Migration settlement, Acculturation and Cultural pluralism

This essay gives an in-depth analysis of migration and way people are treated and feel when they enter host country. It explains how people entering new country face cultural shocks and acculturation. It also explain that they mostly get mixed responses from people at one side they are welcomed but on the other side they are discriminated based of culture or race (Murray 1895). Only 3 percent of total world population is migrants but still there are major impacts and hence there is great importance of this issue. Economics effects vary some may be positive and yet others are negative. Although percentage is low but still issue is not migration but integration, which must be present for smooth survival of immigrants without harming host country.

Murray (1895) argue that any resettlement program for different people should include concerns of people, as they are from diverse backgrounds and have gone through period of hardships and sufferings. Particularly refugees who enter new country have faced problems in past and there must be appropriate programs that include all the concerns. Different countries have different policies and programs for refugee resettlement, these differences give different experiences to people entering the host country. He discussed experiences of people from Sudan who settled in Australia and further explained that although they initially faced positive and welcoming attitude which assisted them to settle in new country. However on the other hand they were discriminated from rest of people. He also explained that United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2007 regarded 67 million people as concerned people and they suffered from harassment. The participants explained different responses as regard to discrimination that they faced in Australia. Some people claimed that they faced huge discriminations in the host country and remaining some people claimed that they never faced issues and Australians were welcoming. Most of the people claimed that they were welcomed into the country and also said that people were friendly and helping. However there were many negative influences faced by other people, as government resettlement programs negatively affected many participants. Hence overall there were mixed feelings people welcome them but refugees are also discriminated.  Asylum seekers face much more problems and hardships as they enter new country without proper documentation (Davidson et al., 2008). Cultual shock is the state in which a person feel disorientation when he faces an unfamiliar way of life, it basically occurs as a result of immigration or while visiting any new country with which visitor is not familiar.  It is about moving between different social environments. These shocks occur because of information overload that a person suffers when entering new country and faces various issues including language barrier, discrimination, homesickness and much more. Migration from global south to global north may or may not increase inequality as there are varying views of different scholars; we look at it from two perspectives in the host country and in the sending country. In the host country inequality does not increase in relation to Gini Coefficient. Moreover immigrants get higher wages without effecting local labor market (Lauri Peterson 2013).

Lauri Peterson (2013) claims that on the other hand the sending country experiences brain drain, by sending educated people abroad and hence faces inequalities.

Hart and Maiden (2007) argued that some people do not settle and face adjustment issues. There are huge cultural differences among Sudan and Australia, hence people face problems and as a result number of refugees entering the country is decreasing with the passage of time.  Ager and Strang (2008) explained that host countries develop customized programs to resettle people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Different people have different believes about migration and multiculturalism hence customized programs are established.

Bhatia and Rarn (2000) claim that acculturation and migrant identity are very important concepts that must be dealt carefully as about twenty percent of children in United States of America is immigrant and for their appropriate human development these concepts must be given attention. Human development is not possible without giving proper attention to acculturation Hernandez (1999). With increasing globalization, might immigration, creation of multinationals and massive border crossing acculturation is becoming very complex and need special attention. It is no more about moving from one place to another but it is more about mixing with other cultures and settling there. In the past scholars have worked to show identity issues faced by immigrants, however this issue is much more complex Hermans and Kempen (1998).

Berry (1998) studied acculturation and stress related to it, he argued that stress is attached with acculturation that people often face when migrating from their own country to another host country. Integration is critically important in acculturation which gives positive feelings to immigrants. By integration we mean preserving your own home culture and then also actively adopting new countries culture an adopting it, hence it is about maintaining your own identity and also adopting other culture to survive comfortably. Integration involves a concept which is universality. According to Berry there are substantial variations in different cultures and hence people face acculturation issues. These issues are common for all the people involved here and face similar psychological stress and tension. Since everyone faces similar issues they should be treated by considering concept of universality. Berry preserve that psychological processes such as ‘behavioral shifts’, ‘culture shedding’, ‘culture shock’, and ‘acculturative stress’ are also experienced in varying degrees by an individual undergoing acculturation. Overall this issue needs to be considered for proper human development. Social identity theory claims that social identity is a person’s own self concept about himself and his life. Social identity explains how people react and further explain people’s behavior while sitting in a group. It best describes behavior of people and perceived differences among various people. It basically means that people consider their group as superior to others and think others are below them. Hence there is a strong relationship between social identity and self esteem of members of the group. Migration does also bring about social transformation in the receiving country both in Australia and Globally. Castles (2008) argue that migration brings about social changes in different social disciplines that impact even local bodies, these changes include all basic social changes. Like there is labor force changes in the receiving country as explained in his paper.

 

Cultural capital is basically a sociological concept. It was used to explain “Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction”. In this he explained outcomes of various children in France and cultural capital acts as a social relation within a system of exchange that includes the accumulated cultural knowledge that confers power and status. Dialogical self is another important concept, which is an imaginary picture of oneself in own mind. It is a person’s own perception about his life. Colonialism was establishment of colonies in one part of the world by people living in some other part of the world. People living under colonies were then changed and faced cultural discrimination and even after colonies were removed they still faced issues and problems in lives, although colonies did much work for their success. Oppression is a cruel ruling or it is about treating people in an unjust manner which again caused various cultural issues. Under “Racialization” a group of people is considered as a race rather than as individuals. Citizenship is the type of relationship that occurs between state and the citizens of that state. In some areas there is a very friendly relation but others might face discrimination based on race or culture.

Sonn and Fisher explained theoretical and conceptual framework for immigration and settlement in new country. According to them immigration has been seen in the past throughout the history and in almost each and every society. Huge movements have been seen from one part of the world to another. People migrate due to various reasons and most of the people do it by their own will. Basically immigrants are those who by their own choice move from one country to another. The factors affecting their decision include both pull and push factors, most important is economic incentive. Others like refugees are forced to move by others. Hence people move voluntarily or involuntarily depending upon situation at hand. Socialization help people learn others cultural believe and behaviors.  People are different based on their background and react to situations in different ways. Extensive research has been done about “Acculturation” and it means adopting or adjusting to others culture. Minorities have often faced issues in adjusting and are discriminated (Bhatia and Rarn 2000). Respect for each community is a must and people from different communities must be respected. They further explained that current theories claim that all groups face acculturation in same way, however it varies with their background as like for example East Indians settled in United States but because of their history of colonization they faced many issues and were discriminated by others. Immigrants face challenges in various ways, by looking at it from various dimensions things can be changed. Identity and respect is important and everyone needs to understand its importance. The chapter explained feelings of different people as immigrants to Australia and it showed mixed results. Vulnerable environment created difficult experiences for some however some did not face any serious adjustment problems. Overall interaction between host and original country results into transformation, and both need to arrive at a mutual agreement.

Deaux (2000) claim immigration is an important issue that we are facing now. It is both a social and a political issue that is being faced by everyone and it has severe implications. It has many consequences across a broad geographic and intellectual range. There is free crossing of national boundaries to countries like Britain, America and between France, Italy, Spain and Greece which show that severe issues will arise and this requires attention. Major issue is that many people arrive simultaneously which create tension and stress for host country. People migrate to big countries for many reasons as a result pressure on host countries increase instantly and home country get relaxed. The paper discussed three major issues, first being social comparison and how people compare identity and understand each other, second is about identity and how people choose their identity and finally it discussed how people settle in the new environment. Either and Deaux (1994) explained the term “remooring” which explains how immigrants form and then reform their identity in new country. Migration does also change the concept of citizenship as access to citizenship is becoming difficult with the passage of time; there are several policy changes that has completely changed the idea of citizenship.

Social comparison is primary factor in social identity theory which describes the whole process through which individuals understand importance of their group relative to other groups in their surroundings  their own group is regarded s in-group and remaining other groups are regarded as out-group (Tajfel 1981). The extent to which in-group gets a favorable position, self esteem of members increase. Out group however is selected by their own will, to which they can compare themselves. Social comparison is always present among countries and even within country among various provinces or cities. As Triandafyllidou explains how social comparison is present within countries. Many examples were discussed by her like in Italy for example there was distinction between people living in northern and southern parts. Similarly there is tendency among people from northern areas to maintain intergroup distance. Moreover she explained Italian state as an out group for people living in the country. Similar examples were given for Greece, where situation is complex but in a different way. The Greek in group is considered same and immigrants are discriminated and considered different. Moving on still other factors are the reason for it as Philogene (1999) claim that color and label are the reasons which make people distinct from each other and are reason for discrimination of people by others. Color is a major factor as Tropp and Wright (1999) conducted an experiment in which two black groups were independently experimented and revealed that both felt deprived compared to Whites. The results showed that both groups had a perception of being discriminated on the basis of their color. Overall the essays explain various concepts that can be used to improve the current situation at hand.

References

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Bhatia,S. and Rarn, A. (2000). Rethinking ‘Acculturation’ in Relation to Diasporic Cultures and Postcolonial Identities. Human Development, 44:1-18.

Castles, S., (2008) Understanding Global Migration: A Social Transformation Perspective.

Davidson, G.R., Murray, K.E., & Schweitzer, R.D. (2008). Review of refugee mental health and wellbeing: Australian perspectives. Australian Psychologist, 43, 160–174.

Deaux, K., (2000), Surveying the Landscape of Immigration: Social Psychological Perspectives. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 10:421-431.

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