Enculturation is the process by which the values and norms of a society are passed on to its members. Acculturation is adaptation to an alien culture. The concept of enculturation has not been given an appropriate definition. Enculturation can be defined as a construct, and a process in a behavioral sense, that delineates transmission and transmutation of culture throughout human growth. The term enculturation has been used inconsistently in anthropology as well as in other fields. American public schools approach more closely the enculturation rather than the maturity ideal.
Various anthropologists have tended to regard enculturation as consisting of such processes as socialization, the acquiring of culture, and cultural internalization, excluding an innovative process of enculturation. Acculturation is a process of cultural transformation initiated by contacts between different cultures.
Two phases of enculturation, according to Herskovits, can be distinguished: the unconscious stage of enculturation in the early years where the individual unconsciously internalizes his culture; the conscious stage of enculturation in the later years, which involves innovations initiated by individuals.
Enculturation is the process by which people learn the their surrounding culture and acquire values and norms appropriate or necessary in that culture. Cultural modification of an individual or groups as a result of long term contact with the people of an alien culture is known as Acculturation.
Moving toward Cultural Pluralism, Part l: The Process of Enculturation. Llanes, Jose R.
Abstract: The author discusses two theories of social integration. Theory of assimilation is defined as a process of social and psychological adherence to a core society. Theory of pluralism is defined as a compounding of different activities and values to make up a group spirit.
The enculturation of people in San Francisco is discussed in terms of four composite psychological characteristics - concern, tolerance, internationalism, and pluralism. These characteristics are related to the social process factors of immigration, minority assimilation, ethnic communality, and economic predominance. Vietnamese immigrants are an example of a group which is assimilated linguistically, racially, and sociopolitically into Asian-speaking and French-speaking groups. The differences between identification assimilation and enculturation are described.
Enculturation into Secrecy anong Junior High School Girls
DON E. MERTEN - Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Vol. 28, No. 2, 107-137 (1999). Abstract: Secrecy has long been recognized as an important, and at times problematic, aspect of social life. Girls' accounts of their
enculturation into secrecy reveal how they treated secrets as social objects and often
depersonalized secrets when using them as social currency. Using secrets to shape friendship
and enhance social position was part of the larger process whereby secrecy became a
vehicle for developing subjective reason and an exchange perspective among these girls.
Enculturation into secrecy involved much more than learning whom to tell which secrets
under what circumstance.
The Dynamics in the
Enculturation and the Work in the Assistant Principalship
Catherine Marshall, William Greenfield, Urban Education, Vol. 22, No.1 (1987).
Abstract: Enculturation of assistant principals tends to result in "custodial,
nonrisk-taking, noninstructional" orientations of potential educational leaders.
Incomplete Enculturation: The Role of Hearing - Grace Keyes, St.
Mary’s University.
Abstract: How hearing loss impacts an individual’s enculturation. Anthropologists
have ignored how such a factor affects enculturation. A case study to examine and
illustrate how hearing loss leads to misinterpretations that negatively impact social interaction upon which enculturation is grounded.
Sport, Socialization and the School: Toward Maturity or Enculturation? Schafer,
Walter E.
Abstract: Two polar views of the proper purpose of schooling are discussed,
education for maturity and education for enculturation. Interscholastic sports are held to be an important mechanism
for fostering enculturation; they contribute only in a limited way to the
maturity of the participant or spectator.
Multidimensional enculturation: The case of an EFL Chinese doctoral student -
Li, Yongyan
Source: Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, Volume 15, Number 1, 2005.
Abstract: Examines the disciplinary enculturation experience of a Chinese doctoral
student. Presents the case of Fei,
a doctoral student of physics in a major university in East China, focusing on his
interactions with specialist texts, the supervisor, and the research community. Casts Fei’s experience in the light of LPP.
Emphasizes the value of naturalistic case studies in extending English educators’
scope of vision of academic enculturation.
‘Enculturation’, not ‘acculturation’: Conceptualising and assessing
identity processes in migrant communities. - Peter Weinreich.
Abstract: Following a
critique of Berry's model of ‘acculturation strategies’, the paper considers the
relationship between heritage culture and ethnic identity. From the perspective of
identity issues, enculturation of cultural elements rather than acculturation is
often the more significant process.