essay

Selective acculturation of female Mexican migrants

twice a minority : mexican american women • St. Louis, Missouri • Published In 1980 • Pages: 155-163

By: Melville, Margarita B..

Abstract

As a result of extensive interviews and observations made in 1977, Melville found that Mexican women migrating into the city of Houston, Texas, adapted or acculturated in different degrees and with varying stress to urban life in the United States. This study '…examines the covariation of adjustment (or acculturation) to the aspirations of social class mobility, as well as the factors that facilitated acculturation' (p. 155). These factors include: (1) attitudinal facilitators, or the attitudes and values that promote the readiness on the individual to adapt and accept elements of culture different from one's own; (2) cognitive facilitators, or the willingness of the individual to acquire knowledge and information which would promote familiarity with the majority culture; (3) behavioral facilitators, or the activities that promote positive contact with the majority culture; and (4) brokers, who are persons or institutions that intervene to aid an individual in becoming familiar with the majority culture (p160). Each of these factors is explained and illustrated more fully in the text.

HRAF PubDate

2002

Region

North America

Sub Region

Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures

Document Type

essay

Evaluation

Creator Type

Social Scientist

Document Rating

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

John Beierle ; 2001

Field Date

1977

Coverage Date

1977

Coverage Place

Houston, Texas, United States

Notes

Margarita B. Melville

Includes bibliographical references (p. 163)

LCCN

80011177

LCSH

Mexican Americans