18  Understanding Intercultural Interaction: An Analysis of Key Concepts

the host society. Marginalised groups emerge where neither the original identity nor
relations with others has value, as a result of enforced cultural loss during the migra-
tion process and discrimination experienced in the host society. This group is consid-
ered to undergo the most acculturative stress in the transition.

Acculturation and the Host Society

Acculturation is a complex process and is also highly dependent on the policies and
attitudes to migration within the host society. This means that migrants do not always
have the choice about how the acculturation process evolves. Much depends on the
responsiveness of the dominant group in society to immigrant groups and their willing-
ness to adapt their way of life and national institutions to accommodate diversity. Four
possible outcomes have been identified in relation to these factors:
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✓✓ Melting pot – society absorbs minority groups into the mainstream to the
extent that they merge into an egalitarian society. This can create social ten-
sion, if groups seek greater recognition or seek to dominate, creating a ‘pres-
sure cooker’.
✓✓ Multiculturalism – society accommodates diversity and adapts institutions to
include minority groups in a pluralist society. While, in theory, no one group
dominates, in reality, the cultural perspective of the host society tends to dominate.
✓✓ Segregation – society discriminates against minority groups and keeps them
separate from mainstream institutions.
✓✓ Exclusion – society does not recognise minority groups and excludes them or
insists on assimilation.

Thus, the strategy adopted by non-dominant groups in larger societies, to a large extent,
depends on the policy adopted by the host society towards cultural diversity and its
openness towards adapting its values and institutions to accommodate alternative ways
of living. In this sense, a process of mutual accommodation is required.

Co-cultural Theory
Co-cultural theory (CoCT) focusses on the interactions of minority groups with the
dominant group in society in their strategies to be recognised and how they challenge
attempts to segregate or exclude them. CoCT identifies three possible goals for such
groups:

1.  Assimilation – to be recognised as part of mainstream culture, thereby aban-

doning their cultural origins.
2.  Accommodation – to become tolerated and integrated into mainstream cul-
ture, thereby becoming bi-cultural.
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3.  Separation – rejecting mainstream culture and pursuing community cohesion

around their original cultural origins.

In order to achieve these objectives, certain common communication styles have been
identified in the way that sub-groups function and deal with the dominant discourse of
society. These include three separate categories:

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 Acculturation 19

1.  Non-assertive – approaches to the dominant group by such methods as

increasing visibility, dispelling stereotypes, emphasising commonalities,
avoiding confrontation and so on.
2.  Assertive – ways of promoting group cohesion through such methods as com-
munication, emphasising strengths, networking, addressing stereotypes and
so on.
3.  Aggressive – ways of challenging the dominant group through such methods
as confrontation, disassociation, distancing, gaining advantage and so on.

CoCT contributes to a greater understanding of the communication strategies adopted

by non-dominant groups in order for them to best function in society according to their
objectives.

Analysis
While the concept of acculturation is useful in understanding the issues and processes
involved in migration, both from an individual and a society point of view, reducing
outcomes to a bi-dimensional model of four possibilities could be seen as static and
all-encompassing and it has been criticised for not taking into account complex indi-
vidual and contextual factors that accompany the acculturation process. It is not clear,
for example, what concepts such as integration or assimilation actually look or feel
like for each individual or community. Furthermore, it is likely that processes will vary
enormously depending on individuals, cultural origins, circumstances, context and so
on. While social groups can have a strong influence on individuals, they do not deter-
mine their behaviour, although it may be that individuals choose or are persuaded or
coerced into a strong affiliation and identification with their cultural group and the
response or strategy may seem homogeneous. It is important to take into account the
degree of acculturation on an individual basis and how individuals negotiate their own
acculturative trajectory and interculturality and relate to their new relations and their
origins. It is unlikely that cultural origins will be completely ‘shed’ or wholly replaced,
even across generations, and outcomes are likely to be patchy and diverse. Individuals
will experience the acculturation process in their own way, although empirical work
may show that certain groups are more likely to be discriminated against than others in
specific contexts.

Assignment

■■ Consider or interview someone from a minority group in your society and list the
circumstances of their acculturation and obstacles that they have faced.
✓✓ List and comment on the acculturation strategies that they have used.
✓✓ Comment on the how they view the outcome of their acculturation to their
new surroundings.
✓✓ To what extent is their acculturation trajectory personal or closely aligned
with their cultural group of origin?
■■ What do you think are the major contributors to successful acculturation
among immigrants? What role can the host society play? Give examples in your
answer.

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 20  Understanding Intercultural Interaction: An Analysis of Key Concepts

Further Reading
Berry, J.W. 1997. Immigration, acculturation and adaptation, Applied Psychology: An
International Review, 46(1), 5–34.
Berry, J.W. 2006. Stress perspectives on Acculturation. In Acculturation Psychology, Eds
D.L. Sam and J.W. Berry, pp. 43–57, CUP, Cambridge.
Orbe, M.P. and Spellers, R.E. 2005. From the margins to the center: Utilizing co-culture
theory in diverse contexts. In Ed W.B. Gudykunst, Theorizing About Intercultural
Communication, pp. 173–192, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Schwartz, S.J., Unger, J.B., Zamboanga, B.L. and Szapocznik, J. 2010. Rethinking the
concept of acculturation, American Psychologist, 65(4), 237–251.

Also See

➢➢ Cross-Cultural Adjustment
➢➢ Cultural Hybridity
➢➢ Cultural Identity
➢➢ Culture Contact
➢➢ Culture Shock
➢➢ Interculturality
➢➢ Multiculturalism
➢➢ Socialisation and Enculturation
➢➢ Third Culture Identity (TCI)

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