Entangled identities and acculturation: Comparing majority and minority adolescents’ multiple identity profiles in Belgium

This study considers recent criticism levelled at Berry’s acculturation model by (1) taking into account more complex expressions of belonging and by (2) testing the importance of regionalism (or the distinction between national and regional (/subnational) contexts) in understanding acculturation patterns. Data of the School, Identity and Society-survey, which contains information on 3510 adolescents from 64 schools selected from the three regions is employed to test specific hypotheses for the Belgian case. Three multiple identity profiles are selected for adolescents from migrant families, and four multiple identity profiles for adolescents from non-migrant families. The findings show that multiple identification for adolescents from migrant families is more often a conflicting than integrated experience. This incompatibility is not present for adolescents from non-migrant families. Small but meaningful variations of these multiple identity profiles occur among the three regions. In Brussels adolescents have a higher chance to be in the integrated identity profile.     

Idealization,Inspiration, Irony: Popular Communication Tastes and Practices in the Individual Political Development of Generation X'ers

Using a theoretical frame of cultural studies and social constructivism, I analyze data collected from 15 Americans born between 1965 and 1978-"Generation X'ers"-about how they remember and understand the significance of their popular communication tastes and practices for their political socialization, or what I choose to call individual political development. This study finds that these tastes and practices have had quasi-intentional, functional importance for individual political development in this generation, importance best described as media "uses and effects." While also theorizing about the implications of the postmodern era in which "Generation X'ers" and others have lived, this work speaks to the importance of incorporating individual developmental processes and meaning-making into work on the political implications of mass media and popular communication.     

Adept through adaptation: Third culture individuals’ interpersonal sensitivity

This study evaluated the interpersonal sensitivity of third culture individuals, defined as people who lived in a country other than that of their nationality during their developmental years, by comparing them to mono-cultured individuals. While the notion that third culture individuals develop enhanced perceptual skills as a result of intercultural adaptation is widely accepted in popular and professional literature, this assertion has not been empirically tested. Previous research on intercultural communication competence and adaptation has almost exclusively focused on intercultural exposure among adults. This study collected data from 142 individuals using web-based surveys. The instruments measured two aspects of participants’ interpersonal sensitivity: social and emotional sensitivity. Results showed that third culture individuals have significantly higher social sensitivity than mono-cultured individuals, while mono-cultured individuals reported higher emotional sensitivity. Additionally, no significant correlation was found between greater intercultural experience and increased interpersonal sensitivity.     

Social capital and the well-being of migrants to Australia: Exploring the role of generalised trust and social network resources

Few studies have explored the role of social capital in migrant well-being. This is important to examine, as changes in social capital are often expected following migration. The present study, using standardised measures, investigated the relationships of two components of social capital – generalised trust and network resources – with two dimensions of well-being – flourishing and psychological distress – among 1036 Australian migrants. Participants completed a national online survey and were from four different cultural backgrounds (Anglo, Other European, Indian, Chinese). Compared to the Anglo group, the Indian group was found to have lower levels of both generalised trust and network resources. The Chinese group had lower levels of generalised trust but similar levels of network resources. Multiple regression analyses found higher generalised trust was linked to higher flourishing and lower psychological distress for all groups. For network resources, however, all groups had an association with higher flourishing, except for the Other European group, while the only group with an association with lower psychological distress and network resources was the Chinese group. These results suggest that generalised trust has some positive implications for migrant well-being, consistent with previous research. This study also suggests that the role of network resources in psychological well-being and its development may vary across different groups of migrants and requires further research.     

Kuala Lumpur,July 2005

Abstract

This paper is a study of the impact of the Thai ‘Sixties’ on present day Thai politics, especially that of the ‘Peoples Movement’. In doing so, the study concentrates on looking at the influence of both political ideas and movements and the role of some important political actors from this period. Internationally, the Sixties Movement was characterised by a general rise in the struggle of oppressed groups on a global scale. Central to this struggle was the role of students and a new generation of activists in labour and peasant organisations. This took the form of movements against racism, sexual oppression and especially imperialism. Activists from this period are now to be found playing important roles in political systems throughout the world. However, their present day role is often in contradiction to their original beliefs during the Sixties. In Thailand, the ‘Sixties’ movement has helped to shape both the policies of the present Thai Rak Thai government and the nature of the Peoples Movement. Any understanding of the present Thai political scene has to include an examination of the mass‐movements that continue to struggle for democracy and social justice, together with the nature of various ruling class factions. Thai Rak Thai grew out of a need to deal with the effects of the 1997 Economic Crisis. Its Populist policies reflect a need to balance conflicting class interests in order to buy social peace. Many of the activists within Thai Rak Thai and those within the social movements are people of the October Generation who cut their teeth during the Thai Sixties. Their political beliefs and strategies reflect the events of the last 30 years in different ways. The Thai Sixties will continue to influence Thai politics and society in the years ahead.     

Rethinking the Rural Idyll

ABSTRACT

This article traces the profound social repercussions that resulted from the mass enlistment of British office workers into the armed forces during the First World War. Drawing heavily upon fictionalized autobiographies of the period, my study examines the various stages of the clerk's experience of the conflict and argues that the confidence gained during warfare by surviving office workers fundamentally shaped a more democratic postwar society. This change is evidenced, I argue, in the profile of the fictional clerk that emerges in British literature after 1918.     

Examining the work–life balance of immigrants in Australia: An anomie theory perspective

Against the backdrop of significant migration changes and the predicted further diversification of the workforce, we present the concept of anomie to explain how different sociological and cultural settings influence migrants’ work and family experiences. Anomie refers to the feeling of disorientation and alienation from society caused by a sense of absence of supporting social systems. This article integrates cross-cultural management research into the migration and work–family interface and presents findings from a study of migrants residing in Australia. Through a qualitative methodology using semi-structured interviews and open-ended surveys, our study explored participants’ experiences of social and cultural adaptation orientations and behavioural anomie shifts. The findings and theoretical explanation lend strong support to the understanding that sociological influences and cultural orientation moderate migrants’ experiences. We also present an argument for refining Durkheim’s anomie theory to incorporate strains of social, cultural and behavioural consequences concerning migrants’ work and life experiences across cultures.     

Generalized trust among rural-to-urban migrants in China: Role of relative deprivation and neighborhood context

China has experienced sizeable internal migration in the past several decades. This research examines the implications of internal migration on generalized trust in China. Using data from the 2014 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS), a nationally representative survey, we compared the level of self-rated generalized trust in strangers among Chinese rural-to-urban migrants, rural nonmigrants, and urban nonmigrants. We further assessed the mediating effects of relative deprivation and neighborhood context in the relationship between migration status and generalized trust. The results show that migrants are less trusting than rural and urban nonmigrants after adjusting for relevant sociodemographic characteristics. The mediation analysis suggests that relative deprivation partially explains the difference in generalized trust between migrants and rural nonmigrants, and it greatly mediates the trust gap between migrants and urban nonmigrants. The neighborhood context largely explains the difference in generalized trust between migrants and rural nonmigrants. Moreover, urban nonmigrants are less trusting than migrants when taking neighborhood context into consideration, which indicates a suppression effect of neighborhood context on the relationship between migrant status and social trust in urban China. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of how social trust changes in the process of internal migration. Policy implications are discussed.     

Book Reviews

During the 40-odd years that the Alsatian-born, French-trained artist Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg lived in Britain, he became a triple celebrity. A decade after his migration to Britain in 1771 his achievements as a picturesque landscape artist were celebrated in election to the Royal Academy. During the same period he also worked for David Garrick at Drury Lane theatre as the highest-paid scenographer in Britain. Critics hailed him as a genius for revolutionizing Britain's dull staging traditions along the spectacular and naturalistic lines of France's Giovanni Servandoni. Finally, as the creator in 1781–82 of a pioneering commercial moving picture show, the Eidophusikon, he was acclaimed by leading arbiters of artistic taste such as Reynolds and Gainsborough. Well-heeled West End crowds flocked to performances, and the Eidophusikon was widely imitated in Europe, the United States, and the British colonies.

Yet de Loutherbourg's professional and social standing remained surprisingly fragile. At periodic intervals he was accused publicly of charlatanry, or its British equivalent, quackery. This damaging smear surfaced on each of the three occasions that de Loutherbourg shifted career direction. And though he managed to redeem himself on each occasion, it was only by making serious artistic and professional compromises. In this sense, the spectre of quackery haunted and shaped Philippe de Loutherbourg's British career, making him a fascinating test-case of quackery's shifting valencies at the dawn of the modern industrial age.     

"If only they forgot that I was Syrian and an Arab,I am a human beings too." Syrian university students' experiences of being a foreigner: A phenomenological study

Migration is voluntary or forced relocation of individuals from a familiar physical, social, and cultural environment to an unfamiliar one. While migration is a challenging experience, traumatic experiences that happened before and after migrating may have numerous adverse effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate Syrian nursing students’ experiences of being a foreigner before and after migration and throughout their university lives. Phenomenology, which is a qualitative research design, was used in this study. The study was conducted with 16 Syrian university students’ in Turkey. Data was collected through semi-structured, face-to-face, in-depth interviews. Data was analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis, which yielded four main themes and 19 subthemes. The four themes were traumatic experiences that caused them to migrate, problems after migrating, being a foreigner at a Turkish university, and psychological issues. The results show that migration has numerous physical, social, cultural, and mental effects on human lives.     

Social adjustment and dynamics of segregation in higher education – Scrutinising the role of open-mindedness and empathy

Earlier research has suggested that ethnic minority students have a significantly lower chance of attaining academic success compared to their peers without an ethnic minority background. Numerous research has also illustrated the importance of social capital for being academically successful. In two studies we examine the particular role of interethnic interactions in the social and academic adjustment of students in higher education. We use a Flemish university as a case study. Study 1 (N = 1549) uses mediation analysis, and Study 2 (N = 2479) replicates the first study using SEM (structural equation modelling). We first found that social adjustment is necessary for adjusting academically, and that it has a small, but positive effect on study success. While adjusting socially by interacting with students from other ethnic groups is of little benefit to native Flemish students, the opposite is true for students with a migration background. Furthermore, the more open-minded native students are, the less socially adjusted they tend to be, and they seem to benefit from a more close-minded stance than from open-mindedness in terms of adjusting to the social (and academic) context of a university.     

Moderators of Acculturative Stress in Pakistani Immigrants: The role of Personal and Social Resources

International migration research has focused on the immigrants’ mental and physical health issues with little attention paid to factors that facilitate adjustment. Recently cross-cultural researchers have tended to focus on certain psychological and social moderators of stress that differentiate between migrants perceiving higher stress and those remaining relatively unscathed. The present study examined the moderating impact of coping resources (sense of coherence and perceived social support) and coping strategies (problem-focused and emotion-focused) on the relationship between acculturative stress and psychological well-being (positive functioning and negative health outcomes) in stress-coping model. On a final sample of 308 Pakistani immigrants residing in Greater Toronto Area a series of moderated hierarchical regression analyses were performed separately for positive and negative health outcomes. Results indicated that sense of coherence and perceived social support moderated between acculturative stress and positive functioning (self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, personal growth), and acculturative stress and negative health outcomes (depression, psychosomatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction).The current findings have implications for clinicians, researchers, and policy makers for the identification of resource factors that help to understand the resistant power of growing immigrant population to maintain positive functioning.     

Acculturation and alcohol: Exploring experiences of alcohol for Asian international students in Australia

Acculturation can be a challenging experience for Asian international students moving to Western countries for study. The majority of international students are young adults, a population that has recently entered the legal alcohol purchase age, and who might not be familiar with new regulatory contexts and socio-cultural environments where drinking is common. Informed by theories of acculturative stress, ethno-identity conflict and adaptation, we explored 15 Asian international students’ lived experiences of alcohol in Australia, and the social, cultural and religious contexts within which these experiences were situated. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken, with an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis exploring subjective experiences of alcohol and acculturation processes. Participants articulated numerous and varied experiences of their transitions, however, did not draw connections between stressful transition experiences and subsequent drinking. Most participants reported having increased their drinking since arrival in Australia, and although many participants had adapted to Australian patterns of drinking and socialising, they also reported it was challenging to navigate different cultural and social expectations and values around alcohol that were strongly rooted as a part of their ethnic heritage. Our participants’ experiences may be useful to inform future research on this much under-studied topic, as well as being used by universities to consider appropriate strategies for addressing alcohol-related acculturation processes as part of orientation curriculum with international students.     

When a social worker encounters cultural studies

Abstract

This is a personal narrative, which reflects upon my experiences of encountering cultural studies after attending the Teaching Cultural Studies Workshop. For me, the term ‘cultural studies’ represents something abstract, fancy, and thus difficult to understand, and which intimidates disciplines that emphasize application over theorization, such as social work. However, my fear of cultural studies was overcome in this workshop through the lived experiences of being respected for differences. This personal experience reflects the historical construction of social work within scientific hierarchy, so that the relevance of cultural studies and social work is not recognized by social workers. Despite the often difficult‐to‐understand style, cultural studies does provide important venues for social workers to obtain qualitative understanding of an individual's problems and crises within a social context, which is crucial to effect strategies of resistance among vulnerable populations.     

Migration change model: Exploring the process of migration on a psychological level

There have been many studies into how acculturation progresses for migrants upon arrival in their destination. However, outside of studies of forced migration, few researchers have examined the pre-departure period as important for understanding the context of the migration experience. This study was designed to develop a model of the migration experience beginning before migrants leave their country of origin and continuing through the acculturation process. Migration can be viewed as a major change in behavior, particularly when migrants are self-selected. We therefore modified the Stages of Change Model (DiClemente & Prochaska, 1982) into a proposed model of voluntary migration. A thematic analysis was then conducted on a dataset consisting of the posts made to three online migration forums for British migrants to New Zealand. The resulting Migration Change Model incorporates four stages of the migration process: precontemplation, contemplation, action and acculturation as well as a path for return or onward migration. The salient factors for the migrants in each of these stages included: intrapersonal factors and familial connections (precontemplation); macro and micro factors (contemplation); stress and coping (action), and psychological adjustment and sociocultural adaptation (acculturation). More studies that address the pre-departure period as part of a process of migration are needed, particularly for adult migrants who have a wealth of experiences before departing their country of origin.     

Popular Protest Against Hungarian Symbols in Croatia (1883–1903). A Study in Visual History

The article investigates the visual dimension of popular protests in Habsburg Croatia at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century, reconstructing the history of a precise pattern of popular protest, i.e. anti-Hungarian unrests. Furthermore, the article explores the relationships that peasant masses established with some key national symbols, namely the Hungarian and Croatian flag, showing the multiple and contested meaning assigned to them by the members of the elite and the peasants. Second, the article shows how popular reception of these visual symbols changed during the examined period. The main issues addressed are therefore the mass nationalization and politicization of rural population in these regions, raising some general questions related to the symbolic language of social conflict.     

Crossing cultures: Analysing the experiences of NZ returnees from the EU (UK vs. non-UK)

While there is growing scholarly interest in returned and cyclical migration, and on young adult cultural or adventure seeking migration, there is still a lack of systematic empirical insights into how the experiences of being abroad, and after return, are mediated by exposure to different cultural environments. Addressing this conceptual and empirical gap, the paper analyses the experiences of New Zealand return migrants, or sojourners, who lived and worked in European countries (other than the UK) for more than one year and compares them with the experiences of NZ returnees from the UK. Drawing on 20 ‘non-UK’ and 22 ‘UK’ in-depth interviews, the paper revisits [Rhinesmith, 1975] and [Rhinesmith, 1986] typology of cross-cultural, or intercultural, adjustment (largely ignored in studies of return migration) to assess sojourners’ experiences throughout the migration cycle and serve as a useful tool for identifying and reporting psychological and socio-cultural elements in the returnees stories. The findings of sojourners’ possible identity shifts during intercultural transition are discussed with reference to the four-member paradigm of Cultural Identity Model (CIM) (Sussman, 2010) while addressing Sussman's (2002) argument that overseas adaptation and repatriation experiences are not directly associated. This paper demonstrates the need to understand first that the costs and benefits of circular migration or sojourning are country-specific, and that they do not ‘just happen’ at a particular moment or in one phase but are forged through a veritable rollercoaster of experiences of intercultural adjustment.     

Borders and Intersections of Possibility: Multilingual Repertoires of Refugee Families in the Southwest U.S.

This study examines the linguistic and cultural intersections of recently arrived Somali Bantu refugee students in South Texas through the lens of border theory. The use of Spanish in the homes of refugee families is explored in addition to ways in which an educator used testimonios to honor students’ migration experiences. Findings show how specific approaches used in schools that affirm both the receiving communities’ and the new arrivals' local knowledge can have a lasting impact on literacy acquisition and resettlement experiences. Findings from this study also illuminate the potential impact of educators who develop a critical, inquiry stance by embedding multiple entry points for students to cross social, cultural, linguistic, and curricular borders in school.     

Pan-African solidarity in South Africa: An empirical public opinion analysis

Social cohesion issues, such as xenophobia and racism, are major societal challenges for South Africa. What can be put forward to address these challenges? By drawing together separate threads of literature from Pan-Africanism and common ingroup identities, the study puts forward the Pan-African Solidarity thesis: low levels of supranational identification with Africa undermines social cohesion in South Africa and low supranational identifications are caused by local ideational/socio-psychological factors as well as cluing from political elites. This thesis is unique, mass identifications with Africa are understudied and little is known about how people in the country identify with the continent. In order to validate this Pan-African Solidarity thesis, the article will answer three important questions: (i) are mass identifications with Africa in South Africa low?; (ii) are attachment to an African identity associated with anti-minority views?; and (iii) what is driving mass identifications with Africa? An IPSOS funded attitudinal dataset fielded in four of the country’s nine provinces was used to answer these questions. Results provide empirical support for the Pan-African Solidarity thesis and found that a continental identity was related to intolerance of different outgroups (e.g., racial minorities, refugees and cross-border migrants). This is consistent with the expectations of the Common Ingroup Identity Model. But the study also makes original contributions to the literature, finding that the formation of continental identifications is informed by South Africa’s history of white settler colonialism. Cross-border contact, retrospective sociotropic evaluations, pro-black sentiment and trust in national elites were identified as determinants of citizens' identification with Africa.     

Cross-cultural homestays: An analysis of college students' responses after living in an unfamiliar culture

The purpose of the present exploratory study was to Jnvestigate the effects of the Johnston College cross-cultural homestay program upon student attitudes and health. During the four years of the program. 59 students lived fora period of one month in unfamiliar cultures in the Southwest and Mexico. Subjects for this study were 45 undergraduate students with a median age of 19 who came from relatively affluent family backgrounds. A one-group protest, posttest design was used employing five instruments. Participating students resembled, in most respects, other Johnston College students. It was concluded that the experience was more unsettling for the men students than it was for the women students. Future research was recommended to determine the extent to which there are sex differences in cross-cultural adaption.