Culture Shock Adaptation

In “Even Anthropologists Get Culture Shock” by Conrad Kottak p. 103, he talks about the culture shock he received during his first field experience as an anthropologist student in another country. The thesis of the article is Conrad’s first visit to Arembepe, Brazil and the culture shock he went through. The thesis is stated. “Brought up in one culture, intensely curious about others, anthropologist nevertheless experience culture shock, particularly on their first field trip.” I do feel that Conrad’s thesis was engaging. He was very descriptive and provided details on certain events that made me as a reader want to continue reading the article. The description he provided when he first arrived to Brazil and stepped off the plane to the smells

A sudden change in one’s surroundings can result in culture shock. Culture shock refers to the anxiety and surprise a person feels when he or she is discontented with an unfamiliar setting. The majority of practices or customs are different from what a person is used to. One may experience withdrawal, homesickness, or a desire for old friends. For example, when a person goes to live in a different place with unfamiliar surroundings, they may experience culture shock. Sometimes it is the result of losing their identity. In the article “The Phases of Culture Shock”, Pamela J. Brink and Judith Saunders describe four phases of culture shock. They are: Honeymoon Phase, Disenchantment Phase, Beginning Resolution Phase, and Effective

Cultural shock is a common feeling a person experiences when transitioning into a completely different environment and living situation. Throughout the world, immigrants experience many difficulties when assimilating into a new culture.

Culture shock is a term used to describe an individual whom experience stress, anxiety, or discomfort when they are placed in an unfamiliar cultural environment (9). There are many cases of student that travelled to foreign countries for studies, but for my experience when I came to Australia, I wasn’t really shock by the culture. When I arrive in this country, I could say that I was an open book, which I am still. As a future professional health practitioner learning and adapting to proper methods in healthcare, especially in Indigenous Aboriginal health centred care wouldn’t be a big challenge; and I would use what I’ve learn to help my patients effectively.

Firstly, the role of cultural competence in the nursing care of an Aboriginal client is significant. Culturally competent care is defined as “the explicit use of culturally

The outcome of cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity is cultural safety (Berg, 2010). In practicing cultural safety, it is not really expected that health care workers will know all cultures; it is acknowledging and respecting people regardless of their differences and beliefs (Hughes & Farrow, 2006). Moreover, nurses and other health professionals create cultural safe practice when the patients feel safe, respected and understood (Skellet, 2012), as well as if there is a shared understanding and acknowledgement of the unique identity and diversity. Health workers should always consider the cultural and historical background of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, because practicing cultural safety is significant to

In relation to Aboriginal health, this will require nurses to develop greater awareness of culture and the influences that affect it including racism, colonialism, historical circumstances, and the current political climate in which we live. Nurses working with aboriginal communities need to understand the history, socio-political climate and culture within the specific community (Foster, 2012). Nurses must emphasize the need for solutions that will strengthen cultural identity, identify and promote both existing and traditional sources of strength within First Nations communities, incorporate traditional healing methods, and rely on local control and self-direction by First Nations communities (Mareno & Hart, 2014). In addition to placing a high priority on cultural awareness, nurses should also understand the concept of respect in aboriginal terms and apply respect in all their encounters. Self-awareness of their own beliefs and assumptions are important in order for nurses to have an effective relationship with the community (Foster, 2012). It is important for nurses to reflect on their own cultural knowledge, awareness, skills, and comfort in encounters with a diverse population of

Culture shock is the feelings of alienation, hostility, heightened ethnocentrism, sense of loss, depression and/or self doubt that may result from immersion in a new culture.

Eckermann (2010), defines culture shock as segregation of two communities, creating conflict, inequality of rights, and inhuman treatment. Due to the divide, and Aboriginals being the minor group, they lost their identities and experienced tremendous stress and anxiety due to culture shock.

Pederson (7) explains that there are stages of culture shock, which he identifies as the honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment, and adaptation. In the honeymoon phase, a person is likely to get excited about being in a new place, meeting new people, tasting new foods, and acquiring new habits. However, as time passes by, they get into a phase of negotiation, where the differences between the culture one is used to and the one they find themselves in start to become apparent. Feelings of anxiety, anger, and frustrations start to take shape as unfavorable events perceived as strange come in the way of the person 's life, especially if a person does not feel accepted in the new culture (Mukherjee 273). Loneliness may set in, and the urge to go back to the familiar culture strongly comes into play. However, as time goes by, adjustment sets in, usually within six to twelve months, and one gets accustomed to the culture and also comes up with a routine. By this phase, one knows what is expected of them, and life once again becomes ‘normal.’

Hence, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander spirituality is defined as at the core of their being and identity Grant (cited in Muller, 2014). It originates from the deep sense of belonging to one’s country, and it gives meaning to all aspects of life, including relationship with one another (Poroch et al., 2009). Country “refers to everything, including land, air, water, stories of ‘dreaming’, being dynamic and multilayer, forming rules, norms and beliefs of existence between species and humans and ancestral beliefs” (Kingsley Townsend, Hender-Wilson & Bolam, p.683). Past policies and colonisation have displacement many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People from the connection to their country, language, culture, communities which has created social and health inequalities Gee et al (cited in Dudgeon et al, 2014). In addition has caused significant distress, powerless, integrational grief and trauma for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People to this day (Kingsley et al., 2013). Therefore the service delivery should aim to incorporate a holistic approach in addressing social-emotional wellbeing, as it knowledge’s the psychological distress impacted by colonisation (AIHW, 2009). Also, it addresses the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People meaning of health by providing services for social, emotional, spirituality and physical (NACCHO, 2016). Thus by providing a

Culture shock: a sense of confusion and uncertainty sometimes with feelings of anxiety that may affect people exposed to an alien culture or environment without adequate preparation. In “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls raised by Wolves” by Karen Russell and “The Management of Grief” by Bharati and Mukherjee, you see two unique examples of people coming into an unknown world to them and trying to figure it out. In Russell’s short story she tells us a story of a girl raised by wolves who is introduced to the human world along with her family. Mukherjee’s story tells us a story of a traditional Indian woman, who just lost her family to a tragic plane accident, and tries to find her new identity. Although Russell’s story is a fantasy unlike Mukhejee’s,

While working with a client from an Indigenous background, it imperative that a practitioner be culturally competent in order to ensure that the client’s culture is acknowledged and incorporated into the system of care provided (Cross, Bazron, Dennis, & Isaacs, 1989, p.1, in Herring et al., 2013). It also ensures that the practitioner is able to adapt his service to meet culturally specific needs of the client as culture plays a key role in the lives of Indigenous people.

The New World is chapter three of the book which picks up when the author receives a scholarship to Rice University in Houston, Texas. It is in Texas where Hoffman will receive her first bit of “Americanization”. Readers are able to experience how Eva changes as she goes through college and eventually attends Harvard. Although the author still has a slight Polish accent, her English is such that no one seems to notice anymore, and she is able to participate in even the most difficult conversations. Now Eva is at the Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency where she can communicate at a higher level of academic or professional skilled by utilizing literacy and cognitive skills (Cummins, 1989). Again, we see the theme of Bicultural Adaptation where Eva is able to acquire the competences necessary to succeed in new society, cultural code switching, and rather than distancing herself from everyone and everything, Eva became someone for herself and family.

In 2010, as my sisters-in-law and their families prepared to immigrate to the United States (U.S.), my husband and I did all we can to advise and assist them in getting ready for their long journey from Nigeria to the U.S. To our surprise, contrary to every advice we gave them, in preparation for life in the US, they started out with trying American fast foods of different kinds. Culture shock is expected for anyone who immigrates to the US, regardless of where they come from. The type(s) of help the person(s) gets on how to overcome it and their adherence, most often, determines the future outcome of life in their new country of residence.