“My Culture Helps Me Make Good Decisions”: Cultural Adaptation of Sudanese Refugee Emerging Adults
Abstract
The last two decades have witnessed growing research on the experiences of children and youth after migration or resettlement. However, nearly all of this research focuses on children and youth who arrived in the country with their parents. We know little of the unique experiences of refugee youngsters who came to this country without parental company. How do they negotiate the different cultures in the absence of parents? In this article, we draw on in-depth interview data with 19 Sudanese emerging adults who came to the United States as unaccompanied refugee minors to examine issues of acculturation and adaptation. Our findings show that having a strong root in their native culture and identity helped them make good choices, maintain focus, and avoid distractions associated with negative aspects of the U.S. youth culture. Our participants also discussed the importance of learning the new ways. As a result, those who maintained their native culture and combined it with the positive aspect of the U.S. culture were the ones who did best in their adaptation. Our research confirms previous findings on immigrant and refugee youth with parents that a bicultural orientation is the best for adaptation. Our findings also illustrate a more specific and agentic process of cultural appropriation with a flexible orientation.
Get full access to this article
View all access and purchase options for this article.
References
Alba R., Nee V. (1997). Rethinking assimilation theory for a new era of immigration. International Migration Review, 31, 826-874.
Arnett J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, 469-480.
Arnett J. J. (2006). Emerging adulthood: Understanding the new way of coming of age. In Arnett J. J., Tanner J. L. (Eds.), Emerging adults in America: Coming of age in the 21st century (pp. 3-20). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Arnett J. J. (2011). Emerging adulthood(s): The cultural psychology of a new life stage. In Jensen L. A. (Ed.), Bridging cultural and developmental psychology: New syntheses in theory, research, and policy (pp. 255-275). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Bates L., Baird D., Johnson D.J., Lee R.E., Luster T., Rehagen C. (2005). Sudanese refugee youth in foster care: The “Lost Boys” in America. Child Welfare, 84(5), 631-648.
Berry J. W. (2003). Conceptual approaches to acculturation. In Chun K., Balls Organista P., Marín G. (Eds.), Acculturation: Advances in theory, measurement, and applied research (pp. 17-37). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Berry J.W., Phinney J.S, Sam D.L., Vedder P.(Eds.).(2006). Immigrant youth in cultural transition: Acculturation, identity and adaptation across national contexts. Mahwah:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bixler M. (2005). The Lost Boys of Sudan: An American story of the refugee experience. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. (2005). U.S. Department of State. Worldwide Refugee Admissions Processing System (WRAPS). Washington, DC.
Caplan N. S., Choy M. H., Whitmore J. K. (1991). Children of the boat people. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Coatsworth J., Maladonado-Molina M. D., Pantin H., Szapocznik J. (2005). A personal-centered and ecological investigation of acculturation strategies in Hispanic immigrant youth. Journal of Community Psychology, 33, 157-174.
Conde Y. (1999). Operation Pedro Pan: The untold exodus of 14,048 Cuban children. New York, NY: Routledge.
Department of Human Services. (2011). Yearbook of immigration statistics. Retrieved from http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/immigration-statistics/year-book/2011/ois_yb_2011.pdf
Dinh K. T., Weinstein T. L., Kim S. Y., Ho I. K. (2008). Acculturative and psychological predictors of academic-related outcomes among Cambodian American high school students. Journal of Southeast Asian American Education & Advancement, 3, 1-23.
Epstein J., Botvin G. J., Diaz T. (2001). Linguistic acculturation associated with higher marijuana and polydrug use among Hispanic adolescents. Substance Use & Misuse, 36, 477-499.
Erikson E. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Farwell N. (2001). “Onward through strength”: Coping and psychological support among refugee youth returning to Eritrea from Sudan. Journal of Refugee Studies, 14, 43-69.
Foa E. B., Johnson K. M., Feeny N. C., Treadwell K. R. (2001). The child PTSD Symptom Scale: A preliminary examination of its psychometric properties. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30, 376-384.
Freud A., Dann S. (1951). An experiment in group upbringing. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 6, 127-168.
Gans H. (1979). Symbolic ethnicity: The future of ethnic groups and cultures in America. In Hutchinson J., Smith A. D. (Eds.), Nationalism: Critical concepts in political science (pp. 1217-1237). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Gibson M. (1988). Accommodation without assimilation: Sikh immigrants in an American high school. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Gil A. G., Vega W. A. (1996). Two different worlds: Acculturation stress and adaptation among Cuban and Nicaraguan families. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 13, 435-456.
Gilgun J. F. (2005). Qualitative research and family psychology. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, 40-50.
Giorgi A. P. (1985). Phenomenology and psychological research. Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University Press.
Giorgi A. P., Giorgi B. M. (2003). The descriptive phenomenological psychological method. In Camic P. M., Rhodes J. E., Yardley L. (Eds.), Qualitative research in psychology (pp. 243-274). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Gonzales N. A., Germa M., Kim S. Y., George P., Fabrett F. C., Millsap R., Dumka L. E. (2008). Mexican American adolescents’ cultural orientation, externalizing behavior and academic engagement: The role of traditional cultural values. American Journal of Community Psychology, 41, 151-164.
Goodman J. H. (2004). Coping with trauma and hardship among unaccompanied refugee youths from Sudan. Qualitative Health Research, 14, 1177-1196.
Hecht J. (2005). The journey of the Lost Boys: A story of courage, faith and the sheer determination to survive by a group of young boys called “The Lost Boys of Sudan.” Jacksonville, FL: Allswell Press.
Jeppsson O., Hjern A. (2005). Traumatic stress in context: A study of unaccompanied minors from Southern Sudan. In Ingleby D. (Ed.), Forced migration and mental health: Rethinking the care of refugees and displaced persons (pp. 67-80). New York, NY: Springer.
Joshi P. T., O’Donnell D. A. (2003). Consequences of child exposure to war and terrorism. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 6, 275-292.
Lee B. K., Chen L. (2000). Cultural communication competence and psychological adjustment: A study of Chinese immigrant children’s cross-cultural adaptation in Canada. Communication Research, 27, 764-792.
LeVasseur J. (2003). The problem of bracketing in phenomenology. Qualitative Health Research, 13, 408-420.
Love J. A., Buriel R. (2007). Language brokering, autonomy, parent-child bonding, biculturalism, and depression: A study of Mexican American adolescents from immigrant families. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 29, 472-491.
Luster T., Bates L., Johnson D. J. (2006). Risk and resilience. In Villarruel F., Luster T. (Eds.), Crisis in youth mental health (Vol. 2). Westport, CT: Praeger Press.
Luster T., Qin D. B., Bates L., Johnson D. J., Rana M. (2009). The Lost Boys of Sudan: Coping with ambiguous loss and separation from parents. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 79, 203-211.
Luster T., Qin D. B., Bates L., Rana M., Lee J. (2010). Successful adjustment among Sudanese unaccompanied minors: The perspectives of the youth and their foster parents. Childhood, 17, 197-211.
Luthar S. S., Cicchetti D., Becker B. (2000). The construct of resilience: A critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Development, 71, 543-562.
Lutz A. (2004). Dual language proficiency and the educational attainment of Latinos. Migraciones Internacionales, 2(4), 95-122.
Lutz A., Crist S. (2009). Why do bilingual boys get better grades in English-only America? The impacts of gender, language, and family interaction on academic achievement of Latino/a children of immigrants. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 32, 346-368.
Marcia J. E. (1980). Identity in adolescence. In Adelson J. (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 159-187). New York, NY: John Wiley.
Masten A. S., Burt K. B., Roisman G. I., Obradovic J., Long J. D., Tellengen A. (2004). Resources and resilience in the transition to adulthood: Continuity and change. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 1071-1094.
Morrow S. L. (2005). Quality and trustworthiness in qualitative research in counseling psychology. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 250-260.
Moskovitz S. (1985). Longitudinal follow-up of child survivors of the holocaust. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 401-407.
Nguyen A. D., Benet-Martínez V. (2013). Biculturalism and adjustment: A meta-analysis. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44, 122-159.
Ogbu J. U., Simons H. D. (1998). Voluntary and involuntary minorities: A cultural-ecological theory of school performance with some implications for education. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 29, 155-188.
Olsen D. H., Russell C. S., Sprenkle D. H. (1983). Circumplex model of marital and family systems: VL Theoretical updates. Famliy Process, 22, 69-83.
Organista P. B., Organista K., Kurasaki K. (2003). The relationship between acculturation and ethnic minority mental health. In Chun K., Balls Organista P., Marín G. (Eds.), Acculturation: Advances in theory, measurement, and applied research (pp. 17-37). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Parke R. D., Buriel R. (2006). Socialization in the family: Ethnic and ecological perspectives. In Damon W., Lerner R. M., Eisenberg N. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (pp. 429-504). New York: Wiley.
Phinney J. S. (2006). Ethnic identity exploration in emerging adulthood. In Arnett J. J., Tanner J. L. (Eds.), Emerging adults in America: Coming of age in the 21st century (pp. 3-20). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Phinney J. S., Alipuria L. L. (1990). Ethnic identity in college students from four ethnic groups. Journal of Adolescence, 13, 171-183.
Phinney J. S., Horenczyk G., Liebkind K., Vedder P. (2001). Ethnic identity, immigration, and well-being: An interactional perspective. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 493-510.
Portes A., MacLeod D. (1996). Educational progress of children of immigrants: The roles of class, ethnicity, and school context. Sociology of Education, 69, 255-275.
Portes A., Rumbaut R. (2001). The forging of a new America: Lessons for theory and policy. In Rumbaut R. G., Portes A. (Eds.), Ethnicities: Children of immigrants in America (pp. 301-316). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
Portes A., Zhou M. (1993). The new second generation: Segmented assimilation and its variants. In Suárez-Orozco M., Suárez-Orozco C., Qin D. (Eds.), The new immigration: An interdisciplinary reader (pp. 58-101). New York, NY: Routledge.
Powers B.A., Knapp T.R. (1995). A dictionary of nursing theory and research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Qin D. B. (2006). “Our child doesn’t talk to us any more”: Alienation in immigrant Chinese families. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 37, 162-179.
Rana M., Qin D., Bates L., Luster T., Saltarelli A. J. (2011). Factors related to educational resilience among Sudanese unaccompanied minors. Teachers College Record, 113, 2080-2114.
Ressler E. M., Boothby N., Steinbock D. J. (1988). Unaccompanied children: Care and protection in wars, natural disasters, and refugee movements. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Schwartz B. (2000). Self-determination: The tyranny of freedom. American Psychologist, 55, 79-88.
Schwartz S. J. (2001). The evolution of Eriksonian and, neo-Eriksonian identity theory and research: A review and integration. Identity, 1, 7-58.
Schwartz S. J., Zamboanga B., Jarvis L. H. (2007). Ethnic identity and acculturation in Hispanic early adolescents: Mediated relationships to academic grades, prosocial behaviors, and externalizing symptoms. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13, 364-373.
Shaw J. (2003). Children exposed to war/terrorism. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 6, 237-246.
Shonkoff J., Phillips D. (2000). The challenge of studying culture. In Shonkoff J., Phillips D. (Eds.), From neurons to neighborhoods (pp. 57-69). Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Singer A., Wilson J. H. (2006). From “there” to “here”: Refugee resettlement in metropolitan America. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
Smetana J. G., Campione-Barr N., Daddis C. (2004). Longitudinal development of family decision making: Defining healthy behavioral autonomy for middle-class African Ameican adolescents. Child Development, 75, 1418-1434.
Steinberg L., Avenevoli S. (2000). The role of context in the development of psychopathology: A conceptual framework and some speculative propositions. Child Development, 71, 66-74.
Suárez-Orozco C. (2000). Identities under siege: Immigration stress and social mirroring among the children of immigrants. In Suárez-Orozco M., Suárez-Orozco C., Qin D. (Eds.), The new immigration: An interdisciplinary reader (pp. 58-101). New York, NY: Routledge.
Suárez-Orozco C., Suárez-Orozco M. M. (2001). The children of immigration in school. In Suárez-Orozco C., Suárez-Orozco M. (Eds.), Children of immigration (pp. 124-153). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Suárez-Orozco C., Suárez-Orozco M. M., Todorova I. (2010). Learning a new land: Immigrants students in American society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Sullivan S., Schwartz S. J., Prado G., Huang S., Pantin H., Szapocznik J. (2007). A bidimensional model of acculturation for examining differences in family functioning and behavior problems in Hispanic immigrant adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 27, 405-430.
Waters M. (1996). The intersection of gender, race, and ethnicity in identity development of Caribbean American teens. In Leadbeater B. J. R., Way N. (Eds.), Urban girls: Resisting stereotypes, creating identities (pp. 65-84). New York, NY: New York University Press.
Werner E. E., Smith R.S. (2001). Journeys from childhood to midlife: Risk, resilience and recovery. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
White M. J., Glick J. E. (2000). Generation status, social capital, and the routes out of high school. Sociological Forum, 15, 671-691.
Zhou M., Bankston C. L. (1998). Growing up American: How Vietnamese children adapt to life in the United States. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
Biographies
Desiree Baolian Qin is Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Michgian State University. Dr. Qin’s research focuses on understanding how immigration, culture, gender, and ecological contexts (e.g., family, school, and peer environments) impact adolescent and youth development.
Andy J. Saltarelli is an instructional designer in the Office of the Vice Provost for Online Learning at Stanford University. In both his research and instructional design activities, he seeks to better understand how social contextual factors – especially the presence of others – affect educational outcomes.
Meenal Rana is Assistant Professor in the Child Development department at Humboldt State University. Her research interests include contextual adolescent development in immigrant and refugee families, religious and cultural contexts of development; at-risk children; parent socialization and parent/child relations, and methods in Child Development.
Laura Bates works as an evaluator and research manager for the Office of the Associate Provost for University Outreach and Engagement, Michigan State University. She has managed several research projects focusing on risk and resilience among at-risk children and youth, including this study of Sudanese refugee youth.
Jung Ah Lee was a PhD student at Michigan State University. She currently works as an educator and researcher for parents and children at PCCPJ in South Korea. She has managed several programs for child’s development and parenting education.
Deborah J. Johnson is a researcher who emphasizes status-based, race, and culturally - related development, parental socialization and parent/child relations in early and middle childhood, and late adolescence. Domestic, immigrant and global contexts of adjustment have been of interest, including, African American, Black immigrant groups, Latino, Sudanese refugee and Indigenous Australian children, youth and families. Recent books (Slaughter, Stevenson, Arrington & Johnson, 2011) update the experiences of African American children and families in independent and private schools as well as vulnerable children in global settings (Johnson, Agbenyiga, & Hitchcock, 2013).
Cite article
Cite article
Cite article
OR
Download to reference manager
If you have citation software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice
Information, rights and permissions
Information
Published In
Article first published online: September 16, 2014
Issue published: March 2015
Keywords
Authors
Metrics and citations
Metrics
Journals metrics
This article was published in Journal of Adolescent Research.
VIEW ALL JOURNAL METRICSArticle usage*
Total views and downloads: 4746
*Article usage tracking started in December 2016
Articles citing this one
Receive email alerts when this article is cited
Web of Science: 18 view articles Opens in new tab
Crossref: 22
-
Acculturative Challenges and Opportunities Among Arab-Speaking MENA Re...
-
Participatory museum projects with refugee-background young people
-
Unaccompanied, but not alone: A systematic review of the influence of ...
-
Acculturation and Psychopathology
-
Arab American Acculturation and Ethnic Identity Across the Life Span: ...
-
Arab Refugees: Trauma, Resilience, and Recovery
-
Transnational family life of displaced unaccompanied minors – A system...
-
“We still keep our culture to stay alive”: acculturation and adaptatio...
-
Multidimensional Acculturation and Identity Re-Formation Processes Amo...
-
A systematic and integrative review of qualitative research exploring ...
-
Measuring Purpose in Life in College Students: An Assessment of Invari...
-
Transition Processes and Outcomes for Immigrant and Refugee Youth: a N...
-
African Refugee Youth’s Experiences of Navigating Different Cultures i...
-
A new life in Norway: The adaptation experiences of unaccompanied refu...
-
Strengths-based inquiry of resiliency factors among refugees in Metro ...
-
Exploring intergenerational communication and stress in refugee famili...
-
Reti sociali, strategie di acculturazione e benessere dei rifugiati in...
-
Transformative pedagogy: Dinka playgroups as spaces for cultural knowl...
-
Exploring ethnic identity and its development process among young adul...
-
Refugee youth in settlement, schooling, and social action: reviewing c...
-
Post-traumatic stress disorders, depression, and anxiety in unaccompan...
-
Critically Sex/Ed: Asking Critical Questions of Neoliberal Truths in S...
Figures and tables
Figures & Media
Tables
View Options
Get access
Access options
If you have access to journal content via a personal subscription, university, library, employer or society, select from the options below:
loading institutional access options
Alternatively, view purchase options below:
Purchase 24 hour online access to view and download content.
Access journal content via a DeepDyve subscription or find out more about this option.
