Acculturation and reacculturation influence: Multilayer contexts in therapy

Journal/Book: Clin Psychol Rev. 1999; 19: the Boulevard Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford Ox5 1GB, England. Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd. 951-967.

Abstract: Clients who live within a minority culture while being influenced by a dominant culture usually bring to therapy the impact of their multilayered cultural experience. Migration literature point to separation and marginalization processes during the acculturation process as the main cause of relocators' psychosocial problems. In contrast to other studies that appreciate assimilation and integration within the dominant culture, this study shows that these processes of ten lead to disharmony and disintegration within the home culture, especially among those who remigrate back home or those who continue to live simultaneously within the sending culture and the receiving culture. Additionally, this study emphasizes that acculturation often happens as a multilinear and multidimensional process within the host culture and the sending culture. Therapists may help clients when they become aware of the complexity of the multidirectional process of acculturation and its various levels, such as the interfamilial, the intrafamilial, and the social. Three case studies will illustrate the theoretical framework.

Note: Article Abu Baker K, POB 2320, IL-24316 Akko, ISRAEL

Keyword(s): Arabs; acculturation; family therapy; biculturalism; cross-cultural; minorities; FAMILY

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