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The Narratives of Adult Third Culture Kids : Cultural Identity Development and Psychological Support Upon Reentry to One's Home Country

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The Narratives of Adult Third Culture Kids : Cultural Identity Development and Psychological Support Upon Reentry to One's Home Country Smith ScholarWorks Theses, Dissertations, and Projects 2015 The narratives of adult third culture kids : cultural identity development and psychological support upon reentry to one's home country Yoko Hisano Smith College Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Hisano, Yoko, "The narratives of adult third culture kids : cultural identity development and psychological support upon reentry to one's home country" (2015). Masters Thesis, Smith College, Northampton, MA. https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses/687 This Masters Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations, and Projects by an authorized administrator of Smith ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Yoko Hisano The Narratives of Adult Third Culture Kids: Cultural Identity Development and Psychological Support Upon Re-entry to One’s Home Country ABSTRACT This study explored the experiences of adults who grew up outside their parents’ home country as minor dependents, as known as Third Culture Kids (TCKs), and how their experiences abroad as well as their reentry experience back home shaped their cultural identity development and their psychological health. The research used semi-structured interview questions and interviewed 12 adult TCKs who were of age 30 and over and lived in the US at the time when the study was conducted. One of the incentives for this study was to inform mental health providers to gain a deeper understanding of adult TCKs experiences. The overall results showed that adult TCKs experiences as a child affects ones life even after several decades upon return to one’s home country from their initial experience as TCKs. The research results suggested that it would be ideal for the clinicians to be adult TCKs or if not be informed of the common challenges and the process of grief and loss that TCKs typically experience during transitions. Also, the study showed the value and importance of having access to a community full of people who share similar experiences, not just upon return but also as an on-going support system. Suggestions for future research includes expanding the population to adult TCKs who live in other countries outside of the US, changing the age range to 21 and older, including those who may not be associated to higher education or international education field, and interviewing a larger sample of population. THE NARRATIVES OF ADULT THIRD CULTURE KIDS: CULTURAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENTAND PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT UPON RE-ENTRY TO ONE’S HOME COUNTRY A project based upon an independent investigation, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work. Yoko Hisano Smith College School for Social Work Northampton, Massachusetts 01063 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people who supported me as I worked on this thesis project and also throughout the entire journey this past two and a half years in pursuit of attaining a degree in Master of Social Work at Smith College School for Social Work. First and foremost, I am grateful of all the wonderful participants who kindly volunteered to be a part of this study and contributed tremendously by sharing your experiences, wisdom and insights. I’m also thankful to my thesis advisor, Dr. Cara Segal for your advice and support this past year. To my loved ones including my family, my friends, and every single soul that touched my life. Thank you for your unconditional love, support, and encouragement through your phone calls, emails, and presence in my life. I know how lucky I am to be in this position to be able to continue my education to make a difference in this world. I only hope to give back to each and every one of you and to the community at large as soon as possible. To all my friends at Smith College School for Social Work. I am honored to have shared this experience with you. The laughter, struggles, growth that we shared are special, memorable, and changed me in ways that I had not imagined. Thank you. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................... iii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1 II LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................. 7 III METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................... 19 IV FINDINGS ....................................................................................................................... 25 V DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................... 44 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 51 APPENDICES Appendix A: Human Subject Review Approval Letter ........................................................... 53 Appendix B: Human Subject Review: Approval Change ....................................................... 54 Appendix C: Informed Consent Form ..................................................................................... 56 Appendix D: Recruitment Email .............................................................................................. 59 Appendix E: Face Sheet........................................................................................................... 74 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1. Introduction and Background of the Population This study on Third Culture Kid (TCK) originated from my curiosity about how individuals who lived abroad as a child have come to make sense of their international experiences as an adult. This interest was reflected by my personal experience having lived abroad as a child and having experienced unique transitions as an adolescent, and how it influenced my worldview as an adult. Below is an excerpt that portrays TCK’s experience. Christine (a pseudo-name) was born in the US but moved abroad when she was about one year old. She has lived in several different countries throughout her childhood. “I remember moving from Venezuela back to the US was really hard, it was really sad. I was 7 years old and I felt like; I realized that it was a big loss. Venezuela was a very awesome place to live, it was very different so we slept outside and we didn’t have an indoor bathroom, it was very natural and we could sleep in hammock. And you know I went to school in Spanish and just feeling connected to the culture and life there… It’s part of your life being formed, and I knew that my life was changing and I wasn’t ever going to, that I was losing something. I mean my very first memories of ever that something was wrong, I felt like an outsider (after returning to the US,) I got bullied and I didn’t know how to interact with people.” This story of Christine’s was an example of how individuals living overseas as a child with their parents experience re-entry to their parent’s home country. Ruth and John Useem (1993) created the term Third Culture Kid to describe an individual like Christine in the 1950s. The first culture is referred to the parents’ country of origin. The second culture is the host culture where they are living, outside of the parents’ country of origin. In Christine’s case it’s Venezuela. The third culture is “occupied by a transient community of expatriates, including other families from around the world who availed themselves of American and British international schools, recreational clubs, commissaries, and other amenities” (Peterson and Plamondon, 2009). In other words, the parents of TCKs moved abroad for various reasons, and as dependents of the family system, these young family members had to move and make transitions accordingly to wherever their parents went. Walters and Faith define that “the ‘third’ culture refers to a created culture that is neither the ‘home’ culture nor the ‘host’ culture; it is the culture between cultures” (2009). Nowadays, TCKs has been the commonly used terminology to describe this population amongst those in the field, and adults with this experience are called adult TCKs or ATCKs. The Third Culture Kid population is growing with the expansion of international business, diplomacy, and other services. Thus, it is not rare to meet individuals who have lived overseas during their childhood. I echo with the statement made by Vicki Lambiri, an intercultural consultant, that ATCKs are becoming increasingly visible and playing important roles in the public and private sectors (2005, p. 2). 2. Purpose of the Study There are two distinct phases of adult TCKs’ experiences that this study explored by interviewing individuals and asking semi-structured questions. The first phase was focusing on their experiences abroad that come with TCKs’ initial exposure to loss and adjustment. TCKs experience losses in the areas of friendship, language access, familiarity to living situation, and many more. This transitional experience was explained using theories that discuss cross-cultural 2 adjustment stages as well as examining its effect on identity formation in the literature review section. The second phase was the reacculturation upon repatriation when TCKs return
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