Monday, Nov 13 - Racism and culture

Acculturation is the modification of the culture of a group or individual as a result of contact with a different culture. The term originally applied only to the process concerning a foreign culture, from the acculturing or accultured recipient point of view, having this foreign culture added and mixed with that of his or her already existing one acquired since birth. Acculturation is the exchange of cultural features which result when groups come into continuous firsthand contact. Either or both groups of the original cultural patterns may be changed a bit, but the groups remain distinct overall. Differs from diffusion and can be voluntary or forced. It is a second mechanism of cultural change. Acculturation involves different levels of destruction, survival, domination, resistance, modification, and adaptation of native cultures following interethnic contact.Traditional conceptualizations of acculturation have take a unidimensional approach contending that individuals must lose cultural characteristic to gain characteristics from other cultural groups for cultural and social adaptation. Contemporary conceptualizations take a multidimensional approach that place both cultures on different continuums indicating an individual's ability to maintain their culture of origin while adopting characteristics from other groups deemed appropriate for cultural adaptation (Berry, 2003;Conceptual approaches to acculturation from Acculturation: Advances in theory, measurement, and applied research by Chun, Balls Organista, and Marin). Berry conceptualizes acculturation as occurring in strategies (assimilation, marginalization, separation, and integration) where individuals make determinations about maintaining cultural characteristics and the amount of contact needed with dominant group members to obtain a suitable means of adaptation. Research on the topic of acculturation has indicated that individuals unable to reconcile these cultural changes often experience acculturative stress resulting in reduced mental health outcomes among some groups(Berry, 2003; Burnam,Hough, Karno, Escobar, & Telles, 1987; Hovey, 2000). [...]

Enculturation is the process whereby an established culture teaches an individual by repetition its accepted norms and values, so that the individual can become an accepted member of the society and find their suitable role. Most importantly, it establishes a context of boundaries and correctness that dictates what is and is not permissible within that society's framework.

It is the process of learning that takes the person and teaches him or her the ways of life of their people or country. It is a life-long process, affecting not only the child, but the adult too. Enculturation is learned through communication in the form of speech, words, and gestures. The six things of culture that are learned are: technological, economic, political, interactive, ideological and world view.

Enculturation is sometimes referred to as acculturation, a word which originally referred only to exchanges of cultural features with foreign cultures. [...]

Cultural assimilation, or 'assimilation' for short (but that word also had other meanings), is an intense process of consistent integration whereby members of an ethno-cultural group, typically immigrants, or other minority groups, are "absorbed" into an established, generally larger community. This presumes a loss of all or many characteristics which make the newcomers different. A region or society where assimilation is occurring is sometimes referred to as a "melting pot." [...]