Culture Shock In The United States

In my own opinion, culture shock refers to the symptoms produced when a person is subjected to a dissimilar environment. Traveling to a foreign country is an extreme example of a time and place where one might experience these symptoms; but they can occur from slight changes too. For example, starting a new job, traveling to a neighboring state or town within the state you live. I personally remember feeling these emotions when I left for college.

There are many ways for people from other countries to adjust to living in the United States. There are also things that immigrants think they have to do to fit in. In this essay I will include the best ways for immigrants to adjust to American culture. I will also include challenges immigrants face to fit in in America. Finally, I will include what immigrants do to adapt to America.

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.

As an immigrant child that was brought here to the United States when I was a child, I definetly had culture shocks from both sides. Growing up, Ive had seen people telling Mexican immigrants “Go back go Mexico, where you belong”. As a child that was born in Mexico but that grew up in the United States, I felt like I did not know where I belong. At the moment, I experienced three cultures; Mexican, American, and Japanase Culture. When I was about fifeteen years old I had encounterd culture shocks from my mexican and american cultures. It allowed me to change my way of thinking, that has benefited me since. Also, the affects of culture shock has lead to a positive change in my culture attitude.

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.

For immigrants in America, two radically different choices of culture exist. First, the immigrants can choose to stay loyal to their ancestral roots and deny mainstream culture. Instead of contributing to the melting pot of opinions present they isolate within themselves by refusing to learn both the English language and American culture as a whole. Because they cannot communicate with a majority of the population, they don’t maintain any amount of control over American ideals including both politically and socially. The second opportunity available would be to embrace this new found culture, no matter how foreign it is to them, and develop a sense of unity with America. If immigrants wish to break the currently controlled system of power and privilege in America and truly become a part of American customs, they must learn to assimilate culturally.

Recent data have cited that Asian Americans are the fastest-growing ethnic community in the United States. As a result, the United States will experience developing and new societal changes. This introduces the urgency for cultural competence. Cultural competence is the ability to communicate and work with multicultural and diverse people. Therefore, this capability will help accommodate for the expanding society. By being able to learn and discuss topics concerning racial relations, this can lead to stronger connections being formed with communities outside of our own.

A time I experienced culture shock was when I was seventeen years old, within my own country just states away from all I knew,Southern California, to a different, less diverse south- Louisiana. My experience may not be too extreme considering the United States holds many of the same values across the country, but one cannot argue that it is culturally different in other aspects that will support my shock. Up until age 17, I had lived in cities only within Southern California being exposed to a life of learning appreciation for diversity. Then came a drastic move to a rural,small town near the swamps, and their lifestyle was obviously different yet so similar because, well it is America and as a whole we’re unified. My cultural assumptions gave

1. Culture shock- The disorientation that people experience when they come in contact with a fundamentally different culture and can no longer depend on their taken for granted assumptions about life. Pg. 35

As the beginning the definition of Cultural Assimilation is when a community or a community are integrated into a majority group (dominant) and have the opportunity to acquire the same characteristics or habits. So, the community that integrates most end up losing or relegating its specificity.

I think that the article was very interesting and it opened my eye up to a topic I that I never realized had such presence in our society. Overall I liked the article as I enjoy learning about Human Geography and the essence of human nature. I learned that Hispanics have the greatest ability to integrate into our culture than any other cultural group. This can be for a number of reasons and it really just adds to the notion of the general integration of the worlds people into one unified front. I could add to it maybe by bringing in knowledge about other culture’s assimilation into American culture and how they also changed, and redefined it was a whole. I found it very fascinating how the department was able to go around and ask these various

In the last quarter century, immigration has become a widely debated topic in both politics and government. However, it might not be the amount of immigration or policies on immigration that Americans are concerned about but rather immigrants assimilating into American culture. According to a Pew Research Center survey done in 2017, when asked what makes someone “truly American”, around 90 percent of respondents said you couldn’t be “truly American” unless you spoke English, while 85 percent said it was important to “share American customs and traditions.” This is where the problem lies. Americans can’t see assimilation happening with first generation immigrants and therefore assume that assimilation isn’t happening. However, when analyzing

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.

Culture Shock has played a tremendous role in the growth of cultural ecology because it is an issue that is constantly growing all over the world. In the United States, it may not seem like things are changing involving culture shock, but it is not any different then the changes in places like Africa and China for example. It is developing equally across the world because there are now more ways to travel. So, what exactly is culture shock anyways? Well, it is known as going to a foreign or unfamiliar territory that one is not used to, so they may feel symptoms of anxiety such as nervousness or shock because the customs, actions, beliefs, etc of those people may not seem familiar to them, so one may feel ill-prepared for the changing environment. Also, for example, if one was to go to school in the U.S. but came from China, they would feel culture shock because the rules in China are not the same as rules in the U.S. and so it may make one feel uneasy about the situation because they are not use to change and maybe the move was to quick for them to adjust properly. The United States is very different from foreign areas because the culture is very different. Where have people of Africa seen movie productions, music, sports, universities, iPhones, computers, etc? The answer is not where they live but in the United States if they traveled there before. This is exactly the issue with culture shock in ecology. Culture is what people behave like, feel, and do. Shock is a symptom