Module 14
Cultural Adjustment and Readjustment: Application 7
Cross-cultural Communication (Attachment)
People who flee from their countries because of violence or other problems are called refugees. Refugees are usually placed in camps where they wait for several years for a chance to restart their lives. If they are allowed to resettle in another country, they have another huge challenge before them: they must learn how to live in a country which is very different from their home country. Each year, a large proportion of refugees are granted permission to resettle in the USA.
To help prepare them for the acculturation process they will experience, refugees usually go through some basic cultural orientation before they make the journey. Cultural orientation (CO) is taught through a combination of lectures and experiential learning activities that encourage learner participation, such as role plays, case studies, and brainstorming.
CO trainers face several challenges. One dilemma is the lack of time. There are many aspects of American culture to cover, so the instructors must choose the most important ones to teach refugees.
Another challenge is the diversity of the United States. Trainers must provide timely and accurate information that is useful for everyone, even though the refugees will live in different parts of the country and experience different cultural norms.
A third challenge is competing information. The refugees get information about life in the United States from many different sources. Often refugees have resettled friends and relatives who provide them with information that differs greatly from the information they get in CO classes. This can lead to confusion and exaggerated rumors about the resettlement process.
Attendance barriers are a fourth challenge. There are many different demands on refugees' time in the months and weeks before they leave for the United States. Because of these demands, and because refugees are not required to attend CO classes, programs put a lot of effort into keeping refugees informed about the availability and purpose of CO. It is also important to keep the refugees interested by designing activities that are engaging and not too long.
A fifth challenge is the lapse in time between training and departure. Months or even years can elapse between a refugee's CO training and departure for the United States. In the meantime, information is forgotten, other information comes from friends and family, and the important messages from cultural orientation training may be forgotten. To meet this challenge, some CO programs offer brief refresher courses to departing refugees that highlight the main messages of CO.
Examples of Cultural Orientation Activities for Refugees:
One of the important functions of cultural orientation programs is to prepare refugees for cultural stress. In one activity, participants are asked to write their name twice—once with their natural hand, and then with the other hand. This activity teaches refugees how it feels to re-learn some things, which is something they will surely have to do when they move to America.
Another activity, called “Who is an American?” is supposed to teach refugees that American has a very diverse society. For this activity, there are two types of photographs—one of Americans, and one of non-Americans. Usually, most of the Americans in the pictures are non-white, while most of the non-Americans shown are white (such as Europeans). When two pictures are held up, the participants must choose which one they think is the American. Usually they choose the picture of the white person, but they find out that they are incorrect. This teaches them that Americans can be of any color or ethnicity, not just the white, blue-eyed people commonly portrayed in the news and media.
A third exercise is a quiz for refugees about being on time. It asks questions like: When should you arrive for a doctor’s appointment? When should you arrive for a social event? How long should you stay at somebody’s house when you are over for dinner? This teaches refugees about the appropriate treatment of time in American culture. For example, they need to be on time for appointments, while it’s OK to be a bit late (but not too late) on social occasions. This quiz also teaches the concept of not leaving too early (in which case the host will be offended), but also not “overstaying your welcome” (staying at somebody’s house so long that they become uncomfortable).
Source: Text (adapted) and sample exercises from the Cultural Orientation Resource Center (www.cor.org/co/)
Discussion Questions
1. Do you think these are useful exercises for the refugees? Is there anything you would change about the exercises described above? (You do not have to write an answer to this question.)
2. Imagine that Thailand has decided to accept refugees for resettlement, and you have been asked to develop a cultural orientation activity. Dec