Analyse the concepts of 'culture shock' and 'cultural adjustment' and Essay

Analyse the concepts of 'culture shock' and 'cultural adjustment' and critically assess some possible consequences of th - Essay Example It involves the difficulties in trying to assimilate into the new culture or the new environment which leads to difficulty in understanding what is proper and what is considered as not being correct. Mostly it is combined with a lot of disgust about some aspects of the different or new culture. In most cases, culture shock may not occur suddenly. It may take some time to begin affecting the moods of the person involved. The duration of time an individual may experience culture shock is based on the period they have to stay in that environment, their self awareness level and the period they take to adjust and blend into the new surrounding. If the person is able to adjust at a faster rate, the better for him or her since the shock may not be as severe as when they did not know anything about the new culture or environment. One may note that he or she is experiencing culture shock when they experience some symptoms such as self doubts and being hostile more than usual (Taylor, 1990). A n example of culture shock is in the case of a university student from a different culture attending school in a totally different environment, for example, an African student attending university in the United States. Such a student will meet a totally different type of culture from the one he or she is used to. He may get hard timed trying to adjust and blend in. These hardships are part of culture shock. Culture adjustment is trying to change according to the shock associated with the change of environment. Living in a different culture that is dissimilar from the one someone is used to may be an adventure that is exiting as well as a challenging one. No matter what country one comes from, once they move from their country to another, they will have to go through cultural adjustment due to the difference in cultures (Vivian, 1999). Understanding the process of adjustment may involve getting some support from other people who are familiar with the culture and may be an exiting exp erience, both professionally and personally. Culture may be defined in a number of ways that may bring out different meanings. In some cases, it may be used to refer to the act of appreciating good literature, food, art and music. For biologists, it may be used to refer to a colony of different types of bacteria or some other organisms. However, for the behavioral science, it is a range of patterns of human behavior. It may be otherwise defined as a complex whole that includes belief, knowledge, art, customs, law and any habits and capabilities that is acquired by people as a part of a given society. Culture is a very powerful tool for the survival of human, but it is also a fragile phenomenon. Culture is consistently changing and may be lost easily since it usually exists in the human mind (Rogers, 1996). Culture is comprised of different layers. The national level deals with the awareness of the dynamics of culture and their patterns by nationality. The national level is relevant for certain areas such as getting into new markets, cross border division and relationships based on international outsourcing. Another level is the organizational level which focuses on culture dynamics experiences in different organizations (Rogers, 1996). The other levels include the regional or ethnic level that involves the difference in culture between different ethnical groups, generation level that is