Acculturation patterns of the sub-saharan african community in Malta

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the acculturation experiences of sub-Saharan African immigrants in Malta, the majority being refugees and asylum-seekers and aims to identify their preferences. This study forms part of a wider project (MIRIPS), undertaken by John Berry, which seeks to map acculturation strategies between dominant and non-dominant groups in an effort to identify best strategies and conditions. The research was guided by a number of scales: cultural identity, acculturation attitudes, perceived discrimination, multicultural ideology, prejudice and psychological problems. Participants responses for all statements are demonstrated by descriptive frequency statistics in the results section. One-way ANOVAs, for four different demographic variables (sex, age, education and religion) alongside the previously mentioned scales, demonstrated a number of significant and non significant differences. Significant relationships were also found between scales. The results indicated that participants favour the integration attitude over the other three acculturation attitudes.