Introduction

The issue of bicultural identity has been on the rise especially due to increased globalization in the modern society. The increased globalization has lead to increasing in the number of immigrants who move from one country to another in search of green pastures. Bicultural identity can also be as a result of an adoption of a child by parents with different culture and language.  This means that an individual must adapt to both the dominant and home cultures within the identity (Jensen, n.d.). Victims of bicultural identity are expected to embrace values from the host and home culture and engage in positive intercultural exchange. In most cases, it is not easy for victims of bicultural identity to successfully understand and incorporate in the two cultures contained by a person’s self and consciousness (Fruhauf, 2009). However, this study will help us understand how different cultural and social settings can help through the adaptation process.

Cultural adaptation in development of bicultural identity

Bicultural and biculturalism have been used interchangeably to explain the adaptation process of the bicultural identity. Nevertheless, the two concepts should not be mistaken to mean the same since they have distinct definitions. Bicultural in most cases refers to situations of mixed parentage regardless of the actual personality (Fruhauf, 2009). It refers to the adaptability of two different cultures operative in one person and his ability to operate within the two cultures.

Acculturation is one of the important roles that bicultural identity is developed. This is a situation whereby a person is can adapt to another culture at any age. It is often possible for a person to have two or more native languages and cultures (Park, 2012). Defining a cultural identity takes the individual’s ability to compare the characteristics of two cultures and make a preferential choice. Adults have the capability of choosing the cultural route to follow. However, this is not the case for children since their culture is determined by family and social ties as we shall discuss in this chapter. On this note, cultural development and evolution should be encouraged and should not be like a brand.

Role of family, peers, and institutions to cultural development adaptation

Social pressures have a strong connection with the cultural adaptation and development of bicultural identity. The Social and cultural settings at which an individual is brought up plays a significant role in determining an individual’s identity. Or instance, the family forms the first the first social setting of the community that include the parents and siblings. Parents spend more time with their children and thus determine the pattern of enculturation in the early stage of the children development (Lu, n.d.). A child will tend to follow the trend in their family settings until maturity where one can choose consciously the direction to follow. This implies that an adopted child will have to adapt to the culture of the adopting family.

Social changes on psychological processes, social behaviors, and individual experiences are critical in cultural adaptation. For instance, the immigrants can develop their acculturation through the assimilation process. Assimilation refers to a situation whereby the immigrant identifies with the receiving culture. It is also common in instances where people adopt children from the different culture (Park, 2012). Adopted youth must strive to straddle effectively between their native, and new culture of the adopting family and assimilation seems the best bet. Bicultural competence of young adopted children is substantially determined by the parental characteristics of the adopting children.

Other social institutions such as schools, workplace, community and other social groups play a significant role in bicultural identity development. Different values, attitudes, and behaviors are adapted through a socializing process.  During the socialization process, victims of bicultural identity can easily integrate into the different cultural setting. Immigrants and adopted children may decide to identify themselves with both the native and new culture (Lozny, 2013). Cultural values and practices of the receiving group will be instrumental in the bicultural development. Integration means that an individual will strive to understand the different languages and cultures. On this note, issue of bilingualism and biculturalism become more evident.

Bicultural identity development involves understanding cultural beliefs and values, communication ability, bicultural efficacy and the ability to be grounded in both cultures. An individual’s ability to successfully meet the demand of the distinct culture can be influenced to a large extent by the peers of the bicultural identity (Park, 2012). Peer groups offer an individual an opportunity to learn the different cultural values as well as the new language. In the case of adopted children, one can learn a lot through playing games and other socializing activities with the age mates.  Through such social events, the bicultural identity individual can be able to understand his cultural roles in the larger society. Peers will enable an individual negotiate between the two distinct cultures.

The community as an institution is also critical in the development of biculturalism. The community has vast cultural knowledge and understanding different historical events. It is also worth to note that the community has a popular culture that may be related to awareness of culturally specific standards of behavior. It is on the premise of the vast knowledge of culture and cultural practices of the community that we cannot underscore its influence in cultural adaptation in bicultural identity (Rathod, Kingdon, Pinninti, Turkington & Phiri, n.d.). Bicultural individuals will learn a lot including languages and ethnicity through interacting with the community. The community as an institution is essential to the acculturation and enculturation process of bicultural identities.

Conclusion

The modern economy has resulted in increased globalization as people move all over the world in search of business opportunities and working experiences. It is for this reason that acculturation and biculturalism is a major area of concern in the society setting. Bicultural identity and bicultural competencies are critical especially in social work practice. Different socio-cultural background, acculturation pressures, and statuses can play a significant role in the workplace (Fruhauf, 2009). This is because there could be instances of interpersonal conflicts likely to emerge as a result of the different culture.

Bilingual and bicultural adaptation becomes of great concern in the social workplace. The bicultural individuals must learn to use the various development strategies such as integration and assimilation to the best interest of the social workplace. Nevertheless, it is also imperative that we understand the kind of biculturalism and bilingualism at stake. For instance, there are instances where it is difficult for the integration of the different cultures (Park, 2012). It is prudent to understand that some cultures are more accommodative while others are very harsh thus making it difficult to the social place. We should strive to ensure that we understand the positive and negative outcomes of bicultural identity. Psychological flexibility is essential for the social workplace (Fruhauf, 2009). This is because it gives an opportunity for the bicultural identity to select features of the two cultures and enhance their adaptability to different situations.

References

Fruhauf, C. (2009). Researching Families and Communities: Social and Generational Change Edited by R. Edwards. Journal Of Intergenerational Relationships, 7(4), 450-452. doi:10.1080/15350770903285353

Jensen, L. The Oxford handbook of human development and culture.

Lozny, L. (2013). Continuity and change in cultural adaptation to mountain environments. New York: Springer.

Lu, C. Skilled migration, expectation and reality.

Park, Y. (2012). The Influence of Original Family Relationship on School Adaptation of Children in Institutional Care- With a focus on the mediation effects of social support. Journal Of Community Welfare. doi:10.15300/jcw.2012.06.41.61

Rathod, S., Kingdon, D., Pinninti, N., Turkington, D., & Phiri, P. Cultural adaptation of CBT for serious mental illness.

 
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