Acculturation
America, the land of "Golden Opportunities," is the world's melting pot for a growing mass of people. Along with this flowering population, comes an extraordinary sense of diversity and cultural value. Immigrants who come to America bring with them their traditional customs, values and beliefs. Thus many people today have grown up or live in a society of "two worlds." Because of this, one sees many cultures on "display" on the bus, in the grocery store or while walking down the street. However, as often happens, as more and more immigrant families assimilate into American society, culture and traditions are lost. This process, generally described as acculturation, lends the questions of why. Why are the practices of traditional ethnic customs and beliefs lost? Why are so many children compelled or have such a powerful need to become "Americanized." Is it because people find it hard to live with the demands of two societies or for the reason that there is just no need for ethnic traditions and in the American society? Whatever the reason, acculturation has a major impact on the American society as well as the individuals or group of individuals being acculturated. Because America is made up of so many diverse cultures,
Another factor involved in acculturation on the individual level has to do with the sense to belong. Factors such as urbanization, education, and wage-employment are major influence on acculturation. Becoming More Civilized: A Psychological Exploration. Acculturations should be there but not to a point where there is a complete loss of cultural value. the need to understand how and why acculturation occurs is very important. By the third generations, immigrants are most often fully assimilated into the American society and there is a loose or weak connection to the original culture, of which language is the first to go. According to Berry (1976), all individuals who go through the acculturation process experience acculturative stress. Although I can not say how the life of my own children, a third generations, will be, I can say that maintaining our cultural heritage and at the same time knowing and participating in the American culture is important to living in today's world. The second generation can be described as those who live in "two worlds. But then religion came into he picture and it has been because of out religious faith that my parents have pushed my sister and I to retain so much of our cultural heritage.
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Acceptance Essays
