Immigrant enclaves satisfy inclusion needs before acculturation enables dual identity

Evidence

A common phenomenon among new immigrants is that they will often start out living and working in homogenous communities comprised of other members of their subgroup (e.g., immigrant enclaves; Abrahamson, 1996; Wilson & Portes, 1980). These communities can not only provide new immigrants with material and economic resources but may provide a psychological resource as well in the form of satisfaction of the need for inclusion. As immigrants become more acculturated (e.g., they learn the host language and become more conversant in the new culture and its norms), they may begin to derive feelings of belongingness from their superordinate identity. When this happens one should observe a concomitant shift in dual identification. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 747

These communities can not only provide new immigrants with material and economic resources but may provide a psychological resource as well in the form of satisfaction of the need for inclusion. As immigrants become more acculturated (e.g., they learn the host language and become more conversant in the new culture and its norms), they may begin to derive feelings of belongingness from their superordinate identity. When this happens one should observe a concomitant shift in dual identification. By the same token, for new immigrants the superordinate identity may seem quite large and they may lack the cultural knowledge needed to appreciate the distinctive aspects of their new culture. Thus, once again, a period of acculturation may be a necessary precursor to dual identification for many immigrants. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 747

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the assimilation/integration literature and to the reading on social capital — enclaves as dense-tie communities that provision resources.
• ADDENDUM: Relevant to the ‘Grafting & Growth’ piece in that enclaves operate like root systems, grounding newcomers before they branch into the larger society.
• corroborated: 4 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 747