Introduction
With the growing migration and immigration processes caused by wars, poverty, and the pursuit for better living conditions, many people move from their home countries and shape new communities. The understanding of such communities is essential from the perspective of both an outsider and insider in order to reveal their problems. In terms of an assimilation theory, migrants and refuges are likely to adopt the local culture and adapt to a new environment.
At the same time, the segmented assimilation theory implies two key trajectories, such as upward assimilation leading to the position similar to the one of the US citizens and downward assimilation that is caused by ethic prejudice. The structural concept of insiders and outsider implies that insiders are members of certain groups or people with special social statuses, while outsiders are not accepted by the group members. This paper aims at examining the observations of the Somali community living in Michigan from the perspective of both an outsider and insider. Even though every community has its own peculiarities and attitudes towards others, the assimilation process presents common tendencies and challenges.
Being the Outsider: Personal Attitudes and Entering the Community
In the literature, research in the field of assimilation processes of migrants focuses on the study of cultural attitudes, their changes in the process of adaptation to the new environment, the peculiarities of acculturation of various groups of migrants, their integration into the structures of host countries and their inclusion in the host community. The result of such processes is either the loss by migrants of their ethnicity or adaptation to some extent to the norms and ideas of the majority. In the social sciences, there is still no single theory of the assimilation of refugees since the authors debate on its peculiarities, providing various points of view (Crow and Laidlaw, 2019; Lal, 2017). Most importantly, there are two approaches that can be applied to examine the assimilation processes: an insider and outsider perspectives.
My personal experience of being an outsider refers to the period of my life when I lived in the refugee camp in Somalia community in Kenya. My observations also relate to the later living with the same community in the state of Michigan in the United States. The cooperation with this community was similar to living with a roommate, when it is obligatory to share one’s living place with other persons. In fact, the shared residence does not mean that two people have common interests or identities. As stated by Crow and Laidlaw (2019), I felt the difference in spatial structural and symbolic dimensions. Some distance between me and the Somalians always existed, and our interaction was limited to general themes as they prefer keeping their problems inside their community.
The theory of community elaborated by Norbert Elias reflects on the “we-I” balance that refers to how the community members perceive outsiders. In particular, it is mentioned that “outsiders … tend to be modeled on the “minority of the worst”” Crow and Laidlaw (2019, p. 4), which is expressed in idealizing a powerful group of “natives” and denigrating the group of outsiders. Personally, I understood that the norms and values of the Somali community were the devotion to their people and a rather cautious attitude to others. Perhaps, this was caused by the ongoing civil war and associated suffering along with the need to leave their homeland, which made their characters closed to the outside world.
In terms of the segmented assimilation theory, refugees face a lack of economic opportunities and, as a result, poverty. In the identified community, I observed how Somalians who were used for trading in their home country tended to quit it since the American context was not acceptable for their practices. The hardworking persons turned out to be suppressed by new conditions and were suffering from a lack of money. Subsequently, low income correlates with high rates of crime, which is caused by increased stress and depression, when the desire to meet at least the basic human needs becomes a priority (Carling, Erdal, & Ezzati, 2014). Not only adults but also children and adolescents tend to engage in illegal activities and be arrested since they see no other means to obtain necessary resources.
The Somali people knew that many of their community members are prone to abusing drugs and committing crimes due to their difficult situation and challenges with adaptation to the new environment.
One may suggest that by restricting communication with outsiders, they strive to shield their friends and families from a negative impact. When speaking with one of them later on, I found that this knowledge was a key to understanding their restraint behaviors, which allowed me to significantly reconsider their attitudes to life and outsiders. This can also be explained in terms of the refugee theory that implies high stress levels and the inability to accommodate one’s life while having an asylum seeker status (Lincoln, Lazarevic, White, & Ellis, 2016). Even though the life in Michigan is peaceful and seems to be less stressful, this community encounters challenges with accommodating and improving their lives in a new place.
The polarization in the social structure is reflected in the divergence of the judgments of individuals and ideology, where groups seek to capture what Heidegger called the public interpretation of reality (Koo, 2016).
Differing in the strength of an intent, conflicting groups, outsiders and insiders, seek to dominate their interpretations of how issues were before and how they will be in the future. A critical measure of success moves the interpretation outside the group and makes it be accepted by outsiders. In its extreme version, it is a converted outsider, asserting by acting with greater zeal than insiders in following the doctrine of their group, with which a person wants to identify himself or herself at least symbolically. In my journey to enter the Somali community, it was important to comprehend the ways they consider possible to achieve it. Nevertheless, my attempts failed, even though one can state that some progress was made.
One of the first concepts in the field of assimilation of migrants was the American concept of assimilation, the ideas of which are reflected in the writings of the Chicago School sociologists. Its representatives examined ethnic groups in the United States, discrimination, interethnic marriages, et cetera. Having studied people from different cultures in contact with each other, Park proposed a model known as the cycle of racial relations, which consists of three phases: contact, placement, and assimilation (Lal, 2017). The contact of migrants with the dominant culture leads to their adaptation, minimizing the possibility of conflict.
Long-term adjustment evokes an increase in the number of interethnic marriages and the inclusion of immigrant groups in the host community. However, I can claim that this theory works with South Sudanese, but it is not consistent with the attitudes of the Somali people.
Elaborating on the idea of joining the specified community and turning from being an outsider to insider, I unintentionally found that I have warm feelings to one of them. My efforts to build relationships with this person were unobtrusive and balanced so that to show that I am not interested in forcing anyone to engage in affiliations. Although some signs of sympathy were shown from both sides, after two months, it became clear that no further development is possible since they clearly stated that no outside connections would be approved by the community. During my life in the Camp in Africa for nine years, none of the Somalians married any South Sudanese or other nations. At the same time, I remembered my experience of observing the South Sudanese people, who also lived in the US and married Americans. In spite of the fact that the traditions of these two ethnic groups were similar to some extent, their openness to new behaviors was completely different. This makes it evident that every community should be approached specifically, and no generalizations can be made to avoid interpretation errors.
In a long-term perspective, it impacted me positively since I clearly understood that they need the ways to accommodate to the US environment easier so that they would feel less stress and crime levels. In a short-term, I was astonished by strong resistance of the community members to allow a foreigner who yet lived with them for many years to fully enter their group. It is possible to anticipate that if the situation has a different outcome, I would marry this person and, perhaps, help the whole community to accommodate better. The adjustment of business strategies and increased openness to the opportunities offered by the US seem to be the two core areas of developing their group in the host country.
Being the Insider: Views of the Community Members and Associated Challenges
The theory of segmented assimilation relies on the unique empirical material and states that the children of migrants fall into certain segments of the host society, but not into the mainstream. Skovgaard Nielsen (2016) is particularly interested in the phenomenon of downward mobility, when representatives of the second generation drop out of school, fall into gangs, et cetera. According to the given author, the question is not whether a person will be able to assimilate into American society, but to which part of it he or she will join. There are many dangers for successful adaptation, including discrimination, growing inequality, and a high percentage of marginalized people in cities, where migrants mostly live. Skovgaard Nielsen (2016) assumes that assimilation occurs in different ways in different groups of migrants.
The scholar argues that “becoming an American can be a difficult, traumatic experience or a quick, successful process. According to these researchers, the complexity of assimilation depends on both the qualities of a person and the conditions of his or her environment.
In my point of view, it is important to stop interpreting assimilation as a single process through which all migrants and their children go to the same extent. One of the key issues that represent me as an insider of the Somalia community in Michigan refers to religion. The characteristic change is that many people are likely to stop being committed to their religious practices once they start living there. Somalians are Muslims, and they pray five times per day, use microphones for this, and perform other traditions in Africa. In the US, the law permits any religion in case it does not disturb other people, which seems to be the main reason for Somalians to change their habits.
Accordingly, I can also note that I do not want to bother other people who are most likely Protestants or Catholics. In this case, I feel the connection with this community and understand that we are in exile. This feeling makes people closer and much open to each other, which is expressed in closer relationships and greater reliance on each other than it was in Africa.
In the US, there is a centuries-old tradition of incorporating various religions, cultures, and ethnic groups. In this regard, the society has accumulated extensive experience in interacting with new arrivals, and believers, even adherents of a different faith, are sometimes better perceived than atheists (Spencer, 2015). In the American sociological tradition, the religious affiliation of migrants is often described as a mechanism to protect young people from the dangerous influence of large cities, such as drugs or involvement in criminal structures. Modern segmented assimilation theorists consider that religious migrants find their place more easily and adapt to American society than non-believers. This is consistent with my experience: as the insider, I felt the connectedness with the Somali people while praying and speaking on religious aspects of life.
Another point that demonstrates me as the insider of the Somali community is that I was welcome to work with them in the refugee Camp in Kenya to do business. It should be emphasized that they have a variety of successful business, and such companies as Dabshil, Amal, and Tawakal can be noted as examples. These are money transfer services that send money to different regions of the world. I was a part of one of the companies, namely, I worked with people to explain to them how it works and what they should do to transfer their money. The fact that their way of running a business is opposite to the one adopted in the US ruined their companies when they moved to Michigan. Speaking more precisely, they do not treat customers with great respect and attentiveness like Americans do, which leads to the inability to build stable consumer loyalty.
When new people of South Sudanese background came to Michigan, it was an example of how outsiders tried to join our community and faced challenges. As the insider, I can note that their desire to achieve it was quite pronounced as they intended to communicate with Somalians, yet the latter were restraint. When the newcomers started their praying loudly, it was met by the community as the violation of their way of life in America. The two leaders of the group came to the South Sudanese and asked them to be less disturbing to other people, while it was like the beginning of the conflict. This misunderstanding was caused by unawareness of the rules and norms existing in the community, which prevented the newcomers from becoming its part. In other words, Somalians segregated themselves from other ethnicities residing in the same area.
The described situation illustrates that the general social context provides a strong influence on the adaptation process of refugees, the relationships between immigrant groups and the host community. Vinokurov, Trickett, and Birman (2017) reveal that these relationships can be viewed differently by both of the parties. My situation expands the theory of adaptation and focuses on the need to take into account not only the strategies of the newly arrived immigrants but also the expectations of members of the host society. Their expectations are also related to their readiness for intergroup contact and the degree of development of the culture of the host community by migrants (Vinokurov et al. 2017).
The significance of the theory of acculturation for understanding the adaptation process has been noted by many scientists. For example, Imamura and Zhang (2014) in their study of the adaptation of Chinese foreign students in American society showed that Americans are more likely to communicate with the Chinese if they understand that they are integrating or are ready for assimilation.
Accordingly, my experience is representative of the fact that in case the host community welcomes newcomers, the assimilation process is more likely to occur. From my side, I tried to be hospitable to newly arrived people, stating that they are welcome to ask questions and clarifications regarding the activities and issues in the camp. I remembered that I also was the outsider, and it was difficult to be lonely and misunderstood. As noted by Imamura and Zhang (2014), the ex-outsiders are prone to engage in communication with those whom they feel empathy due to their similar experience. However, other community members may interpret such a welcoming behavior as the intention to betray them and quit close relationships.
The person who was not initially accepted by the Somali community explained that he strives to preserve his cultural background but also adopt that of them. This is consistent with the concept of acculturation as a process that should take into account both the relationship with traditional or ethnic culture and with a new or dominant culture, and these two connections can be independent. Castro and Rudmin (2017) identify it as biculturalism, in which a person is interested in preserving his or her original culture and interacting with a new culture. Biculturalism allows a person to choose which aspects of the new norms suit him or her and which he or she prefers not to accept. As a result, it is possible to evaluate this situation as the one in which the mentioned outsider retained his position since the community did not realize his attitudes.
Conclusion
To conclude, it should be emphasized that the outsider-insider approach to examining the process of assimilation allows for considering it from different perspectives and note valuable aspects. The segmented assimilation theory presents a beneficial framework for analyzing personal experience in the context of the available literature. It was revealed that the Somali community is characterized by closeness to the outside world and the loss of their religious and business effectiveness once they move from their homeland.
The Somalia people do not accept outsiders who prefer biculturalism, yet they are likely to accommodate to those who are ready to assimilate their traditions and behaviors. This paper allows for concluding that the Somalia community needs more effective means to improve their lives and reduce crime and drug abuse, which are associated with but not limited to assimilation challenges.
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