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Cross-Cultural Adaptation Among Young Afghan Refugees Returning from Iran to Afghanistan

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Cross-Cultural Adaptation Among Young Afghan Refugees Returning from Iran to Afghanistan CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION AMONG YOUNG AFGHAN REFUGEES RETURNING FROM IRAN TO AFGHANISTAN Cross-Cultural Adaptation among Young Afghan Refugees Returning from Iran to Afghanistan Masuma Moravej Supervisor: Dr. Peruvemba Jaya Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies For Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the MA Degree in Communication Department of Communication University of Ottawa Fall-Winter 2013-14 © Masuma Moravej, Ottawa, Canada, 2014 i CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION AMONG YOUNG AFGHAN REFUGEES RETURNING FROM IRAN TO AFGHANISTAN Acknowledgements I gratefully acknowledge Dr. Peruvemba Jaya for her valuable comments, suggestions, and insights throughout the writing of this thesis. Many thanks also go to my committee members, Dr. Caroline Andrew and Dr. Rukhsana Ahmed whose comments on this thesis were greatly helpful. Most importantly, my gratitude goes to my parents and family for their unwavering love, support and continued encouragement. I also want to thank Professor Martha Musgrove, and Mr. Michael Hatfield for their great support for the past two years, as well as all of my friends in Ottawa and Kabul. Masuma Moravej Ottawa, September 2013 ii CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION AMONG YOUNG AFGHAN REFUGEES RETURNING FROM IRAN TO AFGHANISTAN At sunset, when the road's breath is warm, I'll depart. I came here on foot, and on foot I will depart. Tonight, the spell of exile will be broken; Tonight, I will wrap my empty sofra.1 Around the nights of celebration, O neighbor, You will no longer hear the sound of cries. That stranger without a piggybank, he'll depart And that little girl who has no toys -- she, too, will depart. [……] Friends, don't dishearten me Give me your blessing, even if it's a lie. I'll leave behind all that I do not have, I swear on our Imam2; I won't take anything Other than the dust of his haram3. - “Return”(Bazgasht), Mohammad Kazem Kazemi (2009); translated by Adeeba Talukder; (illustrating the interior monologue of an Afghan returning from Iran to Afghanistan) 1 Sofra: a cloth spread on the floor or table upon which one's daily bread is served; also a symbolic item in cultural ceremonies. 2 Imam; here it refers to Imam Reza, the eighth Imam of Twelve Shia Muslims, whose mausoleum is located in Mashhad, Iran. It is an important Shia pilgrimage site. 3 Haram: sanctuary; here it refers to the shrine of Imam Reza. iii CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION AMONG YOUNG AFGHAN REFUGEES RETURNING FROM IRAN TO AFGHANISTAN ABSTRACT This study investigated certain aspects of the cross-cultural adaptation process of Afghan returnees who have repatriated from Iran to Afghanistan. The study’s particular focus is the issue of cross-cultural adaptation in the current context of Afghanistan; that is, what challenges face Afghans returning from Iran to their country of origin following years of exile in Iran. Afghan immigration to Iran has a long history. Using Young Yun Kim’s cross-cultural adaptation theory as the leading theoretical framework, the researcher investigated the cultural adaptation of those who have lived in Iran for more than 10 years and have repatriated voluntarily to Afghanistan at least three years before the data for this thesis were gathered. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for collecting primary data from participants for the thesis. Twelve young returnees from Kabul City, aged 18 to 40, volunteered to take part in the interviews. Results revealed that language barriers, cultural knowledge and environmental challenges were some of the dominant difficulties that returnees experienced after their repatriation. Furthermore, the findings showed that the three main strategies used by the young returnees to adapt to their unfamiliar, new environment of Kabul City included social interaction, using mass media, and keeping an open mind on current issues. The findings of the interviews revealed the ongoing changing nature of identity formation of the returnees after their repatriation to Afghanistan and, also the majority of participants (9 out of 12) voiced a strong sense of belonging and attachment to Afghanistan. Keywords: cross-cultural adaptation, intercultural interaction, repatriation and integration, Afghan refugee. iv CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION AMONG YOUNG AFGHAN REFUGEES RETURNING FROM IRAN TO AFGHANISTAN Contents ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 10 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM ............................................................................................................. 10 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................... 20 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ON AFGHANISTAN AND IRAN ........................................................... 20 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF AFGHANS’ MIGRATION .............................................................. 27 AFGHANS IN IRAN: FROM IMMIGRATION TO REPATRIATION ...................................................... 29 REFUGEES OR MIGRANTS? THE LEGAL STATUS OF AFGHANS IN IRAN ...................................... 33 SOCIAL AND CULTURAL INTERACTION BETWEEN AFGHAN REFUGEES AND IRANIANS .............. 37 CHAPTER THREE: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK .......................................................... 44 CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION THEORY ..................................................................................... 44 ACCULTURATION ........................................................................................................................... 47 INFLUENTIAL FACTORS EXISTING PRIOR TO ACCULTURATION .................................................. 48 PLURAL SOCIETY AND ACCULTURATION ..................................................................................... 51 ADAPTING TO A NEW SOCIETY....................................................................................................... 52 CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION: RICHNESS AND FRAGMENTATION .......................................... 53 IN SEARCH OF A BIG PICTURE ....................................................................................................... 54 KIM’S INTEGRATIVE THEORY OF COMMUNICATION AND CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION...... 40 ENTERING A NEW CULTURE ............................................................................................................. 43 THE STRESS-ADAPTATION-GROWTH DYNAMIC .............................................................................. 43 v CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION AMONG YOUNG AFGHAN REFUGEES RETURNING FROM IRAN TO AFGHANISTAN THE STRUCTURE OF CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION ..................................................................... 45 PERSONAL COMMUNICATION: HOST COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE ............................................ 45 COGNITIVE COMPONENTS ................................................................................................................ 46 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING .......................................................................................................... 48 COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY ................................................................................................................. 48 AFFECTIVE COMPONENTS ................................................................................................................ 49 OPERATIONAL COMPETENCE ........................................................................................................... 50 HOST SOCIAL COMMUNICATION ..................................................................................................... 51 ETHNIC SOCIAL COMMUNICATION .................................................................................................. 51 ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................................................ 51 PREDISPOSITION .............................................................................................................................. 52 INTERCULTURAL TRANSFORMATION ............................................................................................... 52 INTERCULTURAL IDENTITY ........................................................................................................... 53 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................. 54 CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ................................... 58 OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH METHOD ....................................................................... 58 INTERVIEWS .............................................................................................................................. 60 LANGUAGE ................................................................................................................................. 62 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF DATA ............................................................................ 62 RECRUITMENT PROCESS AND INTERVIEW SESSIONS ............................................... 64 PARTICIPANTS AND SAMPLING .......................................................................................... 65 vi CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION AMONG YOUNG AFGHAN REFUGEES RETURNING FROM IRAN TO AFGHANISTAN MY ROLE AS RESEARCHER .................................................................................................
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