Coherent With What? An Explorative Analysis of the Relation Between Sens of Coherence, Integration and Identity in a Health Context
Abstract
In order to increase the understanding on what determines health among immigrants, ethnic minorities and indigenous people concepts as acculturation, identity and sense of coherence (SOC) have become central for the analysis. The process of acculturation and the associated concepts of integration, assimilation, marginalization and separation have often been referred to when describing the health of immigrants and indigenous, of which integration has been considered to provide the better conditions for good health. The aim of this study is to explore the mutual relations between the concepts of acculturation, SOC and identity by an abductive reasoning based on an investigation on a group of Sami regarding their cultural and ethnic self-identification. By this explorative approach the study also seek to touch upon some of the relevant neighboring concepts such as cultural memory and position them among the more established social determinants of health. The study demonstrates that coherence as a psychosocial characteristic is appearing in different concepts and models in the area of acculturation and cognitive development as well as in cultural memory. It has an intra-individual dimension expressed in the theories of cognitive development and cultural memory and inter-individual, social dimension noticeable in SOC and the process of acculturation. The mutual correspondence of these structures of thought, values and perspectives have yet to be clarified and understood, especially in relation to health.References
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[2] I. U. Waqar, A. Bradby and H. Bradby, Locating ethnicity and health: exploring concepts and contexts, Sociology of Health and Illness, vol. 29, no. 6, 795-810, 2007.
[3] J. Knibb-Lamouche, Culture as a Social Determinant of health: Examples from Native Communities, Institute on Medicine: Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity and the Elimination of Health Disparities, Seattle, 2012.
[4] C. Ward, J. Stuart and L. Kus, The Construction and Validation of a Measure of Ethno-Cultural Identity Conflict, Journal of Personality Assessment, 93(5), 462-473, 2011.
[5] A. M. Padilla and W. Perez, Acculturation, Social Identity, and Social Cognition: A New Perspective, Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, vol. 21, no. 1, 35-55, 2003.
[6] R. Redfield, R. Linton and M. J. Herskovits, Memorandum for the study of acculturation, American Anthropologist, 38, 149-152, 1936.
[7] D. L. Sam, Acculturation: conceptual background and core components, D. L. Sam and J. W. Berry, Ed. Cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
[8] J. W. Berry, Acculturation and adaption: Health consequences of culture contact among Circumpolar peoples, Arct Med Res, 49, 142-150, 1990.
[9] J. W. Berry, Stress perspectives on acculturation, D. L. Sam and J. W. Berry, Ed. Cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
[10] J. Riedel, U. Wiesmann and H-J. Hannich, An integrative theoretical framework of acculturation and salutogenesis, International Review of Pyschiatry, 23(6): 555-564, 2011.
[11] A. Kosic, Personality and individual factors in acculturation, D. L. Sam and J. W. Berry, Ed. Cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
[12] V. Benet-Martinez and J. Haritatos, Bicultural Identity Integration (BII): Components and psychosocial antecedents. Journal of Personality, 73, 1015-1050, 2005.
[13] A. Antonovsky, Health, Stress and Coping – New Perspectives on Mental and Physical Well-Being, Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers, San Francisco, 1979.
[14] M. Eriksson and B. Lindström, Antonovsky’s sense of coherence scale and the relation with health: a systematic review, J Epidemiol Community Health, 60:376-381, 2006.
[15] K. Liebkind, Ethnic identity and acculturation, D. L. Sam and J. W. Berry, Ed. Cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
[16] S. Hassler, Acculturation among Sami - What indicators are of value?, Int J Circumpolar Health, vol. 72, suppl. 1, 2013.
[17] P. Sjölander, What is known about the health and living conditions of the indigenous people of northern Scandinavia, the Sami? Glob Health Action. 2011;4. Epub 2011 Oct 14. Review.
[18] H. Barruk, Samiskan i Sverige (The Sami language in Sweden), Rapport från Språkkampanjrådet, 2008.
[19] J. F. Pallant and L. Lae, Sense of coherence, well-being, coping and personality factors: further evaluation of the sense of coherence scale, Personality and Individual Differences, 33:39-48, 2002.
[20] A. Abrahamsson, U. Lindmark and A. Gerdner, Sense of coherence of reindeer herders and other Samis in comparison to other Swedish citizens, Int J Circumpolar Health, 72, 2013.
[21] L. Daerga, A. Edin-Liljegren and P. Sjölander, Quality of life in relation to physical, psychosocial and socioeconomic conditions among reindeer herding Sami. Int J Circumpolar Health 67(1):10-28, 2008.
[22] O. Braun-Lewensohn and S. Sagy, Salutogenesis and culture: Personal and community sense of coherence among adolescents belonging to three different cultural groups, International Review of Psychiatry, 23(6):533-541, 2011.
[23] J. Carpentier and L. de la Soblonnière, Identity profiles and well-being of multicultural immigrants: The case of Canadian immigrants living in Quebec, Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 4, 2013.
[24] C. E. Amiot, R. de la Sablonnière, D. J. Terry and J. R. Smith, Integration of Social Identities in the Self: Toward a Cognitive-Developmental Model, Personality and Social Psychology Review, vol. 11, no. 4:364-388, 2007.
[25] Prop 2013/14:1, Utgiftsområde 8 [Expenditure area 8], Budgetpropositionen för 2014 [The Budget proposition for 2014], Regeringskansliet, Stockholm, 2013.
[26] A. Confino, Collective Memory and Cultural History, American Historical Review, December, 1997.
[27] S. Roccas, M. B. Brewer, Social Identity Complexity, Personality and Social Psychology Review, vol. 6, no. 2:88-106, 2001.
[28] M. L. Commons, Introduction to the Model of Hierarchical Complexity and its Relationship to Postformal Action, World Futures, 64:305-320, 2008.
[29] R. Kegan, In over Our Heads – The Mental Demands of Modern Life, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1994.
How to Cite
HASSLER, Sven.
Coherent With What? An Explorative Analysis of the Relation Between Sens of Coherence, Integration and Identity in a Health Context.
Култура/Culture, [S.l.], n. 7, p. 17-26, dec. 2014.
ISSN 1857-7725.
Available at: <http://journals.cultcenter.net/index.php/culture/article/view/25>. Date accessed: 15 mar. 2025.
Section
English Articles
Keywords
coherence, indigenous, acculturation, sense of coherence, SOC, health, cultural memory
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