Process of Enculturation to a subculture in a banking environment

Process of Enculturation to a subculture in a banking environment

The enculturation process of a subculture involves a subgroup of a community learning groups culture through instruction observation and experience. The learning helps the subgroup to become fully assimilated in the community. Enculturation results in identity change in conformity with the community. Black African immigrants in America from multicultural backgrounds have had to develop several enculturation strategies to cope and navigate in multicultural America.

Assimilation and separation and integration are the most common inculturation strategies by immigrants.

Integration

This is a cultural exchange where a subculture takes the practices and the beliefs of a community without discarding their own culture. This is necessary where the subgroup is intent on retaining the original religion while at the same fitting in well in socio-economic settings of their new environment. This is common in the United state with immigrant africans who speak their local language at home and watch Television networks that air programs in their local or vernacular languages. (Chavez-Korell et al.,2012)The immigrants are intent on preserving their original culture. Since some cultural practices are shared between the original and the new culture the subgroup e.g., generosity in the community ends up integrated into the larger community culture

Assimilation

Immigrants use absorption to adapt to the United States mainstream culture. They take time to learn and practice American culture through observation. For example, Immigrants from Namibia from the Kun community believe that praising a person who has achieved highly may make them proud and arrogant. Culture in this community requires that such people not be recognized but be shown that they have not done much. If a person goes hunting and comes home with a huge game, they should be told that they brought home bones only. However, in America, high achievers are highly adorned and encouraged to do more. An immigrant from Namibia to America has to get assimilated into the new culture to fit in. Most Kenyan communities have a deserving attitude. Culture has raised them to believe they don’t have to be grateful for what others do for them as they perceive to deserve acts of kindness. When they come to the United States, they have to learn to be thankful by assimilation (Cokley, K., & Helm, K. 2007).

Separation

Geographical and social separation of the Black African American plays a crucial role in promoting their enculturation. Enculturation is mostly a psychological process. The fact that immigrants are not in frequent contact with their people and things that remind of their original culture but instead are continually observing, practicing and interacting with different community promotes separation from their authentic culture to a new of life. (Zimmerman et al.,1996)The immigrants have to learn and practice new language accent, food, workplace names that unconsciously and gradually replace their old cultural practices. Separation is especially useful if the new culture is held with higher esteem than the older culture.

Conclusion

Bidimensional acculturation is faster and more effective. This where a subgroup of a community joins a more significant community and one deemed to be more advanced. The subculture group has to work hard to catch up with the bigger community by all means to fit in. This is the case with  Black American immigrants from Africa. Enculturation starts with separation, integration, and later assimilation.

Chavez-Korell, S., & Vandiver, B. J. (2012). Are CRIS cluster patterns differentially associated with African American enculturation and social distance?. The Counseling Psychologist, 40(5), 755-788.

Cokley, K., & Helm, K. (2007). The relationship between African American enculturation and racial identity. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 35(3), 142-153.

Zimmerman, M. A., Ramirez-Valles, J., Washienko, K. M., Walter, B., & Dyer, S. (1996). The development of a measure of enculturation for Native American youth. American journal of community psychology, 24(2), 295-310.