What is meant by acculturation? Is acculturation a smooth process? Explain.

Acculturation refers to cultural and psychological changes resulting from contact with other cultures. Contact may be direct (e.g., when one moves and settles in a new culture) or indirect (e.g., through media or other means. It may be voluntary (e.g., when one goes abroad for higher studies, training, job or trade) or involuntary (e.g., through colonial experience, invasion, political refuge). In both cases, people often need to learn something new to negotiate with people of other cultural groups.

Acculturation can take place any time in one’s life. Whenever it occurs, it requires re-learning of norms, values, dispositions, and patterns of behaviour. Changes in these aspects require re-socialisation. Sometimes people find it easy to learn these new things, and if their learning has been successful, shifts in their behaviour easily take place in the direction of the group that brings in acculturation. In this situation transition to a new life is relatively smooth and free from problems.

Yes, biology plays an enabling role, while specific aspects of behaviour are related to cultural factors. Many of our behaviours are influenced by hormones and many others occur as reflexive responses. However, hormones and reflexes do not explain all of our behaviour. Human behaviour is more complex than the behaviour of animals. A major reason for this complexity is that unlike animals human beings have a culture to regulate their behaviour. It can be explained by an example.

Sexual behaviour involves hormones and reflexive reactions in animals and human beings alike. While among animals sexual behaviour is fairly simple and reflexive, it is so complex among human beings that it can hardly be described as reflexive partner preferences or a key feature of human sexual behaviour. The bases of these preference widely differ within and across societies. Human sexual behaviour is also governed by many rules, standards, values and laws. However, these rules and standards also remain in a continuous, process of change.

Thus, it is established that biological factors alone cannot help us very much in understanding human behaviour. Human nature has evolved through an interplay of biological and cultural forces.

The widely shared customs, beliefs, values, norms, institution and other products of a community that are transmitted socially across generation.

Important features of culture:

1. Culture contains values that will be expressed and language in which to express them.

2. Culture is identified with historically transmitted pattern of meaning embodied in symbols.

Enculturation: It refers to all learning that takes place without direct, deliberate teaching. It refers to all learning that occurs in human life because of its availability in our socio-cultural context. Observation is the key element of enculturation in learning. Whenever we learn any content of our society by observation, enculturation is in evidence. These contents are culturally shaped by our preceding generations. A major part of our behaviour is the product of enculturation.

Socialisation: It is a process by which individuals acquire knowledge, skills and dispositions, which enable them to participate as effective members of groups and society. It is a process that continues over the entire life-span, and through which one learns and develops ways of effective functioning at any stage of development. Socialisation forms the basis of social and cultural transmission from one generation to the next. Its failure in any society may endanger the very existence of that society.

A number of people who relate to us possess power to socialise us. Such people are called socialisation agents. Some of the main agents of socialisation are as follows:

(i) Parents: They have most direct and significant impact on children’s development. Children respond in different ways to parents in different situations. Parents encourage certain behaviours by rewarding them verbally (e.g., praising) or in other tangible ways (e.g., buying chocolates or objects of child’s desire). They also discourage certain behaviours through non-approving behaviours. They also arrange to put children in a variety of situations that provide them with a variety of positive experiences, learning opportunities, and challenges. The conditions of life in which parents live (such as poverty, job stress, illness, nature of family) also influence the styles they adopt in socialising children. Grand parental proximity and network of social relationships play considerable role in child socialisation directly or through parental influences.

(ii) School: School is another important socialising agent. Children learn many cognitive skills (such as reading,writing), and social skills (such as ways of behaving with elders and age males, accepting roles, fulfilling responsibilities). They also learn and internalise the norms and rules of society. Several other positive qualities, such as self-initiative, self-control, responsibility, land creativity are encouraged in schools. These qualities make children more self-reliant. A good school can altogether transform a child’s personality.

(iii) Peer groups: Friendship provides children good opportunity to be in company of others. It also provides organising various activities (e.g., play) collectively with the members of their own age. Qualities like sharing, trust, mutual understanding, role acceptance and fulfilment develop in interaction with peers. Children also learn to assert their own point of view and accept and adopt to those of others. Development of self identity is greatly facilitated by the peer group. Since communication of children with peer group is direct, process of socialisation is generally smooth.

(iv) Media influences: Today media has become a very influencial agent of socialisation. Children learn about many things from different means of media (such as television, newspapers, cinema). Adolescents and young adults often derive their models from them, particularly from television and cinema. However, there is also a negative aspect. Observing violence on television enhances aggressive behaviour among children. Thus, there is a need to use this agent of socialisation in a better way in order to prevent children from developing undesirable behaviours.