Acculturation refers to individuals from one culture coming to long-term first-hand contact with other cultures, resulting in long term changes on both ‘host’ and ‘home’ cultures (Berry, 2011). Due to the current “refugee crisis,” 116,232 involuntary forced migrants sought asylum into Europe from Africa and Asia in 2018 (so far), 21.3% of which were children (UNHC, 2018). Children are an at-risk group as not only have they experienced trauma and stress, their education is interrupted (McBrien, 2005).
Not only do child refugees witness grief, violence, torture, and parental loss (Munz & Melcop 2018), they have to learn to adjust to their new academic environment. This is challenging as they experience discrimination, alienation and lack of adult support (Davies 2008; Portes & Rumbaut 2001; Sarr & Mosselson 2010). Furthermore, few school programmes support the complex needs of these children (Boyson & Short, 2012), so they must attempt to learn English, take novel subjects and be assessed against standardised English testing (Bartlett, Mendenhall, & Ghaffar-Kucher, 2017).
Policy makers and schools should take acculturation issues into account when planning curriculums, support and teacher training. More refugees are entering Europe and more needs to be done to ensure they can integrate into the host society without sacrificing their home culture (Berry, 2008). By promoting biculturalism, language learning, cultural awareness and bridging differing social agendas are additionally supported (Birman & Addae, 2015). It is important to improve the education system to fit refugees as it is often the first and main contact they have with the ‘host’ society (Sarr et al., 2010), acting as a primary acculturating organisation to promote integration and allow refugees to be accepted and succeed.
References:
Bartlett, L., Mendenhall, M., & Ghaffar-Kucher, A. (2017). Culture in acculturation: Refugee youth’s schooling experiences in international schools in New York City. International Journal Of Intercultural Relations, 60, 109-119. doi: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2017.04.005
Berry, J. W. (2008). Integration: A psychological and cultural perspective The meaning of integration. Tallinn: Estonian Integration Foundation.
Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H., Breugelmans, S. M., Chasiotis, A., & Sam, D. (2011). Cross-cultural psychology: Theory and applications (3rd Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Birman, D., & Addae, D. (2015). Acculturation. In C. Suarez-Orozco, M. Abo-Zena, & A. Marks (Eds.), Transitions: The development of children of immigrants (pp. 122–141). New York: New York University Press.
Boyson, B., & Short, D. (2012). Helping newcomer students succeed in secondary schools and beyond. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Davies, A. (2008). Characteristics of adolescent Sierra Leonean refugees in public schools in New York City. Education and Urban Society, 40(3), 361–376.
McBrien, J. L. (2005). Educational needs and barriers for refugee students in the United States: A review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 75(3), 329–364.
Munz, D., & Melcop, N. (2018). The psychotherapeutic care of refugees in Europe: Treatment needs, delivery reality and recommendations for action. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2018.1476436
Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2001a). The forging of a new America: Lessons for theory and policy. In R. G. Rumbaut, & A. Portes (Eds.), Ethnicities: Children of immigrants in america (pp. 301–317). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Sarr, C. U., & Mosselson, J. (2010). Issues in teaching refugees in US schools. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 109(2), 548–570.
UNHC, (2018, December 11) Mediterranean SituationRetrieved from http://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean
Reflections on Culture in Psychology 