Accommodation, acculturation & assimilation are the stages of social interactions results when two or more racial groups having different cultural identities come in contact. These stages show how relations between various cultural or racial groups evolves passing through different stages explained by “Race Relation Cycle“
Accommodation Vs acculturation
“Accommodation” is the third stage of “race relation cycle” by Robert Park. “Accommodation” refers to the process where individuals or groups maintain their distinct cultural practices and beliefs while still coexisting with others.
It involves mutual respect, tolerance, and the creation of an inclusive environment.He suggested four stages of social interactions between two different racial groups in the urban social life before harmonious coexistence or assimilation.
Acculturation: meaning and examples
Acculturation, on the other hand, refers to the process where individuals or groups adopt the cultural practices and values of the dominant culture while still maintaining aspects of their own culture. It involves a two-way exchange of cultural knowledge and practices.
Simply put, Acculturation allows for cultural integration and the creation of a multicultural society where individuals can embrace both their own cultural heritage and the values of the dominant culture.
Understanding the Race Relation Cycle
Robert Ezra Park (February 14, 1864 – February 7, 1944) was an American urban sociologist who is considered to be one of the most influential figures in early U.S. sociology.
Park was a pioneer in the field of sociology. He coined the term human ecology. He made significant contributions to the study of urban communities, race relations and the development. It was the first systematic attempt to account for the origins and evolution of group relationships.
As per his findings when the two different racial groups interact through immigration, they follow a definite pattern of interactions like:
- Contact,
- Cooperation,
- Competition,
- Conflict,
- Accommodation,
- Assimilation.
Accommodation meaning and definition
According to Park, “Accomodation” means a systematic adjustment between dominant and dominated groups in the hierarchical order. Actually, accommodation has many forms that I am going to explain here.
In reality, groups in conflict can’t make it as a perpetual venture but have inclination to reconciliation at certain cost.
Types and examples of accommodation
So, the forms of accommodation may be reconciliation on conditions, compromise, subordination, subjugation etc. Simply, dominant one ready to live with other on conditions that they are ready to accept terms.
Such accommodation can’t be equal or even as they have theirs own distinct beliefs, norms, memories, experience, ways of life and livelihood. Therefore, the dominant can’t let immigrants to encroach in theirs habits.
Dominant vs dominated in accommodation
Most importantly, it is not customary that immigrants are subject to subjugation or subordination. In the age of imperialism and colonial times, immigrants were dominant everywhere and ruled dominated.
Almost all sociologist agree that after certain period of time, this discriminatory interactions will merge in the near future unifying social system with similar memories, experience, attitudes, beliefs and ways of life. But, fault will remain active to resurface occasionally.
Examples of accommodation
Accommodation meaning and definition can’t be crystal clear without proper examples.
- American slavery
- Indian cast system
- African apartheid
- Sri Lankan Tamil etc.
Explaining acculturation with stages
Among different stages explained by Park, cultural adaptation or acculturation in society isn’t a sudden or automatic outcome but it is a time bound and conscious process.
In today’s globalising society, the various movements like migration, immigration and inter-mixing among different racial and ethnic groups are inevitable. Because, people always be in the search of land of opportunities anywhere possible for them.
Therefore, in this process of adapting to the new world, many things either favourable or adverse happen with them. One of them is acculturation in society that I’m going to discuss here.
List of Stages of Acculturation in society
Various sociologists, anthropologists came up with many cultural adaptation models in the recent centuries. An average, they accepted that cultural adaptation or acculturation in society isn’t a sudden or automatic but a time bound and conscious process.
Stages of adaptation or acculturation
- Honeymoon or surprise at first sight
- Negotiation or initial response
- Maneuvering to adjustment
- Accommodation
- Adaptation
Honeymoon, negotiation, maneuvering or adjustment,accommodation, and adaptation are the major stages of acculturation one could observe and experience as a immigrant in the society with different cultures.
If a person of different origin in terms of culture, moves or migrate to another region in search to realize aspirations, he or she has to know, understand, and be accustomed to the newer ways of life in the region that is different from where he migrated.
1.Honeymoon or initial response — first stage of acculturation
It is the first time experience when a person faces elements of culture completely new for him. Simply, a surprising moment at first sight of contact. In the honeymoon stage the person hardly able to know the exact state of condition like how to interact, eat, behave, gesture etc.
2.Negotiation to avoid conflict — second stage of acculturation
Once you know where you are going to face difficulties or inconvenience, instead to challenge, you make efforts to prove how your ways of living life are more comfortable comparatively. And, others have better advantage too in following.
But, it is too difficult to convince people in majority to agree with you despite merits in your claims. Hence, you remain on the mercy of either to adjust quickly or compromise in favor of your opponents.
3.Adjustment or compromise — third stage of acculturation
Psychologically, you can’t carry on conflict beyond a certain limit. So, at certain point, you can’t ignore the option of adjustment to the newer ways of life thought not completely. Slowly but steadily, you start accepting food, language, dressing, gestures, and so on to be like others. This is the last stage before assimilation or adaptation.
5. Adaptation or cultural integration
If you once become accustomed to what you used to oppose earlier, you wishfully ready to internalize the cultural elements there as part of your living. But, it is not that easy as it may not be level playing field or win-win for both conflicting parties.
In this case, the adaptation take different forms from partial compromise to subordination of dominated. Most of the time, recipient are the victims of dominant locals on the basis of majority. Or, it may be otherwise as well.
Cultural assimilation–important stage in social interactions
This is the third stage of social interactions in the process of explaining accommodation, acculturation and assimilation.
Cultural assimilation is a process of adapting or internalizing cultural elements that are different from where you came.
By doing so, it is upon you whether you want to make it as optional or permanent. Largely, minority groups is subject to adapt the cultural identities of majority to avoid conflicts.
Explanation of cultural assimilation
Once the conflicting parties or groups exhaust of never ending conflicts over the supremacy of dominance of culture, they begin to adjust and accommodate with the newer ways of the life.
Though cultural assimilation sounds like exact similarity or uniformity of cultures in contact, it is more or less compromise between them to ensure coexistence.
Cultural integration Vs assimilation Vs acculturation
Simply, cultural assimilation means becoming alike of other by practicing theirs ways of life like language, lifestyle, gesture, behavior, celebrations. But, as I stated earlier that these assimilation can’t be an ideal affair but with shades of grey.
Most of the time, group that is going to integrate majority cultural elements hardly quit the older but retain and practice on their own. It is called cultural integration.
Acculturation is slight different from cultural integration. In the process of acculturation, person or group in question learns or adapt the cultural practices of majority one without conserving theirs earlier. In this case, they loose theirs own in the process of learning newer in course of time.
So, cultural assimilation is a general social term used to indicate cultural relative similarities between different groups. It always happens whenever there is immigration or contacts between different culture.
Last thought on accommodation accumulation and assimilation,
Accommodation, accumulation and assimilation are the results of the social interactions due to immigration of different racial or cultural groups.
It is a true that employment opportunities are not confined within the political boundaries of any country in the age of technological explosion.
Immigration is a product of promising opportunities outside the country. Hence, large numbers of labours constantly enter in the developed nations.
In this process, they bring theirs own racial or cultural identities with them.
As per Park, urban sociologists” “Accomodation” means a systematic adjustment between dominant and dominated groups in the hierarchical order.
Honeymoon, negotiation, maneuvering or adjustment accommodation, and adaptation are the major stages of acculturation. These are experienced by the immigrants in other societies.
And, third is cultural Assimilation. It indicates cultural relative similarities between different groups. Also, It always happens whenever there is immigration or contacts between different culture.
This is all about the accommodation, acculturation and assimilation.
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