The Reacculturation of Missionary Families: A Dynamic Theory

Abstract

Case descriptions and a grounded theory of missionary reacculturation were generated incorporating the perspectives of individual members and the dynamics of three missionary family systems. Repatriated subjects reported grieving over loss of reinforcing events associated with their lives overseas and altered frames of cultural reference. Adult subjects reported greater awareness of management stresses that had accentuated problems related to vocational adjustment and family life cycle stage. Reentry of families was associated with decline in family cohesiveness, greater dependence of wives on husbands’ emotional support, and interpersonal tensions resulting from childrens’ readoptation to the home culture. This study positions for the first time in the literature on missionary reacculturation four theoretical conclusions which require empirical validation: (a) a history of dysfunctional family-of-origin relationships is predictive of reentry transition difficulties for women, (b) concurrent transitions in other life dimensions after reentry are complicated by stresses associated with completing the intercultural cycle, (c) favorable sojourn outcomes facilitate adaptive grieving processes, and (d) couples whose marriages develop symmetrical power distributions following repatriation benefit to a greater extent from mutual support than couples whose relationships assume more asymmetrical distributions.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adler

N. J.

(1976). Growthful re-entry theory. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Los Angeles

Adler

N. J.

(1981). Re-entry: Managing cross-cultural transitions. Group and Organization Studies, 6, 341–356.

Austin

C. B.

(1983). Reentry stress: The pain of coming home. Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 19, 278–287.

Bogdan

R. C.

, & Biklen

S. K.

(1982). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Broaddus

(1981). Family structure as a predictor of missionary readjustment. Unpublished manuscript, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.

Byrnes

F. C.

(1966). Role shock: An occupational hazard of American technical assistants abroad. The Annals, 368, 95–108.

Carter

, & McGoldrick

(1980). The family life cycle. New York: Guilford.

David

K. H.

(1976). The use of social learning theory in preventing intercultural adjustment problems. In Pedersen

, Lonner

W. J.

, & Draguns

J. G.

(Eds.) Counseling across cultures (pp. 123–138). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

Forsythe

D. W.

(1978). The adjustment problems of adolescent expatriates returning to the United States from Saudi Arabia to attend boarding school (Doctoral dissertation, University of Montana, Billings). Dissertation Abstracts International, 39, 1338A.

10.

Glaser

B. G.

, & Straus

A. L.

(1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago: Aldine.

11.

Gleason

T. P.

(1970). Social adjustment patterns and manifestations of world mindedness of overseas-experienced American youth (Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University, 1969). Dissertation Abstracts International, 31, 2494A.

12.

Halpern

E. S.

(1983). Auditing naturalistic inquiries: The development and application of a model (Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, Bloomington). Dissertation Abstracts International, 44, 917a.

13.

Hermann

C. B.

(1977). MKs and their parents: The place of the family in building trust and autonomy. Emissary, 10, 1–6.

14.

Kidder

L. H.

(1981). Qualitative research and quasi-experimental frameworks. In Brewer

M. B.

, & Collins

B. E.

(Eds.) Scientific inquiry and the social sciences (pp. 226–257). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

15.

Koehler

(1980). Re-entry shock. Ladycom, 12, 38–40, 70.

16.

Martin

J. N.

(1984). The intercultural reentry: Conceptualization and directions for future research. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 8, 115–134.

17.

Martin

J. N.

, & Koester

(1987, May). Reentry: The what-for and how-to. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs, Long Beach, CA.

18.

Moore

, Jones

B. V.

, & Austin

C. N.

(1987). Predictors of reverse culture shock among North American Church of Christ missionaries. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 15, 336–341.

19.

Moos

R. H.

, & Moos

B. S.

(1986). The Family Environment Scale manual (2nd ed.). East Aurora, NY: Slosson Educational Publications.

20.

Napier

A. Y.

(1988). The fragile bond: In search of an equal, intimate and enduring marriage. New York: Harper & Row.

21.

Orr

J. D.

Jr. (1971). The foreign scholar returned home: A review of selected research (Doctoral dissertation, Columbia University, New York). Dissertation Abstracts International, 32, 3055A.

22.

Patton

(1980). Qualitative evaluation methods. Beverly Hills: Sage.

23.

Santmyer

H. H.

(1982). And ladies of the club. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.

24.

Schulz

D. M.

(1986). A study of third culture experience in relation to the psycho-social adjustment of returned Church of Christ missionary families (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 1985). Dissertation Abstracts International, 47, 1298B.

25.

Shepard

F. G.

(1977). An analysis of variables of self-perception and personal ambition in overseas-experienced American teenagers: Implications of curriculum planning (Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 1976). Dissertation Abstracts International, 37, 5735A.

26.

Sobie

J. H.

(1986). The culture shock of coming home again. In Austin

C. N.

(Ed.) Cross-cultural reentry: A book of readings (pp. 95–101). Abilene, TX: ACU Press.

27.

Stringham

Edward M.

(1991). The reacculturation of American missionary families (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 1990). Dissertation Abstracts International, 51, 2416A.

28.

Sussman

N. M.

(1986). Re-entry research and training: Methods and implications. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 10, 235–254.

29.

Thomas

W. I.

, & Znaniecki

(1927). The Polish peasant in Europe and America. New York: Alfred Knopf.

30.

Viser

W. C.

(1978). A psychological profile of missionary children in college and the relationship of intense group therapy in the treatment of personality problems as reflected by the MMPI. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth.

31.

Wallach

, & Metcalf

(1980, Winter). The hidden problem of reentry. The Bridge, pp. 17–18, 43.