Abstract
John Berry, a Canadian social psychologist, has developed a theoretical framework regarding the psychological concept of acculturation. Two main acculturation processes exist in Cross Cultural Psychology: integration and assimilation. Berry argues that integration is not the only mode of acculturation chosen by migrants. But according to Berry, assimilation has not succeeded in the world and if one society tries to apply it, it will cause a strong resistance and a social conflict.
The current migrants, contrary of those at the beginning of the 20th century, do not come with qualifications which improve the economy and the culture of the host country. The "cultural distance" engenders with different values and behaviors, and sometimes they are accompanied with "not-compatible cultures". In order not to find these migrants in Lumpenproletariat (which can create significant social risks), society has to assimilate those who are recognized as assimilable, and has to prevent the immigration of the others.
Is integration more favorable than the other acculturation processes? What is Berry's point of view about this subject? On which empirical data can we rely on?
I will present a summary of Berry's theory, including what has been said in "Cross-cultural psychology: Research and applications". I will analyze the advantages and disadvantages of acculturation processes, given the mental health of migrants and by presenting the case for the host countries.
Firstly, Berry introduces the concept of psychological acculturation, which defines the individual changes that happen when someone goes off to live in another country ("the adaptation"). In theory, the changes between the involved groups are mutual, but in practice, it often happens that a group (the "host group") has a stronger influence than the non-dominating group (the migrants group called the "acculturation group").
