عنوان

Aspects of upbringing influence assimilation among the children of European immigrants in Great Britain

TLets389801

Aspects of upbringing influence assimilation among the children of European immigrants in Great Britain

[Thesis]

Gorodeckis, Marina

Royal Holloway, University of London

1968

Ph.D.

Royal Holloway, University of London

1968

The present study makes use of several assumptions. Itwas considered that the cultural heritage of a group can beclassified into two broad categories: the intrinsic culture,which includes the basic cultural traits and constitutes thecore of a group's identity, and the extrinsic culture whichincludes the more peripheral traits. Assimilation takes placewhen the basic cultural traits are lost or substituted by othersunder conditions of culture contact.It was assumed that in order to understand the processof assimilation of a particular group of second-generationimmigrants in a particular country, the basic cultural backgroundof their parents must be taken into account. Further,it was assumed that the adults of the minority among whom thechild is growing up must be placed into their historicalcontext and their experiences as members of a particular timehave to be taken into consideration. Finally, it was consideredthat unless the second-generation immigrants. are studies asmembers of a particular social network, the understanding oftheir course of assimilation will be incomplete.The group chosen for this research was the Ukrainian minorityin Britain. Since the Ukrainians have been a minoritynation in their own country without, however, losing theirethnic identity, some basic factors of their political andsocial history are provided as a possible explanation forthis phenomenon. In addition, a summary of the social andpsychological effects of the Second World War on the Ukrainiangroup is provided. Some of the basic social problems encounteredby Ukrainians in their initial years in Britain, andtheir way of coping with them are described. The contemporarysocial structure and the distinctive Ukrainian way of organizingtheir ethnic life is discussed in detail. Particularattention is given to the institutions designed to promotethe retention of ethnicity among young Ukrainians.Further, the extent to whtch second-generation Ukrainiansadhere to their basic ethnic patterns of behaviour and theextent to which they identify themselves with their group,was stud~d inasample of children and adolescents. In addition,several hypotheses regarding the factors which promote theretention of ethnicity were tested. Among the factors foundto be significantly associated with the retention of ethnicityare the following: absence of intermarriage with the natives,provision of an ethnically meaningful environment in thefamily, and organized ethnic education and recreation.Finally, parent-child relations, attitudes towards theethnic group, and attitudes towards the majority were exploredand studied in relation to the factors responsible for theretention of an ethnic identity.

Intrinsic, extrinsic, culture, second generation

Gorodeckis, Marina

Royal Holloway, University of London

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y