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Acculturation And Identity Crisis Essay

844 Words4 Pages

At each developmental stage the individual deals with a dominant psychosocial crisis. This crisis is described as a life event which acts as a crucial turning point necessitating growth, recovery and differentiation of self. It has the inevitable effect of shaping development of the ego in one way or another. The resolution of theses crises by the ego and the manner in which its done can lead to subsequent strengths or maladjustments. Ego strengths are achieved when the individual is able to handle and master the conflicts that occur at each developmental stage. This ensures successful ascension to the next phase of development. It is important to note that the age at which the identity crisis occurs can vary according to psychological factors, social structural …show more content…

In such a period of flux, individuals may experience confusion and distress while adapting their social and personal identities to the new social structure. If during this process, the norms and values of an individual’s ethnic group are perceived as incompatible with those of the host society, the individual may deem it important to reconstruct social identities and thus, personal identity confusion may also be stimulated.
The relationship between acculturation status and identity formation relates to the developmental process occurring in immigrants as they try to make sense of their new culture. Identity diffusion would lead to marginalization, since the person would end up not connecting with the culture of origin or the host culture, due to indecision. Identity foreclosure would lead to marginalization because after trying to use one’s own culture and then the host culture as a guide but not succeeding with either would lead to being marginal to both

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