) studied South Sudanese adolescents in Brisbane and confirmed that health and behaviours of immigrants are often affected by acculturation.
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Acculturative pressures within a family arise after young immigrants start going to school as they experience more rapid acculturation than their parents, mainly to carry out their daily classroom activities and from other social interactions with their peers (Poppitt and Frey, 2007, Deng and Marlowe, 2013). During these acculturation processes, most young people are faced with conflicting beliefs and attitudes that generate disparities between their original and later cultures, putting them at odds with their parents. Research has indicated that many refugee families are not properly
supported or prepared to deal with their new daily challenges, which many host cultures are familiar with and sufficiently well-resourced to overcome (Dunlavy, 2010, Renzaho et al., 2011). This indicates that successful resettlement not only involves moving from the immediate challenges of finding accommodation and work, but also adapting to unfamiliar systems, customs and becoming active participants in the social, economic and cultural affairs of the new country (Tribe, 1999).
Changes in the family and differences in educational levels and language skills can generate considerable intergenerational gaps as children acquire the new language and knowledge about their new environment more quickly than their parents (Khawaja and Milner, 2012). The impasse created when children start embracing some of the values of the dominant culture that contrast with their parents’ beliefs can lead to tension and conflict. The children may find themselves caught in the middle as they attempt to accommodate both their parents and the new culture (Deng and Pienaar, 2011, Khawaja and Milner, 2012). This can create a profound identity crisis because of uncertainties about conflicting perspectives, loyalties and expectations (Deng and Marlowe, 2013, Khawaja and Milner, 2012).
As the autonomy of young people increases within their new social environment, so arguments and conflicts between parents and their children escalate. These arguments may be about autonomy and freedom, household chores, selection of appropriate friends, homework and care for siblings (McMichael et al., 2011, Milner and Khawaja, 2010). The difficulties stemming from these tensions normally highlight the fracture and breakdown of the family as an entity, and the support these youngsters receive from their parents may diminish. For instance, some young people get into financial
difficulties and exhibit antisocial behaviour because of these intergenerational tensions (McMichael et al., 2011). According to McMichael et al.; unfortunately, these conflicts
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may sometimes explode into physical abuse and violence within families. This underscores the need to understand the impact of the challenges faced by settler families.
Acculturation and cross-culture experiences thus involve variable interactions that comprise the youngsters' perceptions of both child-inclusive families and stress. Sanders (2002) stated that Australian-Sudanese families normally live together, and in such units the acculturation process affects the adolescents' appraisal of their adult’s character. Sanders suggested that the involvement and the control of parents can be understood differently by the youths and, at times, stresses them. Parental guidance is a paradox in the acculturation context; it results in acculturation stress but may also give a sense of security and ethnic belonging. The study revealed that the changes in culture impacted negatively on the lives and behaviour of the young Sudanese (Sanders, 2002, Sanders, 2008). Children who attend learning or similar institutions immediately after arriving in Australia experience quicker acculturation than their parents, who take longer to adapt and to learn English. The association with other students or peers also sped up the process. The study results also showed that females experienced more acculturation stress than males due to the gender constraints within the family.
3.6 Settlement and integration challenges