NIGERIAN IGBO COUPLES IN THE UNITED STATES

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NIGERIAN IGBO COUPLES IN THE UNITED STATES

• ACCULTURATION CHANGES, PROBLEMS
• AND SOLUTIONS
• PRESENTED BY
• REV. MSGR. ANSELM NWAORGU, Ph.D.
• AT THE 8TH ANNUAL CONVENTION OF ICCUSA
• SACRAMENTO, CALIFONIA

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ACCULTURATION

• GROUP LEVEL PHENOMENA --Culture change resulting
  from contact between two autonomous cultures.
  Greater changes occurring in the non-dominant
  culture
• INDIVIDUAL LEVEL PHENOMENA--Psychological
  acculturationchanges in values, attitudes,
  lifestyle preferences, abilities and motives due
  to values in the acculturative arena.
• Moderated by the gain or loss of prerogatives.

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NIGERIAN IGBO COUPLES IN NIGERIACULTURAL VALUES

• Community oriented based on Extended family
• High degree of social stratification
• Unequal gender hierarchies
• Male dominance in decision making
• Patriarchal, patrilineal, patrilocal.
• Marriage, a covenant between two extended
  families, kindred, village.
• Sanctity of marriage unquestioned
• Divorce is frowned upon, shame factors attached
  especially for the female.
• Less attractive alternatives
• Divorce court lean more toward resolution of
  marriage
• Conservative church strict with annulments.
• High Marital constraint, less attractive
  alternatives Positively related to high marital
  stability

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NIGERIAN IGBO COUPLES IN THE UNITED
STATESDOMINANT CULTURAL VALUES

• Emphasis on individualism
• Self-assertion as opposed to submission
• Increased independence and autonomy
• More financial independence to women
• A more liberal judicial system relative to
  divorce
• A more permissive church relative to annulments
• Societal deproblematization of divorce.
• Dissociation of marriage from child bearing
• Dissociation of couplehood from parenting
  single parenthood recognized as an
  institutionalized form.
• Change in the balance of authority from system of
  command to system of negotiation.
• Greater desire to engage in professional carriers
• Challenge to patriarchal prerogatives

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NIGERIAN IGBO COUPLES IN THE UNITED
STATESDOMINANT CULTURAL VALUES Cont.

• Gender equality and egalitarian gender roles
• More democratic partner relationship and family
  configuration
• Higher educational rewardsWomen may earn more
  money than their husbands
• Availability of alternative lifestyles.
• Absence of extended kin

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AREAS OF CROSS CULTURAL CONFLICTLOSS OF
PREROGATIVES VS REWARDS

• The emphasis on individualism and self-assertion
  versus communitarianism and submission
• The open job market in the United States which
  offers immigrant females more opportunity for
  financial independence and which frees them from
  economic dependence on males
• The judicial system in the United States which is
  much more disposed toward granting divorce to a
  couple with the woman much more likely to gain
  custody of her children
• The equality of gender roles espoused by United
  States society which challenges the prerogatives
  of patriarchy

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ACCULTURATION THEORY

• Acculturation is moderated by the degree of
  benefit experienced in the original culture
  versus loss or gain of benefits in the new
  culture
• If there is loss in benefits, there is greater
  resistance to acculturation
• If there are gains in benefits in the new
  culture, there is the tendency to acculturate
  faster.
• Couples may therefore acculturate at different
  rates depending on the gain or loss of benefit in
  the new culture leading to differential
  adjustment.
• Differential adjustment to cultural change leads
  to high marital distress.

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ACCULTURATION THEORY APPLIED TO IGBO COUPLES IN
THE U.S.

• Men are much more likely to resist acculturation
  because of loss of patriarchal benefits while
  women are much more likely to acculturate faster
  because of increased benefits in the new culture
• Igbo men and women are likely to experience
  differential adjustment when it comes to gender
  roles due to increased financial power of women,
  emphasis on gender equality, self assertion,
  changes in decision making process, work
  schedule, etc.
• Igbo women tend to subscribe to more egalitarian
  roles while Igbo men tend to hold on as much as
  they can to traditional gender roles.
• Reduced marital constraints and increased
  attractive alternatives.
• Disposition to marital distress is high.

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OTHER ACCULTURTION ISSUESChanges in social-kin
network

• The effectiveness of any social structure in
  enforcing its values depends on a number of
  variables.
• The number of persons in the network systems,
• Its distribution (how many in which circle and
  sector),
• Density (connectedness among members),
• The networks sociocultural and demographic
  homogeneity and heterogeneity
• Dispersion (geographic distance among members).
• If these are absent or minimal, individual
  decisions will dominate

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• Changes in the Emotional Support
  Systemconcentration is on the couple as opposed
  to the group
• Custody Issuesthe question of who takes care of
  children. Women more likely to stay if leaving
  means loss of their children and more likely to
  leave if they will take custody of their
  children.
• Divorcethe Nature of Marital Commitment

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THE NATURE OF MARITAL COMMITMENT

• PERSONAL DEDICATION
• The intention to maintain marital relations due
  to satisfaction or attachment to ones
  spouse.--(Mitigated by availability of better or
  more favorable alternatives to present
  relationship.
• CONSTRAINT
• Structures that constrain individuals to maintain
  relationships regardless of their personal
  dedication to it. E.g. remain married to avoid
  consequences of marital dissolution, disapproval
  of family and friends, the expense of termination
  procedure, concern for children, low alternative
  quality. These makes marital dissolution more
  economically, socially, personally, and
  psychologically costly?

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Decreased Barriers and increased alternatives
Lower Commitment.

• Once barriers to divorce are overcome in a
  psychological sense
• A viable alternative to the relationship exists.
• Goodness of marital outcomes is reassessed.
• Consequences
• devaluation of marital rewards relative to the
  cost of staying in it.
• The higher the comparison level of alternatives
  and the lower the goodness of marital outcome,
  the lower the level of commitment to the
  marriage
• Divorce Increase gt with reduced barriers and
  increased alternatives

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SOLUTIONS

• Consultative Communication
• Sound Financial Decision Relative To Individual
  Expenses Vs Family Expenses
• Appreciation And Commendations
• Feed the Marriage By Keeping Friendship And Love
  Issues Alive
• Forgive
• Drop The Dream Undertakers
• It is not about work it is about life

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MAY THE GOOD LORD KEEP YOUR MARRIAGES ALIVE AND
WELL ALL THE YERS OF YOUR LIVES. AMEN