Community multiculturalism and immigrant crime

There is considerable international and local-level variation in immigrant crime. In this article, we propose a theoretical model to better understand that contextual variation. Furthermore, we present the results of our first attempts to empirically assess the validity of the framework, focussing on local-level variation in crime among residents of Turkish or Moroccan origin in the Netherlands. The proposed model connects Berry's acculturation theory to criminological theories, using relevant findings from the immigration acculturation literature as starting points. It theorises that host societies with a ‘multicultural acculturation orientation’ tend to reduce immigrant crime by fostering informal social control and attenuating criminogenic strains. The empirical analyses explore whether local-level variation in multicultural attitudes among the native-Dutch indeed predicts municipal variation in the number of registered suspected crimes among first- and second-generation immigrants, focussing on men of Turkish or Moroccan origin residing in 35 Dutch cities. The empirical analyses are based on a unique database that combines aggregated survey data, which were used to measure natives’ acculturation attitudes, with administrative microdata, including micro-level police data. Evidence is found for a protective effect of local-level multiculturalism for first-generation immigrant crime in particular, especially for immigrant men living in larger local immigrant communities. We also find stronger effects for the more cohesive and societally accepted Turkish-Dutch group than for the more fragmented and excluded Moroccan-Dutch.

Intergroup Contact, Intergroup Anxiety, and Attitudes towards the Opposing Group in Divided Society

The negative attitudes and negative emotions play a key role in maintaining the hostilities between the groups of a divided society. Evidence suggests that intergroup contact can improve or worsen intergroup attitudes. The current study examined the mediating role of intergroup anxiety on quantity of interethnic contact and acculturation attitudes and emotional responses to contradictory conflict narratives in a divided society with a background of armed conflict in the past. The study was conducted among 202 Albanians and 239 Serbs in Kosovo. The results indicate that as more as they meet members of the opposing group the less they feel intergroup anxiety and the more they show acculturation attitudes towards the opposing group among both Albanians and Serbs. However, such mediating role of intergroup anxiety was not found on emotional responses to contradictory conflict narratives, except among Serbs who live in certain enclaves. The findings are discussed in terms of context, reconciliation, and maintenance of frozen conflict.

The Influence of Acculturation Strategies, Ethnic Identity and Cultural Distance on the Socio-cultural Adaptation of Arab Students

Background. Adaptation to the educational space of a university is a process that is a prerequisite and a way of socialization, allowing international students to actively engage in various elements of the social environment. This process can be made more complicated as a result of existing linguistic, every day, climatic, intercultural, interethnic, and motivational barriers. This research studies the relationship between acculturation strategies, socio-cultural adaptation, ethnic identity, cultural distance among students from arabic countries (Morocco, Syria, Egypt).Methods. The questionnaire included scales for assessing acculturation attitudes, ethnic identity, cultural distance, and sociocultural adaptation. The following techniques were used during the study: methodology of J. Finney, measuring the severity of ethnic identity (Phinney, 1992; Phinney & Ong, 2007), scales for measuring cultural distance (Wark & Galliher, 2007), questionnaire measuring acculturation strategies for migrants (Berry, 1997; Berry, 2005), scales for measuring sociocultural adaptation (Ward, Kennedy, 1999). The overall number of respondents was 248 (56 from Syria, 84 from Egypt, 108 from Morocco). The average age of the respondents is 28 years (min – 20, max – 34 years).Conclusion. Using correlation and regression analysis, we found that cultural distance is interconnected with sociocultural adaptation. However, among young migrants from arabic countries,ethnic identity and acculturation strategies are not linked to sociocultural adaptation. As a whole, our research shows the specific of adaptation of young arabs in relation to their host country.

A Qualitative Exploration of Acculturation Practices of Pakistani Scholars in Dutch Society

The psychosocial adaptation of international scholars is a growing area of inquiry in social sciences. Currently, almost 47,164 Pakistani international scholars are enrolled in various universities worldwide but there is a dearth of literature concerning their psychosocial adjustment. This qualitative inquiry focuses on Pakistani graduate and postgraduate international scholars’ insights concerning their adaptation practices in Dutch culture and society. The study is grounded in a sociocultural adaptation model. The primary data was collected through in-depth interviews with ten Pakistani international students who are currently registered in three Dutch universities. The seven central themes that emerged out of in-depth interviews were the perception of cultural disparity, linguistic challenges, limited interaction with host nationals, discrimination, difficulties practicing religious obligations, acculturation attitudes, and participants’ coping strategies applied during the adjustment process. The findings of the current study highlight both barriers and protective factors within the scope of theoretical assumptions and literature. The current study contributes to the gap in the available literature concerning Pakistani international scholars’ experiences. A limited number of studies have discussed acculturation practices of Muslim students and from a specific region. The present findings would be useful for Pakistani international scholars who intend to study abroad and the administration of the host universities receiving Pakistani international scholars to facilitate their adjustment to the new context.

Intercultural Attitudes as Predictors of Student’s Prejudices Towards Refugees

One of the major challenges for modern western societies is the reduction of prejudice in order to achieve a sufficient level of integration of immigrants and especially refugees. The current literature thus presents a multitude of approaches to understand and reduce prejudices. Therefore, the following paper investigates the relationships between ethnic identity, acculturation attitudes, intercultural competence, and prejudice and how contact experiences shape these relationships for students in Germany with and without migration background. The results show that there is a significant relationship between prejudice and the social identity, cultural intelligence, and acculturation strategies. Furthermore, the results indicate that the experienced contact quality and quantity to refugees moderate the effect of acculturation strategies on overt prejudice and xenophobia. However, the relationship between acculturation strategies and covert prejudice is only moderated by contact quantity. Because of the relatively weak manifestations of the dependent variables in the study at hand, alternative instruments should be used for investigation. Based on the obtained results, this paper finally tries to give some guidance for the facilitation of diversity and reduction of prejudice at higher education institutions.

Acculturation Attitudes and Psychological Well-Being of Russians in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan: The Moderating Role of Perceived Security

More than 400 thousand Russians remain in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan after the collapse of the USSR. They have to adapt to the changing conditions, and it is important to study the factors that determine their psychological well-being. This study focuses on the moderating role of perceived security in the relationship between acculturation attitudes and psychological well-being of the Russians in the two Central Asian countries. The sample included 578 respondents. In the study, we used scales from the MIRIPS questionnaire and carried out analysis using the moderation models 1 and 3. The results showed that for the Russians in both countries, when perceived security was low, separation attitudes promoted self-esteem, while assimilation attitudes decreased it. The study also revealed the role of the context: in Tajikistan (less favorable context for the Russians), assimilation attitudes contributed to life satisfaction in situations of high perceived security, while in Kyrgyzstan (more favorable context) it was integration attitudes that determined life satisfaction when perceived security was high or medium. We may conclude that the context determines the preference of acculturation strategy that provides the Russians with life satisfaction in the situation of perceived security: the assimilation strategy in Tajikistan, and the integration strategy in Kyrgyzstan.

Στρατηγικές επιπολιτισμού Αλβανών και Ινδών μεταναστών στην Κρήτη

The aim of this study was to explore the factors related to the acculturation strategies of first generation Albanian and Indian immigrants in Greece. On the basis of Berry’s acculturation model (1997), immigrants’ demographic characteristics, factors related to intercultural contact (ethnic identity and perceived discrimination) and self-esteem were examined, regarding the acculturation strategies of integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization. The findings indicated that immigrant’s ethnicity differentiated all four acculturation attitudes, with the Indians falling mostly into separation and Albanian participants into integration. The factors of intercultural contact, inconjunction with demographic factors, predicted integration, assimilation, and separation. On the contrary, in the case of marginalization, immigrants’ demographic characteristics and self-esteem were significant, indicating a negative relationship between marginalization and self-esteem. Furthermore, perceived discriminationwas related positively to separation and negatively to integration. These results are discussed on the basis of Berry’s acculturation model and the rejection-identification model, suggesting that possibly immigrantswith pronounced cultural differences from Greeks experience discrimination and identify more with their in-group, thus choosing separation as a way to protect their self-image.