Acculturation
Alessandra Lo Piccolo and Viviana La Rosa

University of Enna “Kore”

The term acculturation describes a process of bi-directional change that takes place when two different ethnic groups come into direct contact. Although this concept stems from anthropology, it may be understood in various ways. We propose a psycho-social and evolutionary analysis of this concept, to adapt it to the objectives of the RE-SERVES project and the inclusion of foreign minors.
On an evolutionary level, therefore, acculturation may leverage two specific components: assimilation (a strategy second-generation minors sometimes adopt), when the person or group fully adheres to the behavioral and value patterns of the host country and wholly or partially rejects their own culture of origin; or separation (often characterizing newcomers), when people decide to maintain the link with their culture of origin, placing themselves in a position that is “distant” from the host culture (Berry, 2001).
According to Berry (2001), the process of acculturation passes through assimilation (when a person makes initial contact with the new culture) and separation (when the person experiences low levels of contact and affinity with the host culture) as it moves along a continuum, with integration on one end and marginalization on the other. Integration occurs when the person develops an adequate web of relationships with the host society while also maintaining his or her own cultural practices; marginalization, on the other hand, is characterized by a total or almost total absence of interaction or exchange with the host culture.
In the literature, some authors outline different forms of acculturation:

• consonant: i.e. the path of migrants who “assimilate”, abandoning the traditions and customs of their country of origin to embrace those of the host society;
• dissonant: e.g., when sons and daughters experience the process of acculturation suddenly, refusing to maintain cultural ties with their parents’ culture of origin;
• selective: when the process of entering into a new context does not conflict with maintaining ties with and finding identity-oriented mileposts in his or her culture of origin (Portes & Rumbaut, 2005).

Gordon (1964, 1978) has likewise examined the process of acculturation and identified different ways in which the host culture assimilates: ‘structural assimilation’ and ‘cultural assimilation’. The former refers to a high level of contact and participation with and in the host culture, while the latter refers to a lower level of maintaining the culture of origin. According to the author, the outcome of integration comes about when a person displays both forms of assimilation.
Berry (2001), moreover, outlines acculturation as a multi-path and interactive process that affects the behavior, objectives and outcomes of the foreigner newly arrived in the host context. In this complex framework, acculturation refers to the extrinsic and intrinsic types of social change that may take place in behaviors, attitudes, value systems, and personal and cultural identity when these elements are necessarily negotiated, reinterpreted and reconstructed between the ingroup and the outgroup. The members of both cultural groups are involved in this process and, in reciprocally influencing each other, they enact acculturation strategies resulting from a combination of the desire to maintain their own culture and the desire to relate, to connect with the culture of the host society. However, acculturation is a concept used across the board by all the actors in the social services and educational scene.
Indeed, the RE-SERVES project employs the theoretical models mentioned above to analyze this concept precisely in relation to unaccompanied foreign minors in order to chart their arrival process in psychological and educational terms and to structure pathways for their inclusion.

Selected references

Berry, J. W. (2001). A psychology of immigration. Journal of social issues, 57(3), 615-631.

Gordon, M. (1964). Assimilation in American life. Oxford University Press.

Gordon, M. (1978). Human nature, class, and ethnicity. Oxford University Press.

Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2005). Introduction: The second generation and the children of immigrants longitudinal study. Ethnic and RacialStudies, 28(6), 983-999.