Transcript Document

After Shocks!
The Good, the Bad and the
Unintended Consequences of
Coming Home
International Families in Global Transition
10th Anniversary Conference
Houston, Texas
March 6-8, 2008
Session Presenter
Bruce La Brack, Ph.D.
[email protected]
School of International Studies
University of the Pacific
Stockton, California
Sentimental View
Home
Sweet
Home
Ironic View
“Home……where they are no
longer foreigners…, where
they don’t have to think
before they speak or act, and
where they needn’t ever worry
again about having to adjust.
Home: where it’s easy.”
Source: Storti, 1990, p. 99
Cynics View
“Home…is where
when you have to go
there they have to
take you in!”
Source: Unknown
Session Focus
The Varieties of Reentry
and Why They
May Have Different
Consequences
Session Overview
Reentry Definition
Types of After Shocks and Variability
Common Assumptions about Reentry
Models of Reentry - Pre- and Post-Modern
Traditional Characteristics
20th & 21st Century Patterns
Global Nomad vs. Expat Patterns
Complex Training Implications
New Challenges in Reentry
Types of Aftershocks
Encountering the Unfamiliar
After Entering Another Culture
Culture Shock comes from the natural
contradiction between our accustomed
patterns of behavior and the
psychological conflict of attempting to
maintain them in the new cultural
environment. While the time of onset is
variable, it usually occurs within a few
weeks/months of entering a new
culture and is a normal, healthy
reaction.
Initial Culture Shock
Characteristics & Responses
Culture shock is common
There are ways to minimize its effects
Accept that it is a real phenomenon
Learn to recognize its signs
Can result in serious reaction to continuing
tension; anxiety; disconfirmation of
behavior; possible severe physical/mental
manifestations (e.g., anger, displaced
aggression, “freeze”, health issues)
Reentry Shock
Encountering the Familiar
After Returning Home
Reactions that occur as a result of readaptation to our home culture; often
called “reverse culture shock”; shares some
aspects in common with culture shock, but
timing of stages very different.
Added complication of surprise: returnees
usually don’t expect home culture to be
unreceptive to them or to be so difficult to
come back to.
Reentry can = Reverse Mirror
What was once ‘strange’ overseas
has become ‘familiar’…
…and what was ‘familiar’ at home
has become ‘strange’.
Suggested Definition
Reentry…
the process or act of returning to
one's native (passport) country
after living or working
internationally.
Reentry
…requires a period of readjustment
just as much as moving abroad does.
…often, but not always, it is the last
stage of post-sojourn cultural
adaptation
…experiences are unique -- there are
few generic versions although there
are patterns
…may begin before you leave home
and may never end
Reentry Variability
Expectations of self and others can play major
role in adjustment process, and be a source of
ongoing stress.
Specific context of reentry always a crucial
variable.
Contexts always exhibit variety even within
categories of returnees (e.g. Global Nomads,
MK’s, Military, Business)
Types of Returnees*
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Study Abroad Students
International Exchange/Foreign Students
Missionaries (aka MK’s or Missionary Kids)
International Business (including expat families)
Military (aka ‘Military Brats’)
TCK/Global Nomad
International Development/Aid
Diplomatic Corps
Peace Corps-type Organizations
Types of Returnees*, cont.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
International Education
International Health Staff
Journalists/Media
Hospitality Industry
Refugee/Political Exiles
Professional Athletes
* Note: these are not exclusive, separate categories
but cross-cutting, especially with GN/TCK groups
Developed by Bruce La Brack, School of International Studies,
University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA.
Common Assumptions on Why Reentry
“Home” is Potentially Difficult
Unanticipated change – “home”
is a given
Unadjusted expectations or
false expectations
Heightened critical sense
Comparative frameworks (new
perspectives)
More Assumptions
May be little opportunity for
application or sharing of nontechnical knowledge
Unprocessed experience
Getting socially up-to-speed
may be frustrating
Reverse “home sickness”
The conception of being able to
‘choose’ how one will reenter
one’s society…or of simply
exercising ‘options’ regarding
how one will or will not readjust
to being home…
is a wholly modern mindset!
Pusch’s Reentry Styles
“Going Home: Styles of Reentry”
by Margaret D. Pusch
In Donal Lynch, Adrian Pilbeam and Philip O'Connor,
Heritage and Progress, from conference
proceedings, SIETAR-Europa Conference, Bath,
England, 1998.
Intended
Style
Free Spirit
Detached
Reassimilator
Integrator
=========
Reactions to
Home Culture
=========
Some
estrangement
and rejection
(ranging from
Discontent to
Alienation)
===========
Reluctance to go
back to old patterns
and home culture,
but not alienated
=============
Reassimilation;
delighted to be back,
may even exaggerate
cultural norms, often
downplays foreign
experience
==========
Positive Integration
blending old and
new pragmatically
Main Concern
Continue
experience of
being different
Survival, comfort
Easy reentry, fitting
into home culture
and prior roles
Finding best fit with
the home culture
without losing past
Internal
Commitment
Being "unique"
Creating comfortable
environment for self
(and perhaps family)
Home culture; life as
it has always been,
cheerfully readaptive
Continuing to
change and develop
Role One
Seems
(or Attempts)
to Play
Eccentric
Detached but
tolerant participant
Total participant
Leader or Mediator,
Contented Believer,
Advocate,
Expatriate
Reassimilation/Reacculturation/
Resocialization
Dominant historical patterns characterized by:
 Reinforcement of normative traditional
values is paramount and applied
society-wide
 Deviation/non-conformity almost
always results in negative sanctions
 Communal social pressure to conform
often intense and unrelenting
Reassimilation/Reacculturation/
Resocialization
Dominant historical patterns characterized by:
 Limited ability or opportunity of returnee to
use prior experience
 Cultural variations are mainly structural and
depend on type of society (e.g., tribal,
peasant, industrial) and location (e.g.,
rural, urban, metropolitan)
 Limited mobility and/or alternative options
Fit in or Suffer the Consequences!
For 99% of human history, the role of
the “returnee” was to fit back into
prevailing cultural rules and roles of a
specific society or kin group.
The penalties for not doing so have
ranged from ostracism to extreme
isolation, banishment, and even death!
Shift in Goals of Repatriation
Current philosophy of many study abroad and
international exchange programs (at least in the
West) revolves around a focus on Individual
Growth:
 Direct
cross-cultural learning and exploration
 Personal and cultural diversity seen as
normal, positive and encouraged
 Integration of sojourn with home academic
and social life desired/expected to some
extent
Shift in Goals of Repatriation
Result
is a positive bias
towards applying and
integrating international
experience into ongoing life
and work post-experience.
Expansion of Possibilities for Returnees
Reassimilation/Reacculturation/Resocialization
models remain common world-wide, however…
 Adaptation
of Growth and Integration
Models Common in Western Culture and
among some strata of Asian societies are
increasing
More individualistic examples have emerged as
alternative models that support readjustment strategies
for both institutions and individuals, reflected in growing
differentiation of “reentry styles.”
New Issues and Contexts in Reentry
Global Nomads as percentage of
returnees
“Heritage-seeking” students and
attendant identity issues
“Revolvers” (where and when is
“home”?)
New Issues and Contexts in Reentry
“Sequential Assignments” without
meaningful time “at home” to
readjust
Attractive global alternatives (“just
leave”) and local alternatives (“just
stay”—but with limited networks and
narrow comfort zones)
Veterans (PTSD and reverse culture
shock)
Influences on Adjustment







Time Abroad
Location (degree of difference)
Prior Exposure Overseas
Extent of Immersion
Home Contact/Support Networks
Prior Reentry Experience(s)
Degree of Home Culture Contrast
Reentry Predictor Variables
Control Factors
Intrapersonal Factors
(personality/idiopathic issues)
Somatic/Biological Factors
(medical/mental/environmental)
Interpersonal (external support)
Time/Space (duration & locale)
Geopolitical (national/international)
Intensity Factors Adapted to
Returnee Contexts
1. Cultural Differences
2. Ethnocentrism
3. Language
4. Cultural Immersion*
5. Cultural Isolation*
6. Prior Intercultural Experience*
7. Expectations*
8. Visibility/Invisibility
9. Status*
10. Power and Control*
*may be particularly salient in reentry contexts
Source: R. Michael Paige. “On the Nature of Intercultural Experiences and Intercultural Education,”
in R. Michael Paige, ed., Education for the Intercultural Experience,
Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, 1994.
Global Nomads
&
Third Culture Kids
as Special Categories
of Returnees
Positive Aspects of Global Nomads
Expanded World View
Linguistic Ability
Cross-Cultural Skills
Maturity
Independence
Negative Aspects of Global Nomads
Sense of Rootlessness
Insecurity
Sadness and Grief
Sense of Loss
Culturally Out-of-Step
Developmentally Out-of-Step
Global Nomad Stages of Evolution
Cultural Sponge - Childhood
Cultural Chameleon - Expat GN Life
Hidden Immigrant - Repatriation
Transnationalist - Career/Life
Common Attitude
“At Home
Everywhere
and
Nowhere”
Quote from The Immigrants
If you came back, you wanted to leave again; if
you went away, you longed to come back.
Where ever you were, you could hear the call of
the homeland…You had one home out there and
one over here, and yet you were an alien in both
places. Your true abiding place was the vision of
something very far off, and your soul was like
the waves, always restless, forever in motion.
Global Nomads
David C. Pollock & Ruth Van Reken
Third Culture Kids: The Experience of
Growing Up Among Worlds, 2nd ed.
Intercultural Press, 2001
Pico Iyer
The Global Soul: Jet Lag. Shopping Malls
and the Search for Home
Knopf, 2000
Corporate Reentry
Goal-focused
Career Centered
Significant Ambiguity
Problematic for Company
Family Stressor
“The illusion that it is easy to return
home after an expanded overseas
living and working experience is
shared both by expatriate
employees and their employers.
This common misconception can
lead to a variety of problems, from
individual concerns such as
disappointment, boredom,
depression and anger to company
issues…
…concerns such as low
employee productivity, and
effective use of skills and
knowledge gained from the
overseas experience, and a
loss in revenue due to high
turnover rates in returned
expatriate employee.”
Source: J. Greenberg, 1997
Expat Allegiance Patterns
Expatriates grouped into one of four allegiance patterns:
Free Agent: Expats who have low allegiance to both the parent
firm and the local unit
Going Native: Expats who have a low allegiance to the parent firm and
high allegiance to the local unit
Hearts-at-home pattern: Expats who identify more strongly with the
parent firm than with the local operation
Dual Citizen pattern: Expats are highly committed to both parent
and local operation
Source: Black, J. Stewart, and Gregersen, Hal B. ” Serving Two Masters: Managing the Dual Allegiance of
Expatriate Employees,” Sloan Management Review, Cambridge, Summer 1992
New Challenges in Reentry Training
Greater domestic and international
variety in types of returnees than ever
before
Their experiences, expectations, and
reactions will exhibit greater complexity,
range and, sometimes, intensity
Alternative adjustment possibilities are
often extensive, but choosing among or
recommending them can be difficult
New Challenges in Reentry Training
Consequences and outcomes of
returnee adopting a specific strategy
nearly always uncertain and often
unpredictable. An uneasy tension may
exist between the desires of the
returnee and the demands of the
corporation, the returnees immediate
and extended family and the society in
general.
After Shocks!
Reentry is where and when The past and
the future combine (Collide?).
Reentry experiences are cumulative
and ongoing…like ripples on a pond... They
continue to influence our lives even as the
immediate impacts diminish over time.
Reentry is, in effect, forever!
“In a sense, it is the coming back,
the return which gives meaning to
the going forth. We really don’t know
where we have been until we come back
to where we were -- only where we were
may not be as it was because of who we
have become, which after all, is why we
left.”
Source: Bernard, character from TV show “Northern Exposure”,
after returning to Alaska from a trip to Africa
The End
…unless it involves Reentry!