Third Culture Kid

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As a third culture kid (TCK) or third culture children Children and young people are referred to in another culture have grown up are moved often than their parents or during their childhood and youth, while the culture have changed. As a result, they have special characteristics and certain imprints. If these characteristics are retained in adulthood, one speaks of Adult Third Culture Kids (ATCK).

The term Third Culture was introduced by the sociologists Ruth Hill Useem and John Useem . When researching the situation of Americans and other foreigners in India, they found that they form a kind of new culture among themselves, which contains parts from the surrounding (Indian) culture and parts of the culture of origin (US-American) and therefore none of both is the same. It is therefore a third culture . This concept has proven useful in other research contexts. It was found that people abroad got on very well with foreigners from other cultures, and this was attributed to the fact that this third culture connects them. The TCK adopts elements from different cultures, but mostly feels that it does not belong to any culture.

TCKs are mostly children of missionaries, diplomats, seconded employees of global companies, development workers, teachers, media representatives or military employees. The minimum length of time that a child has to spend in different cultures in order to display the typical characteristics of a TCK is not precisely defined and depends on various factors: age, location, activities of the parents, upbringing, friends, school and others.

Features of the third culture child profile

Book about Third Culture Kids by David Pollock and Ruth van Reken.

The following is a highly generalized picture of a typical third culture child personality, as portrayed primarily by David Pollock and Ruth van Reken .

Intercultural experiences

Third culture children often see and interpret their surroundings differently than non-TCKs because they have often got to know several different cultures, religions, worldviews and beliefs. TCKs therefore make an interested and cosmopolitan impression on many people, but others also perceive them as know-it-all and arrogant. Studies show that children from third cultures are more likely than average to obtain university degrees.

adaptability

Third culture kids often have the ability to find their way around different cultures more easily than other people because they had the opportunity to observe a wide variety of cultural behaviors in their childhood. Many third culture children have learned to adjust quickly to new situations and cultures, which makes it easier for them to adapt and empathize with the people who live in a culture. Many third culture children therefore often find it easier to approach strangers and make contacts. These skills can be of great use and benefit to adult TCKs in international or intercultural professions.

Rootlessness

Many third culture children report a feeling of rootlessness when they ask where are you from? don't know a simple answer. Because they move often, they have never had the opportunity to develop a deeper bond with a place and to really feel at home there. Sometimes this question is answered with relationships with certain people. Rootlessness can make the search for one's own identity more difficult, which is why one speaks of an “extended youth” of third culture children.

Restlessness also plays a major role in the TCK profile. After moving so many times and experiencing many changes, Third Culture Kids develop a “migration instinct” that determines their lives. Many third-culture children also move more often than average as adults, also to unknown cultures. Another term for this group is therefore also global nomads or - with emphasis on the technological basis of their lifestyle - digital nomads .

Relationship creation

Life as third culture kids and the associated high mobility has special effects on the relationship pattern of third culture children. Repeated breakups during childhood make a number of third culture kids tend to forge deeper relationships very quickly - perhaps because they learned that you don't have much time to do so. Other third-culture children are very reluctant to form relationships in order to reduce the pain of separation in the event of another change of location, and therefore shield themselves from others.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ D. Pollock, R. Van Reken, G. Pflüger: Third Culture Kids. Growing up in multiple cultures. Francke-Buchhandlung, Marburg 2003, ISBN 3-86122-632-4 .
  2. ↑ RH Useem, A. Baker Cottrell: TCK Four Times More Likely to Earn Bachelor's Degrees. In: NewsLink. Vol. XII, No. 5, Princeton, NJ 1993. (tckworld.com)
  3. ↑ A. Baker Cottrell, RH Useem: TCK Experience Prolonged Adolescence. In: NewsLink. Vol. XIII, No. 1, Princeton, NJ 1993. (tckworld.com)
  4. ↑ A. Baker Cottrell, RH Useem: ATCKs maintain global dimensions Throughout Their Lives. In: NewsLink. Vol. XIII, No. 4, Princeton, NJ 1994. (tckworld.com)