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Cultural Assimilation In The United States

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Per psychology.com, Cultural assimilation refers to the assimilation of cultural patterns, including language and value systems. Structural assimilation refers to the assimilation of non-native-born individuals and their families into the structural customs of American society, including intermarriage. In the past, cultural and structural assimilation has been seen as necessary to the economic and social health of the country, but also as a process by which non-native-born individuals and families merge themselves into American mainstream society. Assimilation is the process by which immigrants become part of the mainstream culture of their new country, lessening the differences between immigrants and native-born Americans. Research often …show more content…

In what I have read while reading in depth about cultural assimilation, sociologists commonly distinguish between forced and unforced assimilation. In forced assimilation, a person or group is required to take on the practices of another culture, such as by adopting that culture's language and religious traditions. In spontaneous assimilation, a person takes on the practices of another culture but is not forcibly compelled to do so. Sociologists use the concept of assimilation to describe one way a person or group of a particular culture (such as immigrants) might respond to or blend with another culture, or how a minority cultural group might relate to a dominant cultural group. I identify with both parts of cultural assimilations, as an immigrant, coming to the U.S and blending to two cultures in my case was a process, I had to learn the language, learn new display rules and new ways of life. For example, I learned the term “personal space”. In my native culture, we do not have a sense of space or boundaries and that is general of the Latino. Latinos tend to be on each other space and it is socially acceptable. A basic feature of the Hispanic/Latino American family is the extended family, which plays a major role in each family …show more content…

Older adults or those who come to work sometimes two or three jobs may not adapt as easily and live in a Frozen Culture. This is also true of those of us who want to preserve some of our identity and traditions while learning about our new culture. Per our textbook on page 210, the term Frozen Culture is being developed by American counselor Yola Ghammashi. The concept is used to describe the lives and experiences of many adult immigrants within their new homelands. Some immigrant adults after they settle in a new country continue to maintain most of the costumes, speech patterns, beliefs, and emotional attachments similar to what they had before immigrations. It goes in depth to explain that immigrants deliberately speak their old language, maintain most cultural habits, and resist learning or adapting to different cultural norms while their home country transforms over time. Customs, fashion, and speech patterns might change. Yet these immigrants continue to live in a self-created culture of the

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