Small Cities Imprint, Volume 3 (2011), No. 1, pp. 6 - 12

Culture as a Dynamic Construct
SUSAN DE BRUIN-EISELEN
North Island College

Canada has one of the largest immigrant societies in the world. Canada prides itself on being
a cultural mosaic and not a cultural melting pot. ualitative ethnographic insight and
observations I have made as an immigrant to Canada are discussed as they relate to
Psychological eory. e following questions are asked: What is the dynamic balance
between acculturation, assimilation and stagnation? What represents a successful transition
into Canadian culture for an immigrant?

INTRODUCTION
I recently immigrated to Canada from South Africa. In doing so I became my own research
participant and my life became my research project. ualitative researchers strive to become
immersed in the communities they study. By virtue of my immigration, I rather fell into being
immersed in a community of immigrants. e following are ethnographic insights I have drawn
from my experiences and the experiences of other members of my community of immigrants to
Canada. e researcher has become the subject also. I have reflected on these findings and used a
Grounded eoretical Approach to incorporate these insights into well established Psychological
eoretical knowledge.
Canada has received a wave of South African doctors as immigrants. I immigrated to
Canada as the spouse of one of these doctors. South African doctors coming to Canada are in a
privileged position. As an Anglo- African with a Western background and English as my native
language, I did not experience many of the problems experienced by other immigrants; such as
understanding the language , finding employment, living in poverty or discrimination (Santrock,
MacKenzie-Rivers, Leung & Melcomson, 2005; Somerville & Wasworth, 2009). My experience
of Canadians is that they are a very friendly and welcoming people. My adaptation as a Canadian
immigrant and that of those people from whose experiences I draw for this paper, is a kind of a
“control case” to highlight the process of immigration, without the extraneous variables
mentioned above.

© Copyright 2011. e author, Susan de Bruin-Eiselen, assigns to the Small Cities Imprint the right of first publication
and educational and non-profit institutions a non-exclusive license to use this document for personal use and in courses of
instruction proided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced. Any other usage is prohibited
without the express permission of the author.

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DEALING WITH LOSS
One thing that immigrants will oen not share is their emotional attachment to their country of
birth. e country immigrants have le behind may or may not be functioning as effectively as
Canada but people almost always have a strong attachment to their country of birth. e process
of immigration therefore represents a significant loss to many immigrants. e circumstances
under which people decide to move to Canada may also influence this process.
Elizabeth Kübler Ross`s Stages of Death and Dying (1969) can shed light on the
process of loss (E.J. Van Rooy personal communication, 2009). Kübler Ross (1969) describes
these stages as sequential but later research has shown that they may appear in any order (NolenHoeksema & Larson, 1999 cited in Myers, 2010). e following are my recollections of my own
feelings and typical statements made by immigrants, which highlight the stages in the experience
of loss.
Immigrant Statements Relating to Loss
Denial
“One day we will move home”
Anger
“Why can’t things in my country be as good
as they are in Canada?”
Bargaining
“We will just stay in Canada for a short
while then we can go back”
Depression
“....and then I just cry again.”
Acceptance
“Ì can live in Canada and be happy”

Sunrise over the Aican Savannah Kruger National Park

e successful resolution of these stages is characterised by the immigrant making new
attachments and finding new things of value in Canada. However, it is all too common for
immigrations to become “stuck” in depression.

A NEW SENSE OF IDENTITY
Erick Erickson, (1968) a renowned Psychoanalyst proposed various life stages of development.
Each stage is characterised by a “crisis” or challenge, which must be successfully resolved before
further development can take place. e stage which is most significant for identity development
is adolescence. Erickson (1968) describes this stage as identity vs. identity confusion.
A sense of identity is described by Santrock, et al., (2005) as encompassing many
things including; personality, physical identity, career, interests, sexual identity, achievement or
intellectual identity, political identity, religious identity, cultural and ethnic identity. In addition
to the identity factors described by Santrock et al., (2005) I propose that one’s National Identity,

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that is whether or not one is a Canadian or of some other nationality, is also a fundamental
cornerstone of overall identity. National Identity appears to be set during adolescence along with
many other aspects of identity.
Figure 1: Identity Development

(Santrock, MacKenzie-Rivers, Leung, Malsomson, 2005)
*National Identity (de Bruin 2009)

Immigration poses a challenge to the identity of an adult immigrant. e identity previously
established during adolescence is now challenged in the face of immigration. Immigrants may
wonder if they are now Canadian or if they are of their original nationality. Immigrants may
experience a conflict between letting go of their old identity or holding onto their old identity
and simultaneously embracing a new Canadian identity. All the immigrants, I have met, respond
to this challenge by engaging in behaviours which reaffirm their original national identity.
Among South Africans, these reaffirming behaviours include the following:
•
•

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Dropping Zulu words into conversations
Decorating their homes with African décor, (which in my case includes animal prints and
an unnatural number of elephants). African décor is something which South Africans in
South Africa seldom seem to embrace.
Listening to only Afrikaans music
Translating Harry Potter books into Afrikaans
Eating South African foods
Starting a South African blog
Flying “home” for the summer
Reading South African online newspapers
Checking the currency exchange
Watching rugby and cricket

VON BERTALANFFY’S GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY
Further insights into the process of acculturation can be drawn from the General Systems eory
developed by Von Bertalanffy’s (1950; 1974 cited in Meyer, Moore & Viljoen, 1997.) Von
Bertalanffy describes human behaviour as functioning in systems. Systems may either be closed,

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in that they are isolated from their environment, or open, in that they permit an inter-exchange
between internal elements of the system and the environment. e General Systems theory can
shed light on three different strategies which new Canadian immigrants use to address the
challenges that immigration poses to their identities.
Figure 2: Von Bertalanffy’s General Systems eory

RAISING CHILDREN IN A DIFFERENT CULTURE
Immigrants are faced with the conundrum of raising children in a culture different from their
own. Children are also faced with the challenge of parents imposing cultural values which may
appear out of place and different from those of their peer group. For example, a teenager may feel
wildly frustrated by her mother’s expectation, formed in South Africa, that her daughter not date
until she reaches university. (Unbeknownst to the mother, the adolescent dating scene in South
Africa has changed substantially as a result of globalisation.)
is clash between parents’ and children’s expectations may result in a disconnection
between them. Similar finding were reported in a Grounded eory study of Portuguese
Immigrants to Canada (Morrison & James, 2009)
e precarious balance between instilling traditional values in children and adapting
to a Canadian culture seems to be navigated best by parents with authoritative flexible parenting
styles and who have good communications skills. Permissive parenting, although a tempting
option for many confused parents, and authoritarian parenting - - rigidly imposing irrelevant
value systems - - have their own perils.
Children have the task of integrating and functioning within their own peer group.
is process appears to be dependent on the age at which the child moves to Canada. Adolescents
moving to Canada aer their early teens may experience the same adaptation process as adults
moving to Canada. Children living in Canada during their late childhood and early adolescence
are strongly influenced by their peer groups. e huge impact of the adolescent’s peer group on
their development is oen neglected in Psychology. e large impact of a peer group is
demonstrated when 1st generation Canadians adopt the accents of their peers and not their
parents. It would appear that if the majority of a child’s peers are Canadian around the end of
middle childhood and the beginning of adolescence, the child adopts the national identity of
being Canadian, regardless of whether they were born in South African or Canada.
I am routinely amazed by the difference in identity between myself and a friend of
mine. My friend and I are the same age, have the same cultural background, have similar parents
and speak the same language. We were even born in areas close to each other in South Africa. Her

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parents immigrated to Canada when she was six and I came to Canada as an adult. I am vexed by
my mixed identities, and by feeling home sick and chronically concerned about the welfare of
South Africa. My first generation Canadian friend suffers almost none of these concerns – having
developed a Canadian identity in childhood and adolescence.
Another friend of mine immigrated to South Africa from Hong Kong in her late
childhood. She lived in South Africa during her adolescence and early adulthood and has now
moved back to Hong Kong. During this short, yet critical time in South Africa, she developed a
South African identity even though she has spent the majority of her life in Hong Kong. She
states that she now feels “100% South African Chinese”.
I suspect that growing up with a peer group consisting only of immigrant children
may result in a subgroup identity. Children may feel that they are 2nd generation immigrants
rather than 1st generation “Canadians.” ey may also have a stronger attachment to their
parents’ country of birth than those who do not grow up with a largely immigrant peer group.
Further research would provide more insight into this.

CANADIAN CULTURE OR CONSUMERISM
In the struggle of immigrant children to develop “Canadian - ness” there is another imposing
discourse which may hijack the process. As immigrant adolescents experience the disconnect
between their cultural identities and that of their parents and work on assimilating an identity
which is congruent with their peer group, they may be le vulnerable to the perpetual
bombardment of consumer culture.
James (2007) describes consumer culture as a value system which has developed
through mass media geared towards increasing purchasing behaviour. People subscribing to this
culture are eager to consume, believe that their value as people is determined by their possessions
and are unusually focused on fame, attractiveness and youth; and are wasteful, and conventional.
ey also accept inequality as a natural order of things, as possessions determine people’s value.
us, in order to be valued, some people must necessarily have more than others.
Consumer culture is in stark contradiction with Canadian values, which I experience
as being focused on equality and social justice. I fear that some first generation immigrants, who
have grown up in Canada from an early age, may rebel against their parents’ culture, skip right
over Canadian culture, and adopt consumerism in their quest for a cultural identity. For example,
a daughter may no longer respect her mother if her mother’s profession, although noble, does not
pay well. One immigrant child asked me if I would consider having a second wedding celebration
as my first wedding celebration was not held at a commercial resort. Although all children are
vulnerable to consumer culture, immigrant children may be even more so. A Canadian Council
on Social Development study on Immigrant Youth (2000) found that recent immigrant youth
experience Canadian culture as highly consumerist. is appears to be influenced by the age at
which children immigrate and whether or not they assimilate this culture. is may prove to be
an interesting direction for further research.

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CONCLUSION

e View om Vancouver Island

In conclusion, even under the best of circumstances,
immigration is not easy. As a person’s national identity appears
to be a deeply rooted psychological process, immigrants may
feel many conflicting feelings about their immigration.
However, the process of immigration can be successfully
navigated by people who are open to their new culture, while
accepting their own heritage. Parents who have authoritative
flexible parenting styles with good communication skills may
also meet these challenges more successfully. e insights
discussed in this paper are from my own subjective experiences
which provide a fertile harvest for theory generation. ese
insights and anecdotes provide a good starting point for
further research.

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Works Cited
Erickson, E.H. Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: W.W. Norton, 1968. Print.
Immigrant Youth. Canadian Council on Social Development, 2000. <http://www.ccsd.ca/pubs/
2000/iy/hl.htm>.
James, O. Affluenza. Vermiloion: London, 2007. Print.
Kϋbler-Ross, E. On Death and Dying. Macmillan Publishing: New York, 1969. Print.
Morrison. M., and S. James. “Portuguese Immigrant Families: the Impact of Acculturation.” Family
Process 48.1 (2009): 151- 166. Print.
Meyer, W.F., Moore, C., & Viljoen, H.G. Psychology: om the Individual to the Ecosystem. Heinemann:
Johannesburg, 1997. Print.
Myers. D.G. Psychology: 9th edition. Worth Publishers: New York, 2010. Print.
Santrock, J.W., A. MacKenzie-Rivers, K. Ho Leung, and T. Malcomson. Lifespan Development, 2nd
Canadian Edition. McGraw-Hill: Ryerson, 2005. Print.
Somersville, K., and S. Walsworth. “Vulnerabilities of Highly Skilled Immigrants in Canada and the
United States.” American Review of Canadian Studies. 39.2 (2009): 147-161. Print.

About the Author
Sue de Bruin has an M.A. in Research Psychology from the University of Pretoria and teaches
psychology at NIC.

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