English, Indian and Pakistani Children's National, Ethnic and Religious Identifications

Abstract

To date, acculturation has been primarily studied amongst adolescents and adults rather than children. Research has focused mainly on members of immigrant minority groups rather than members of the host majority group. Various models have been developed to describe the acculturation of individuals from minority cultures to the majority national culture (e.g., Hutnik, 1991; Berry, 1997, 2001; Bourhis et al., 1997). However, many minority individuals do not live within bicultural societies, as most acculturation models assume. In many locations (such as London, where the data for the present study were collected), they live within multicultural societies in which many different ethnic groups reside alongside one another. In addition, it should not be assumed that acculturation is only experienced by minority individuals. Particularly within multicultural contexts, the majority group also undergoes change and adaptation in response to intercultural contact.

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