No Matter How Long it's in the Water, A Log Will Never Become a Crocodile: An Examination of Patterns of Socialization Among Americans Living in Dakar
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Authors
Kruger, Shonda Renee
Issue Date
1997
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Looking back on my initial nine-month foreign study experience in Dakar and the issues it raised
for me, it is easy to see that a process of academic distancing similar to that described by the above
respondent took place in the development of this project. Perhaps as much as anything during those first
months, I was surprised to learn of the diversity of reasons for which students on the program had decided
to come to study in Dakar and the occupational goals they had for their futures. Correspondingly, I was
fascinated by the very different lifestyles I observed within the community of Americans living in Dakar
and by individuals' diverse reasons for being there. My understanding of these issues took on more depth
as my day to day interactions proved them increasingly complicated. My original morally-charged mental
calculations of integration versus isolation and cultural relativity versus ethnocentrism became less certain.
I realized how differences such as arriving in Sénégal as an individual versus arriving with a family or
arriving for a specified amount of time versus arriving with the intention of living there indefinitely would
undoubtedly be influential in determining what decisions I, myself, might make. And yet despite the
growing complication of ever finding one single, outstanding answer to it, I recognized that all of these observations and new understandings were linked to a single question. To what degree do individuals
ultimately change their own lifestyles, beliefs and values when coming to live in Sénégal? Or-in other
words-what proximity to the host culture do they ultimately adopt?
In addressing these questions it is obviously useful to have a theoretic base which provides an
understanding of socialization itself and of the processes by which it occurs. I found such a base in Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann's book The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of
Knowledge which was introduced to me in a Theories class I took during the summer immediately
following my study abroad experience. In it Berger and Luckmann trace the development of society from
interactions between two individuals, to the development of institutions, to the introduction of new
individuals-not originally present in the formation of these institutions-into the societies governed by
them. Most important to us, however, throughout this theoretic chronology they provide an exceptionally
rich and detailed understanding of the processes of socialization by which these individuals are introduced
into the society. In order to establish a working understanding of their particular aspects of their theories
and to identify points to which we will return in our examination of respondents' experiences I propose a brief theoretical discussion.
Description
iii, 104 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo, Mich. : Kalamazoo College.
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.