Abstract
Multiple disciplines have contributed to acculturation research with aims to measure, conceptualize, and theorize this complex phenomenon. Few studies, however, have attempted to find meaning in how acculturation is lived and, this lack may have contributed to acculturation being understood as a construct removed from human experience. The purpose of this article is to show how a research methodology based on phenomenological epistemology can humanize the understanding of the acculturation experience. This contribution is demonstrated in a study that used a phenomenological approach to describe and elucidate acculturation as a lived experience in the context of Latina adolescents who emigrated from Mexico to the US. Thus, this article illustrates how the phenomenological approach used in this study allows new meanings of acculturation to be experientially revealed.
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Notes
The term Latina refers exclusively to females who are from a Latin American country or identify with Latin American ancestry. I use it to designate the participants in this study. This referent is a shortened version of the longer descriptor—Mexican immigrant female adolescents. For the purpose of this study, the participants unanimously agreed that the term Latina was appropriate.
The society of origin refers to the country or region an immigrant moves from.
The society of settlement refers to the country or region an immigrant moves to and settles in.
I selected the word girl as a referent for the participants in this study. For the purpose of this study, the participants unanimously agreed that the term girl was appropriate.
The lifeworld is a central concept in phenomenology. It refers to the everyday absorption in one’s life, in which individuals do not consider their biases, presumptions, or prejudices; it is a pre-reflective state of being.
Alfred Schutz wrote the essay “The Stranger: An Essay in Social Psychology” soon after he immigrated to the US as an adult. In the essay, “the stranger” is viewed as an interpreter of cultural patterns.
Living relationally refers to experiencing the world through interpersonal relationships as well as through the relationship one has with culture.
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Skuza, J.A. Humanizing the Understanding of the Acculturation Experience with Phenomenology. Hum Stud 30, 447–465 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-007-9073-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-007-9073-6