Effects of Acculturation on Adolescents and Adoption
Brooke Simmons
COUN 5100
12/10/2011
Effects of Acculturation on Adolescents and Adoption
INTRODUCTION Children that are adopted into a culture that differs from their own culture will have to learn how to adjust and assimilate in both cultures effectively. In these cases children have already experienced enormous thrashing in their young lives. Quantities of these children have suffered issues of physical abuse, mental abuse, abandonment, alienation, and isolation and will continue to grieve loss. Acculturation refers to a process where individuals from one particular culture adopt the norms, values, attributes, and behaviors from another culture. It is fundamental that adopted children have qualified, bicultural trained, culturally competent, loving, and nurturing adoptive parents. That are dedicated and willing educate the children as much as they possibly can. This will help promote mental and physical wellness. Adoptive parents can expect the likelihood of their children experiencing excessive stressors, particularly children with special needs they will be become faced with the daunting attempt and charge towards learning new positive behaviors associated with the cultural assimilation process. In many cases, it is a survival tactic and in other cases, it can be imposed. Until a child begins to feel accepted and perceives that acceptance within their new bicultural family as well as acceptance within their new culture. Only then will the child become a culturally competent person that appreciates assimilation into their new family and culture. In numerous cases of multiethnic and international adoptions more often than not this happenstance usually occurs. A magnitude of adoptive parents has not given real consideration or deliberate contemplation to the costly affects of an adoptee losing his/her cultural identity. I will give explanations and reasoning for bicultural training. It is my intention to reveal major critical rudiments concerning the
COUN 5100
12/10/2011
Effects of Acculturation on Adolescents and Adoption
INTRODUCTION Children that are adopted into a culture that differs from their own culture will have to learn how to adjust and assimilate in both cultures effectively. In these cases children have already experienced enormous thrashing in their young lives. Quantities of these children have suffered issues of physical abuse, mental abuse, abandonment, alienation, and isolation and will continue to grieve loss. Acculturation refers to a process where individuals from one particular culture adopt the norms, values, attributes, and behaviors from another culture. It is fundamental that adopted children have qualified, bicultural trained, culturally competent, loving, and nurturing adoptive parents. That are dedicated and willing educate the children as much as they possibly can. This will help promote mental and physical wellness. Adoptive parents can expect the likelihood of their children experiencing excessive stressors, particularly children with special needs they will be become faced with the daunting attempt and charge towards learning new positive behaviors associated with the cultural assimilation process. In many cases, it is a survival tactic and in other cases, it can be imposed. Until a child begins to feel accepted and perceives that acceptance within their new bicultural family as well as acceptance within their new culture. Only then will the child become a culturally competent person that appreciates assimilation into their new family and culture. In numerous cases of multiethnic and international adoptions more often than not this happenstance usually occurs. A magnitude of adoptive parents has not given real consideration or deliberate contemplation to the costly affects of an adoptee losing his/her cultural identity. I will give explanations and reasoning for bicultural training. It is my intention to reveal major critical rudiments concerning the
References: 1. Bausch,R.S., & Serpe, R,T. (1997). Negative outcome of interethnic children. Social work, Vol.42 pp.36 – 43 2. Unger,J.B., - Olson, A. Soto, D,W., Baezconde – Garbanti, L. (2009). Parent child acculturation discrepancies as risk factor for substance use among Hispanic adolescents in southern California Journal of Immigrant Minority Health. Vol.11 pp.149 -157