Strategies And The Challenges Of The Acculturation Model By John Berry

Chapter II

Concept and Theoretical framework

This chapter will explore the theoretical framework for this study. The author employed the acculturation model by John Berry to examine the challenges and the adaptation strategies of Cameroonian immigrant parents raising their children in a country whose culture and law are incompatible with those of their home country. The acculturation model provides the framework through which the research question is answered and the objectives of the research attained. The author’s choice of this model is embedded in the conviction that, it better analyses the behaviour of immigrants adapting to a culture/environment different from their previous which includes these Cameroonian immigrant parents in Germany

There is scientific evidence that, the parenting style in which a child is raised affects his/her physical and psychological development in the future. (Work in Progress……)

2.2 Theoretical Framework

Acculturation is a concept that underscores cultural transition or change as a result of migration. The concept explores the adaptability of individuals who have developed in one cultural environment and how they manage to accommodate themselves into a new cultural context as a result of migration (Berry, 1997). Redfield, Linton and Herskovits (1936) cited by Berry (1997) argues that acculturation comprehends those phenomena which result when individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact with subsequent changes in the original cultural pattern of either or both groups. Some individuals or groups get into the process of acculturation voluntarily such as immigrants and refugees as a result of migration to a new destination, while it is brought unto others by a

Eventually, they fall under the migrant category to Berry's classification, implying their choice to undergo the process of acculturation was voluntary as a result of the fact they migrated to Germany. Therefore, they are faced with the complexities of interacting with two cultures simultaneously and the inevitable challenges that accompanies it which cannot be undermined. Thus, in this process of acculturation, these Cameroonian parents may devise adaptation strategies such as separation, assimilation, integration and marginalisation as suggested by Berry (1997) to gain a mastery of their new cultural