title: Existential hazards of the multicultural individual: defining and understanding "cultural homelessness".
abstract: Cultural homelessness (CH) is the authors' term to describe unique experiences and feelings reported by some multicultural individuals. Ethnically related concepts found in the cross-cultural and multiethnic literature (e.g., marginality, intercultural effectiveness, ethnic enclaves, reference group) are used to explain how CH may arise from cross-cultural tensions within the ethnically mixed family and between the family and its culturally different environment, especially due to geographic moves. CH is conceptualized as a situationally imposed developmental challenge, forcing the child to accommodate to contradictory and changing norms, values, verbal and nonverbal communication styles, and attachment processes. Culturally homeless individuals may enjoy a broader, stronger cognitive and social repertoire because of their multiple cultural frames of reference. However, code-switching,complexities may lead to emotional and social confusion, which, if internalized, may result in self-blame and shame. Culturally encoded emotion labeling may be disrupted, leading to alexithymia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton 76203-1280, USA.
authors.forename: V N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Vivero
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Jenkins
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D005086:Existentialism / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D011287:Prejudice; D012307:Risk Factors; D012925:Social Conformity; D012933:Social Identification; D012934:Social Isolation / Q000523:psychology; D012951:Socialization