Is It Important to Distinguish Between Immigrants and Refugees?

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The thesis statement
The body
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

As far as there is a strong necessity to address accordingly attitudinal distinctions between refugees and those who come to live permanently in foreign countries, in order to improve the conditions of life, one can conclude that making distinctions between the two groups is rather important.

It seems to be obvious that numerous contradictions concerning people’s values, beliefs, expectations, traditions, mode of life, etc. are to be resolved in a proper way.

Thus, to avoid or minimize the consequences of cultural shock, social violation, and discrimination, immigrants and refugees are to be regarded separately.

Moreover, one is to keep in mind that immigrants and refugees come to foreign countries on the basis of different reasons; so, this point determines the major distinction between those who are forced to leave their country, and those who come of their own accord.

The thesis statement

Immigrants and refugees cannot be accepted equally, as their psychology is different. There is a need to distinguish between anthropological, historical and sociological domains the psychology of immigrants and refugees is based on. The contextual factors, which determine immigrants’ and refugees’ acculturation, are also different.

The body

The refugee problem is considered to be of particular concern, as people seek safety in strange lands and hesitate in their choice: it is not easy to select between danger at their native land and the loss of identity.

Immigrants, in their turn, have a right of choice. They can come home any time they wish.

On the other hand, it should be pointed out that such psychological processes as acculturation, assimilation, social changes, and individual challenges are equally experienced by both – immigrants and refugees.

In other words, the processes of socialization based on biculturalism can be applied to representatives of both groups (LaFromboise et al. 395-412).

The intercultural processes are recognized to be extremely important for social adaptation of immigrants and refugees. Thus, the so-called phenomenon of psychological acculturation can be used to explain the psychology of representatives of both groups.

The most important issue, which cannot be ignored, is that acculturation attitudes of immigrants and refugees are different. It was proven that mutual processes as well as mutual changes involve individual behaviors and cannot be interpreted the same way in relation to immigrants and refugees (Berry 616-618).

The issue of cultural identity is also to be discussed in detail, in order to understand the way immigrants and refugees experience acculturation.

It must be noted that immigrants undergo greater behavioral shifts easier in comparison with those who were forced to leave a native land due to certain political, economical or other reasons. That is why immigrants seem to experience less difficulty.

Refugees as compared with immigrants are considered to be less familiar to the dominant population and undergo ethnic stereotyping; however, the resident population prefers “to deal” with refugees rather than immigrants, as immigrants seem to symbolize the threat to the social cohesion of the society.

Generally, it is necessary to clarify that ethnic prejudice is related to both groups; although the dominant population expresses more negative attitudes towards immigrants (Stephan et al. 1-19).

Conclusion

It is really important to distinguish between immigrants and refugees, as representatives of the two groups experience various acculturation processes in different ways.

Furthermore, the attitudes of the dominant population towards immigrants and refugees are also ambiguous and should be regarded on the basis of different perspectives.

Works Cited

Berry, John. “A Psychology of Immigration.” Journal of Social Issues 57.3 (2001): 615-631. Print.

LaFromboise, Teresa, Hardin Coleman and Jennifer Gerton. “Psychological Impact of Biculturalism: Evidence and Theory.” Psychological Bulletin 114.3 (1993): 395-412. Print.

Walter G. Stephan, Lausanne Renfro, Victoria M. Esses, Cookie White Stephan and Tim Martin. “The Effects of Feeling Threatened on Attitudes toward Immigrants.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations 29.1 (2005): 1-19. Print.

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Is It Important to Distinguish Between Immigrants and Refugees?

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