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The article responds to a proposal on de-assimilation and argues that the concept of assimilation is complex and that the label of de-assimilation is applied too broadly. It suggests that assimilation does not always mean a complete break with one's previous culture and questions whether the interest in Jewish culture in Poland is truly de-assimilation or simply a manifestation of what was always there. The article concludes that de-assimilation should not be assumed for all people of Jewish descent and that the changes seen in Poland involve creating new minority communities rather than breaking ties with the majority society. The text also emphasizes the need for comprehensive research on the topic, including the impact of identity changes on individuals and communities. [Extracted from the article]

This article critically examines Krajewski's (in this issue of Contemp Jewry) argument about the assimilation and subsequent de-assimilation of the Jewish population in Poland. While Krajewski asserts that Polish Jews underwent a process of assimilation followed by a revival of their cultural and religious practices, the authors argue that the term "de-assimilation" is not applicable in this context. They propose that post-war Polish Jews consciously chose to embrace a secular identity rather than a religious one, keeping their Jewish life private. This secular identity, characterized by interests in secular Jewish culture, learning, and social justice, as well as maintaining specific distinctive habits, remained dominant even after 1989. The authors also compare this process to the experiences of Spanish and Portuguese conversos, who returned to Judaism but retained syncretic identities. They emphasize the importance of understanding the complex nature of Jewish identity and involvement, highlighting the significance of secular and cultural practices among Polish Jews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the fields of gender studies and anthropology, this interdisciplinary study analyzes the racist experiences lived by immigrant Latin American women in Spain, which influence the adherence of the subjects to cultural assimilation techniques. Assimilation is an acculturation strategy where individuals reject the culture of origin in an attempt to fully incorporate themselves into the culture of the host society. Rejecting the Latin American culture through practices and discourses is a way of protecting oneself against the systematic racism experienced in the European territory, as well as a way of getting closer to the white privilege of natives. The methodology used has been qualitative through an intersectional analysis with a gender perspective of semi-structured individual interviews carried out with ten Latin American women immigrants in Spain. In conclusion, on one hand, it is verified that the integration discourses produced by the European institutions have been incorporated by the immigrant subjects, often being interpreted as a duty of assimilation or adaptation that would imply the rejection of the culture of origin. On the other hand, it is also recognized that, simultaneously, women put into action multiple processes of agency and empowerment during their migration journeys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immigrant communities have varying degrees of acculturation based on their predispositions for specific cultural norms and their propensity to exhibit similarities in principles, values, and a common lifestyle with dominant racial and ethnic groups. Food metaphors like the Melting Pot and the Salad Bowl theories have illustrated different approaches to integration by explaining the political and power dynamics between dominant and minority groups. Yet, little consideration is given in either theory to existing local contexts that influence the actions of these groups. By combining ethnic identities into homogenous outcomes, food metaphors empower dominant ethnic groups and set the tone for discriminatory legislative policies that eliminate programs aimed at helping minorities. For refugees, this obscures their actual socio-political circumstances and erases their historical experiences. This paper aims to review and critique existing literature about metaphorical homogenous assimilation and integration theories, with experiences from around the world. This paper postulates that using a homogenous common good as the baseline metaphor for assimilation and integration disregards the individual accommodations that need to be made for both dominant and minority communities. These accommodations, although sometimes separate from the collective good, have a significant role in creating conducive environments for diversity and inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines acculturation strategies among second-generation Israeli migrants in the United States as part of their ethnic identity formation process. Utilizing data obtained through semi-structured personal interviews and building on Berry's model (J Soc Issues 57(3):615-631, 2001, Int J Intercult Relat 29(6):697-712, 2005), as well as Cohen's (Int Migr 49(4):1-22, 2011a) expanded typology, it traces four dominant strategies among this group; Those who employed Group Integration (A) and Group Nostalgic Insulation (B) expressed explicitly positive attitudes towards their parents' country of origin as well as co-migrants while those using Individual Integration (C) were equally attached to their homeland and host country cultures. A fourth group subscribed to Assimilation (G), a strategy that entails negative attitudes towards the country of origin and the in-group of migrants but highly positive identification with the host society and culture. Thus, interactions and networks in the host—versus home—society dynamically construct acculturation strategies of second-generation migrants and contribute to the formation of their ethnic identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In line with the broader nationalist advances currently remaking the Western political landscape, the concept of integration has witnessed a marked rehabilitation. Whilst many influential critiques of the sociology of integration are already available, this article contests the concept's renewed purchase through addressing its own internal incoherence. Based on research in Stockholm, this critique concerns the relationship between ethnic identity and cultural integration. It will be argued that integration and the production of difference are intertwined, entangled dualities, and far from being a benign entanglement, this duality is premised on the force and reach of everyday civic racisms. Of pivotal and unique analytical significance here is the observation that racism should not only be considered an exogenous process that impedes integration, but as a multifaceted phenomenon folded into integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the relative effects of acculturation preferences (assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization) on migrants’ perception of acceptability in James Town, a traditional urban neighborhood in Accra, Ghana. There is a paucity of academic work on the relationship between migrants’ acculturation inclinations and their assessment of the hosts’ attitude towards them in Ghana. Cognizant of the fluidity of acculturation strategies, the study focuses on individual inclinations towards acculturation. To examine migrants’ perception of acceptability by the host, we use perceived personal discrimination. We utilize results from a semi-structured questionnaire administered to 301 migrant individuals from different migrant households in James Town. Our findings suggest that migrants with assimilation preferences are less likely to have a higher rating on the extent to which they are discriminated against by the host population. Such an exploratory study is pertinent to understanding relationships (conflicts or “togetherness in difference”) in poor multi-ethnic settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assimilation of migrants is assumed to happen through acculturation, which is depicted as neutral, unintended and invisible. In most accounts the role of social actors is pushed into the background, and the conditions that shape and determine the direction of the acculturation are ignored. A further critique of the acculturation concept is that the content of the conveyed culture is not disclosed nor are the outcomes hinted at. We argue that the concept of norm images redresses these criticisms by eliciting the cultural content and specifying the role of actors, that is, professionals, in the conveyance of culture. Using the example of the Amsterdam police force, we demonstrate that police officers impose crucial elements of the Dutch nationalistic discourse, specifically language and loyalty, on migrant citizens and migrant colleagues alike. Thus these police officers operate as reproducers of the social order cemented by Dutch nationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores specific factors that impact the acculturation process among Syrian immigrants at a Turkish University. While providing deeper analysis of Berry (1997)'s acculturation theory, the paper addresses the impact of linguistic, ethnic, and cultural differences and similarities on acculturation among refugee university students based on fifteen individual interviews. Given the gap in the literature, the aim of this qualitative research is to understand how Syrian-university refugee students adapt and integrate by examining how they obtain linguistic skills, cope with ethnic and cultural differences and develop their educational objectives in relation to future goals. Language barrier is noted as the biggest obstacle against acculturation but for all participants, the linguistic acculturation and short cultural distance contribute to the acculturation process by increasing the ability to interact and communicate with the members of majority culture. Next, ethnic difference poses threat against acculturation but nearly all participants, including Syrian Turkmen, appeal to broader statuses, rather than Turkish per se, for example the ummah consciousness, to create mutual understanding and solidarity between themselves and the majority group. Finally, Syrian university students consider their experiences in Turkey as sojourning and hold firm intentions to return to home country after a period of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims at reproducing the acculturation process for adult consumers, introducing continuous measures to reveal the acculturation process’ dynamic nature, and identifying a transitional state. Using U.S. Hispanic consumers as a cardinal example, and six coordinated consumer samples, this study introduces continuous measures of cultural awareness and ethnic loyalty. The revision taken herein overcomes limitations of existing theories and models by better measuring two key forces shaping the acculturation process of Hispanic consumers and by finding a transitional state of resiliency, thereby showing that the process of consumer acculturation can best be reflected in a typology of five states. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the current debates on assimilation and multiculturalism, France occupies the position of the incontrovertible case in colour-blind civic assimilation. This description of France overlooks the empirical turn in immigrant assimilation France took when the first ever census-based survey conducted on the assimilation of immigrants and their France-born children, known after its French acronym MGIS (Mobilité géographique et insertion sociale), promoted ethnic origin as its primary principle of classification. This article offers an institutional account of the making of the MGIS survey and a critical examination of its ethnic categorisation. It argues that the MGIS survey generated a paradox in assimilation according to which only by violating the precept of colour-blindness in the realm of public statistics can immigrant assimilation be measured and only by reconstructing a presumably culturally homogeneous core population ofFrançais de souche(‘French of French stock’) as opposed to the cultural and ethnic difference of those of ‘foreign descent’ can immigrant assimilation be evaluated. The MGIS survey marks a step towards the unmaking of the French institutional mainstream by instilling these categories across state institutions as the way to read and act upon French society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many first generation immigrants share a concern for retaining their heritage culture, though they still aspire to successfully assimilate into the country of residence society. Assimilation theories suggest facilitating factors for positive assimilation but differ in terms of whether the loss of heritage culture is inevitable. The Coptic diaspora illustrates that upward mobility can be achieved without loss of heritage identity. Religious structures can play an important role not only in sustaining heritage identity but also facilitating positive assimilation. A review of the Coptic Orthodox Church's ministry in diaspora, along with findings of a Coptic diaspora survey may offer lessons for other immigrant groups. The study affirms some theoretical findings and raises questions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking advantage of historical census records that include full first and last names, we apply a new approach to measuring the effect of cultural assimilation on economic success for the children of the last great wave of immigrants to the United States. We created a quantitative index of ethnic distinctiveness of first names and show the consequences of ethnic-sounding names for the occupational achievement of the adult children of European immigrants. We find a consistent tendency for the children of Irish, Italian, German, and Polish immigrants with more “American”-sounding names to have higher occupational achievement. About one-third of this effect appears to be due to social class differences in name-giving, and the remaining two-thirds to signaling effects of the names themselves. An exception is found for Russian, predominantly Jewish, immigrants, where we find a positive effect of ethnic naming on occupational achievement. The divergent effects of our new measure of cultural assimilation, sometimes hurting and sometimes helping, lend historical empirical support to more recent theories of the advantages of different paths to assimilation. The effects of ethnic first names are also found for a restricted analysis of recognizably ethnic last names, suggesting that immigrants’ success depended on being perceived as making an effort to assimilate rather than hiding their origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we examine the largely neglected long-term effects of bilingualism for students with roots in immigration. Our central research question is whether students' bilingual proficiencies have an impact on their future earnings in the USA. For this purpose, we used two different data-sets, i.e. the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) and the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS). Based on Latent Class Analysis, we distinguish between three linguistic minority groups: limited bilinguals, balanced bilinguals and English-dominant group. For both CILS and NELS, the results of regression analyses show that balanced bilingual students earn significantly more as adults at the beginning of their career than those linguistic minorities who were dominantly proficient in English only. Even after controlling for cognitive ability, educational attainment and parental socio-economic status, the additional cost of complete linguistic assimilation is estimated at $2100–$3300 annually. The NELS-data also suggest that balanced bilingualism has an additional indirect effect through academic attainment. Policy implications of these results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To account for Latino immigrants' assimilation into the American political mainstream, I derive social psychological factors from the contextual notion of ‘modes of incorporation’ in the segmented assimilation literature. These social psychological factors, perceptions of racialized opportunities (PROPs), relate to immigrants' adoption of political party identities (i.e. Democrat, Republican). I test these PROPs factors utilizing the 2006 Latino National Survey (N=5,717 immigrant Latino respondents). Multinomial logistic regressions predicting party identification, compared to either ‘Don't Know’ or ‘Don't Care’ options, indicate that PROPs are significantly related to Latino immigrants' identification as either Democrats or Republicans. High levels of identification with perceived white opportunities are related to Republican identity and high levels of identification with perceived black opportunities differentiate Democrats from Republicans. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Though the debate over the validity of qualitative research and its existence within the field of psychology has somewhat diminished over the years, negotiations over its location and form continue. This article examines the pressure on qualitative researchers to acculturate and adapt in order to gain legitimacy and acceptance in a field dominated by quantitative research. We treat the emergence of qualitative methods as a form of contact between differing (research) cultures, with the concomitant adjustments and accommodations, and we utilize Berry's (1980, 2005) typology of acculturation as a lens through which to examine these intercultural interactions. We examine, in particular detail, the experiences of qualitative researchers within counseling psychology, as that is the subdiscipline which has most explicitly defined itself as welcoming qualitative research. It is our view that qualitative researchers, within psychology in general, have adopted an acculturation strategy of assimilation rather than integration as defined by Berry (1980). We discuss the implications of this stance for the diversification of research methodologies in psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assimilation and split labor market dynamics are core foci in research on immigration, race/ethnicity, and inequality. Little work, however, systematically analyzes how assimilation and group-level power dynamics within labor markets intersect relative to employment trajectories and rewards. In this article, we do so by offering integrated analyses of racial/ethnic inequalities for an important case, New York City from 1910 to 1930. Our multi-method analyses draw from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) and content-coded coverage from the New York Times for the period. Quantitative and qualitative results demonstrate a clear racial/ethnic hierarchy as well as group-level variations in opportunity relative to industrial concentration, segregation, and discrimination. Assimilative attributes and generational status mattered, yet certain inequalities were more firmly entrenched. Most pronounced, as seen in our qualitative analyses, were processes of social closure, discrimination, and related exclusionary constraints—constraints encountered and eventually alleviated, to some degree, for new white ethnics but not for African Americans. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and empirical utility of considering the embedded nature of assimilation within broader contexts of racial/ethnic closure in labor market opportunities and also relative to historical and contemporary eras. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research on immigration, educational achievement, and ethnoraciality has followed the lead of racialization and assimilation theories by focusing empirical attention on the immigrant-origin population (immigrants and their children), while overlooking the effect of an immigrant presence on the third-plus generation (U.S.-born individuals of U.S.-born parents), especially its white members. We depart from this approach by placing third-plus-generation individuals at center stage to examine how they adjust to norms defined by the immigrant-origin population. We draw on fieldwork in Cupertino, California, a high-skilled immigrant gateway, where an Asian immigrant-origin population has established and enforces an amplified version of high-achievement norms. The resulting ethnoracial encoding of academic achievement constructs whiteness as having lesser-than status. Asianness stands for high-achievement, hard work, and success; whiteness, in contrast, represents low-achievement, laziness, and academic mediocrity. We argue that immigrants can serve as a foil against which the meaning and status of an ethnoracial category is recast, upending how the category is deployed in daily life. Our findings call into question the position that treats the third-plus generation, especially whites, as the benchmark population that sets achievement norms and to which all other populations adjust. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article poses and attempts to answer questions regarding the concepts of acculturation and assimilation in a European country that is often described as ‘monocultural’, Finland. Often lauded for its educational achievements, very little is said or written about immigration and policies/discourses on these phenomena in this ‘small’ country (five million inhabitants) when its ‘miracle’ is described. I problematise the issues of acculturation and assimilation in this context by examining micro-politics in the construction, expression and negotiation of what I propose to call forms of Intercultural Pygmalionism in two Finnish novels. In the novels, the main protagonists experience a need/an urge for change of national/cultural identity. Intercultural pygmalionism can be defined as an attempt to construct an image of the ‘national self and other’ and to copy certain national characteristics to become like the other. The two novels under scrutiny, Stalin's Cows by Sofi Oksanen (2003) and Miika Nousiainen's The Refugee of the Boat-Shaped Pink Candy (2007), each describe different forms of pygmalionism. Nousiainen's Finnish character, who wants to be Swedish, manages to become a ‘real’ Swede after months of training, while Oksanen's bulimic Finno-Estonian protagonist battles to pass as a ‘real’ Finn by hiding marks of Estonianness. A constructivist and critical approach to acculturation and assimilation is used to analyse excerpts from the novels. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Psychological life is subject to the influence of a constructed and potentially reconstituted past, as well as to future anticipated outcomes and expectations. Human behaviour occurs along a temporal trajectory that marks the projects individuals adopt in their quests of human action. Explanations of social behaviour are limited insofar as they exclude a historical concern with human purpose. In this paper, we draw on Bartlett's notion of collective remembering to argue that manifest social relations are rooted in past events that give present behaviours meaning and justification. We further propose an epidemiological time-series framework for social representations, that are conceptualised as evolving over time and that are subject to a 'ratchet effect' that perpetuates meaning in a collective. We argue that understanding forms of social behaviour that draw on lay explanations of social relations requires a deconstructive effort that maps the evolutionary trajectory of a representational project in terms of its adaptation over time. We go on to illustrate our proposal visiting data that emerged in an inquiry investigating Maltese immigrants' perspectives towards their countries of settlement and origin. This data reveals an assimilationist acculturation preference amongst the Maltese in Britain that seems incongruous with the current climate of European integration and Maltese communities in other countries around the world. We demonstrate that a historical concern with regard to this apparent behaviour helps explain how Maltese immigrants to Britain opt for certain forms of intercultural relations than others that are normally preferable. We demonstrate that these preferences rely on an evolved justification of the Maltese getting by with foreign rulers that other scholars have traced back to the medieval practice of chivalry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Using correlational and experimental data, we examined the degree to which personal and perceived normative support for the acculturation ideologies of assimilation, multiculturalism, and colorblindness mediated and moderated the relationship between social dominance orientation (SDO) and prejudice among 299 White students at three American colleges. Correlational results indicated that personal support for the acculturation ideologies mediated the SDO–prejudice relationship. Personal support for assimilation (a hierarchy-enhancing ideology) positively related to SDO; multiculturalism and colorblindness (hierarchy-attenuating ideologies) negatively related to SDO. An experimental manipulation varied whether assimilation, multiculturalism, or colorblindness was considered normative in the United States. In addition to a control, a fifth condition primed the Obama presidency. SDO related most strongly to prejudice toward American immigrants and ethnic minorities when assimilation norms and the Obama presidency were primed. Efforts to reduce the associations between SDO and prejudice are discussed in terms of highlighting hierarchy-attenuating national norms of multiculturalism and colorblindness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Through an analysis of the methodological and theoretical writings of Max Weinreich that were devoted to the inter-war Jewish youth research programme at the Jewish Scientific Institute (YIVO), this article discusses the ideological and political assumptions that lay behind this scientific project. Deconstructing the main research categories of the project, the author presents ways in which Weinreich and his associates constructed the Jewish nation and its place in the new inter-war political and social reality. This reality was seen in a complex manner, as a simultaneous chance for Jewish modernisation, upward mobility, productivisation, and as a response to the threat of modern state institutions that were introducing discriminatory policies, and, most importantly, assimilation. The last process was seen as the biggest danger, which could fragment and finally even dissolve the essentialist, secular and national model of Jewish community as envisioned by Max Weinreich and YIVO. The author shows how the essentialist vision of the nation omnipotent in inter-war Poland (among both Polish and Jewish communities) introduced unresolved tension between the need for social and cultural integration of the Jews, which was important for Weinreich and his circle, and the simultaneous aim of building a culturally and politically coherent Jewish nation. Further discussion shows how this kind of perception of social reality transformed a scientific research project into a kind of social intervention and nation-building programme, comparable to the ideologies of Jewish national secularist political parties. While presenting itself as a universal, national institution and addressing its call to all Jewish youth, YIVO promoted a particular political view of the Jewish nation and its tradition, history and religion. By engaging Jewish youth in a research programme devoted to its “personality,” one of the hidden aims of the project was to influence the political and social consciousness of Eastern Europe's Jewish youth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Individuals who cross cultural boundaries face many challenges when trying to adapt to a receiving culture. Adaptation challenges such as learning to maneuver across societal domains may become increasingly complex if structural level factors such as discrimination are present. Researchers have conceptualized acculturation as a relatively autonomous decision indicating that four acculturation strategies exist: assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization. Moreover, researchers have also long debated the link between acculturation strategy, adaptation hassles and negative health outcomes. However, models seeking to explain how individual difference and structural level variables may influence each other and subsequently influence acculturation and adaptation are needed. The purpose of this study is to lay the foundation for the conceptualization of such a model. We propose that temperamental predispositions to negative emotionality, anger, and impulsivity may highlight discrimination which in turn may lead to increases in acculturative stress and negative markers of psychosocial well-being. We used SEM to test our hypothesized model. Results supported a modified model. Implications for the measurement of adaptation and design of interventions are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The purpose of this study was to examine how a leisure activity (i.e., judo) aŠected the assimilation of Brazilian immigrants in Japan. Researchers hypothesized that judo participation would aŠect the processes of assimilation, particularly acculturation and structural assimilation. Based on the results of observations, informal interviews, and questionnaires conducted with Brazilian judo participants and their parents as well as the results of formal interviews held with the judo instructors, the hypothesis was confirmed. This result suggests that there are multiple ways in which leisure organizations can work with immigrants to help them adjust to a new society. This study contributes to the growing, yet still understudied, area of immigrant leisure research, and it provides a unique perspective by examining the experiences of Brazilian immigrants living in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When it comes to the great American literature of the second half of the 20yh century, one realizes that it cannot be discussed without taking into account the fact that authors of Jewish American descent had a considerable contribution to its development. Obviously, in most cases, this special cultural background has had a considerable impact at least on the subject matter and the vision that these writers brought to the literary scene. However it is not an easy matter to determine to what extent this ethnical heritage has led to the creation of a radically different type of literature than the one written by WASP writers for instance, the same way it is not easy to define a hyphenated Jewish-American identity or the degree to which a writer may accept such a label or acknowledge the influence that his/her Jewishness had upon their works. The present article brings together the diverse voices of some of these writers and literary critics, centered around several issues like: for whom is the Jewish-American literature written, what makes an "ethnic" writer different from an "American" one, what is Jewish identity, how visible it is in the works of these authors and how these elements have survived in the literature of the contemporary multicultural America? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pacific region is one of the most culturally diverse areas of the world; societies within this region are also culturally diverse. For both these reasons, intercultural relations and acculturation phenomena are at the forefront of psychological interests there. This paper first situates these phenomena in their ecological and cultural contexts, in which human diversity and individual behaviour can be examined and understood as adaptations to these contexts. Then the notion of differentiation in psychological and sociocultural phenomena is discussed, linking them to the concept of social capital. The processes involved in acculturation and intercultural relations are then described, and linked to the concept of differentiation. The argument is presented (with an empirical example from research with immigrant youth) that the more differentiated are a person's psychological life, as well as their social and cultural engagements, then the better adapted they are to living interculturally. Suggestions for policy and programme development and implementation are made: these include advancing the multicultural way of living together, and of accepting the need for mutual accommodation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acculturation refers to cultural learning and adjustment in the context of continuous cross-cultural experience. Plato, in his 'Laws', considered cross-cultural imitation to be a risk arising from foreign commerce. In the 19th century, European theorists wrote of the amalgamation processes by which diverse peoples were culturally unified for the purposes of the nation-state. In the 20th century, acculturation research first focused on the cultural changes of conquered and dispossessed native peoples, and later on the cultural adaptation, assimilation, or integration of immigrants and other minorities. Native peoples and immigrants were stereotyped as genetically and culturally inferior and prone to diseases and mental illness. Thus, in most research, improved health became the criterion of successful acculturation, and further confusion came from the good intentions to advise public policy. A century of such research has come to no confident conclusions and has produced little useful information. Acculturation research paradigms need renovation. As one step forward, four acculturation researchers have here reflected on their own research in the light of their own acculturation experiences. Their self-observations and insights point to new questions and constructs, and eventually to new research paradigms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review examines research on immigrant families in the United States from the past decade from multiple disciplinary perspectives. This work has used variations on assimilation and acculturation perspectives. In the case of the assimilation perspectives, the focus has largely been on family formation, whereas research using acculturation perspectives has focused more on intrafamily relationships. But, over the course of the decade, an interesting integrative model has emerged to address interactions of attitudes and values with structural conditions in the receiving and sending communities. Some of this effort to integrate perspectives can be found in studies of transnational families. The review concludes with some suggestions for continuing this integration and expanding studies to include dynamics of migration and family processes simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While theoretical work focusing on immigrant language acculturation suggests that both parental and child's understanding of English are needed to measure acculturation, analysts have instead focused on child bilingualism. I develop a measure of familial acculturation and conceptually distinguish it from child bilingualism. I then determine whether several child and parental variables influence these measures differently, which would provide evidence supporting the conceptual distinction. Results show that child bilingualism is indeed independent of familial acculturation. Parental skills and resources significantly affect familial acculturation but not child bilingualism, whereas gender and Latino status affect child bilingualism but not familial acculturation. Additionally, modes of incorporation do not determine either child bilingualism or familial acculturation, suggesting that integrative forces external to the family may have little power to shape the internal workings that generate child or familial language acculturation. Together, these findings imply that researchers should avoid conflating child bilingualism with familial acculturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising rates of substance use among Hispanic youth, coupled with substantial growth of this minority group, merit grounds for concern. The process of assimilation is frequently examined in studies of Hispanic substance use and has been cited as a reason for higher rates of substance use by U.S.-born Hispanics, compared to their foreign-born peers. However, many previous studies use individual or unidimensional measures of assimilation, when this term is multifaceted, representing different concepts. The current study addresses this gap by testing the longitudinal effect of different assimilation processes (acculturation as well as structural, spatial, and straight-line assimilation), while simultaneously controlling for important familial and social risk and protective factors on the likelihood of alcohol use among U.S.-born Mexican and Mexican immigrant youth. Results indicate that, although alcohol use is higher among immigrant youth, assimilation measures do not predict alcohol use for immigrants or U.S.-born youth. We conclude that the effects of assimilation may vary by person and place, particularly in ethnic enclaves, and suggest the use of measures that incorporate cultural, personal, social, and environmental factors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Do alcohol use and binge drinking among Latina/o adolescents increase in the second and third generation? This study explores generational differences in alcohol use behaviors for three Latina/o ethnic groups. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health on 1504 Latina/o adolescents in secondary school, we found that the factors associated with alcohol use behaviors differed across the Latina/o groups. For Mexican and Cuban adolescents, but not Puerto Ricans, immigrant generation was associated with alcohol use. For Mexican, but not Cuban adolescents, acculturation mediated the effect of immigrant generation on alcohol use behaviors. Although generally social capital and a co-ethnic presence were protective factors against alcohol use behaviors, we found that some forms of social capital were actually risk factors for Cubans and Puerto Ricans. Our results provide support for segmented-assimilation theory. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas is the property of Centro de Investigacao e Estudos de Sociologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This contribution explores the issues of assimilation, acculturation and radicalism in American mosques and is largely based on a 2005 study of 25 mosques, although data from three other studies are also extensively used. Analysing the demographics of mosque-goers and their views on Islamic conservatism, women, political involvement and pluralism, the essay concludes that American mosque participants are well integrated and acculturated into American society, but that they are resisting a full assimilation of intrinsic religious values and customs. Although fairly conservative, mosque participants neither exhibit radical tendencies nor the literalist Salafi/Wahhabi thinking. The American mosque, therefore, should be viewed as a partner for American law enforcement in preventing the emergence of Muslim radicalism and home-grown terrorist groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This critique of acculturation research is anchored on an historical examination of the development of acculturation constructs and their operationalizations as psychometric scales. An historical search finds the origins of acculturation in derogatory beliefs about aboriginal and immigrant minorities, finds the old and continuing paradox that acculturation is presumed to improve mental health and to damage mental health, finds the near universal inter-twining of acculturation with mental health issues, and finds that nearly one century of such research has had little utility. Measurements of acculturation by bipolar scales since the 1940s and by unconstrained ipsative scales since the 1970s have confounded the research record. Measurements of acculturative stress by scales designed for mental health screening have confounded dependent and independent variables. More recent measures based on factor analytic sub-scales have confounded acculturative stress with acculturation and with other constructs. This review recommends (a) that acculturation be defined as second-culture acquisition, (b) that acculturative motivations, learning, and changes be conceived, measured, and sometimes studied independently of health issues, (c) that bilineal measures be used, (d) that acculturative stress be discontinued as an intervening variable, and (e) that SES and discrimination always be controlled by covariate methods. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study employs nationally representative data to determine how immigrants from the largest immigrant groups within the United States (i.e., Asians and Latinos) compare to whites on a wide range of educational outcomes. The authors also examine the extent to which socioeconomic background and immigrant characteristics explain racial/ethnic difference in academic outcomes. In addition, this study includes analyses that omit whites and compare immigrants to their nonimmigrant counterparts. Previous studies typically use whites as a basis for comparison, which the authors argue may not be appropriate for isolating the immigrant effect on scholastic outcomes. Findings show Asian immigrants have better educational outcomes than whites, which is accounted for by their immigrant characteristics. In contrast, Mexican and Puerto Rican immigrants have lower educational outcomes than whites, most of which is explained by socioeconomic background. Furthermore, findings illustrate the importance of employing the proper reference group for immigration scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines education as a critical link to minority integration--one often lost in the debate over immigration on both sides of the Atlantic. It suggests that western European countries, in looking to the experience of the United States, should place the specific policies and practices in their historical context and sift through the underlying scholarly and political debates to best inform their judgment. It addresses two massive waves of immigration that have had a profound effect on American identity and schooling: the migration of southern and eastern Europeans in the early twentieth century, and the recent and continuing influx of immigrants from Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa. It particularly focuses on the problems that arise from transnational life styles, the potential dangers of segmented assimilation, and the arguable benefits of selective acculturation in easing the way toward full social and political participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study conducted in order to determine second-generation immigrants in the U.S. Both quantitative and qualitative results of this longitudinal research are presented. The quantitative results provide adequate support for the effects of exogenous variables anticipated by the theory of assimilation. The quantitative results also highlight the factors that intervene during adolescence. These factors mediate the influence of exogenous variables during adolescence. Qualitative results pointed out three factors that contribute to educational performance among socially disadvantaged adults.

Japan's advertising industry has a long history of employing foreign actors. This article probes the proposition that over time this media exposure affects advertising industry's willingness to change and meld the presentation of foreign people in local contexts in ads. An empirical study supports the proposition that some level of foreign-domestic advertising assimilation- dynamic is occurring in Japan. The article reports a content analysis examining 102 television advertisements run during 1992 and 2002 that confirms the principle proposition. Changes in verbal and nonverbal communication modalities suggest that foreign-actor domestic assimilation is occurring. The article illustrates how advertisers go about showing foreigners in Japanese contexts to transform the old saw, "Think global, act local" into the more actionable dictum, "Meld global inside local." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I use narratives from the Indian diaspora to provide a counterargument to models of acculturation that claim that all immigrants undergo a universal psychological process of acculturation and adaptation. More specifically, I show how members from the Indian diaspora re-examined their ethnic and racial identity after the events of 9/11. Given the conceptual nature of this paper, my goal is to present an argument, supported by select autobiographical accounts and cases, to explain why the universal model of acculturation should be re-examined within the context of postcolonial, diaspora cultures. First, I undertake a brief review of the concept of acculturation in cross-cultural psychology. Next, I examine three autobiographical narratives of first-generation Indians living in south-eastern Connecticut in the USA to demonstrate how their discourses about 9/11 contests universal models of assimilation. Finally, I conclude with implications for understanding the construction of racialised identities within diaspora communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]