Acculturation and adaptation of Soviet Jewish refugee adolescents: predictors of adjustment across life domains

American Journal of Community Psychology,  October, 2002  by Dina Birman

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Dina Birman (1)

INTRODUCTION

This study explores how acculturation is related to adaptation across different life spheres for Soviet Jewish refugee adolescents in a suburban community in Maryland. The paper outlines a contextual model of the acculturation experience (Birman, 1994; Trickett, 1996) and applies that model across differing life spheres of importance to adolescents (Phelan, Davidson, & Yu, 1993; Swindle & Moos, 1992). Our main thesis is ecological; namely that differing styles of acculturation are adaptive in different contexts. The context of resettlement for adolescents is not monolithic; rather, adolescents typically must negotiate a series of smaller life spheres that ...