ABSTRACT
This paper uses the cultural preparedness approach to analyse the interface between the aspirations of immigrants and their engagement with systems of the host country. It draws upon interviews with 84 immigrants from 35 developing countries living in 9 high-income countries. Based upon Edmund Husserl’s hermeneutical phenomenology, two studies are presented to understand the disturbance of equilibrium in cultural preparation status experienced by immigrants as they try to find their way in a host country. Aspiration-Engagement themes and responses to the challenges of integration are discussed. A model of aspiration and engagement based on the cultural preparedness approach is proposed as a framework that guidance and counselling workers could use to help immigrants optimise their engagement with the systems of the host country.
Notes on contributor
Gideon Arulmani, Director, The Promise Foundation, India, is a clinical psychologist interested in culture and counselling. His Cultural Preparation Process Model has informed career intervention designing in many developing countries. He is Trustee of the Indian Association for Career and Livelihood Planning, Vice President of the IAEVG, a visiting professor and an international consultant to multilateral agencies.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.