Paper
Background. Almost 25% of the Swiss population have a foreign origin; 85% of these migrant populations have an European origin (Former-Yougoslavia, Portugal, Turkey, Italy, Spain), even though the proportion of non-western populations has grown during the
- issue: Issue 1 / 2009
- authors: Lena Robinson
- keywords: acculturation, well-being, United Kingdom
- views: 2817
- downloaded: 0
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abstract
Background. The study reported in this paper is part of the international comparative study of ethnocultural youth (ICSEY) and integrated a social psychological approach to ethnic identity, Berry's (1990) acculturation strategy and stress models, and Phinney's (1989) model of ethnic identification. It explores cross- national perspectives in ethnic minority adolescent research.
Purpose
- To explore the differences in ethnic identity and acculturation strategies between the Indian and Pakistani groups.
- To examine the relationship between acculturation and psychological well-being.
Methodology. Quantitative methods were used. This was an exploratory study. Two of the major ethnic minority groups living in Britain Indian (Punjabi Sikh and Gujarati Hindu) and Pakistani second and third generation adolescents were targeted.
The samples were drawn from two localities - metro Birmingham and Leicester. For all adolescents in the study, both parents were of the same ethnic background. Each sample group included 120 adolescents, divided equally between males and females, and younger (13-15) and older (16-18) ages.
The adolescents completed a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed by an international team of researchers from the ICSEY project, led by Professor John Berry, and has been pilot tested in Stockholm, Los Angeles and Kingston. Measures were either developed for the project, or taken directly or with some modification from existing scales. For most scales response options ranged from "strongly disagree" (1) to "strongly agree" (5).
Key findings and implications. The integration strategy was most favoured by Indian youth. Self-esteem and mastery scores were high for both groups. Adolescents with integrated identities scored significantly higher on psychological well-being measures.
In Britain, the Children Act 1989 (section 22 (5)) stipulates that care workers should have regard to the racial, religious, cultural and linguistic needs of children. In order to do this, social workers and social work educators need to recognize intr-ethnic differences in acculturation, identity and psychological well-being among ethnic minority adolescents and the implications for social work practice.
Key references
Robinson, L. (2007). Cross-cultural Child Development for Social Workers. Macmillan/Palgrave.
Robinson, L. (2007). Acculturation in the United Kingdom. In D. L. Sam, & J. W. Berry (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Acculturation in Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Contacts: Lena Robinson, University of Paisley, School of Social Sciences, University of Paisley, Paisley PA1 2BE, E-mail: lena.robinson@paisley.ac.uk, Phone 0141 848 3767.