The Influence of Immigration and Language Barriers on Adolescent Development

There are a number of ways in which immigration and language barriers negatively influence adolescent development. On the one hand, there is an issue of culture shock. Immigrants arriving to the U.S. from countries other than well-developed Western democracies experience the most of it, having their moral and other understandings challenged as inapplicable in their new living environment - and even those coming from first-world countries might find it difficult to adjust (Andersen & Collins, 2007). An adjustment process can be long and painful, and it may be particularly damaging to adolescents because they tend to interact with people of the same age as them, who in turn tend to be less accepting and less socially constrained in their expression of hostility toward something they perceive as different or strange (Tatum, 1997).

In other words, other adolescents can make adjustment and assimilation difficult for a recent immigrant adolescent with poor knowledge of local customs and command of the English language. This may have a number of negative implications in terms of personal development. One such negative development can be brought on by social ostracism and bullying. This limits the ability of the immigrant adolescent to be integrated into the social structure of her peers by establishing a network of relationships and particularly by becoming part of a group. Rejection might not come because others perceive the new child as different, but rather because the child is shy and withdrawn (Cole, Cole & Lightfoot, 2005), which is not unexpected considering the lack of knowledge of the new culture and the lack of language proficiency. This makes the rejected children - who are generally as concerned with getting along with others as the rest of their peers - even more worried about their social relationships, with a number of negative consequences.

One of such consequences is the adolescents' attempt to compensate for their own hurt feelings at being rejected by becoming aggressive to others around them. This usually results in even more ostracism, since adolescents maintain the tendency developed earlier in life to avoid those who are mean to them (Cole, Cole & Lightfoot, 2005). More aggressive individuals also tend to misinterpret others' actions by always thinking that others are out to hurt them, which makes the situation even worse. Another consequence is a significant decrease in the rejected person's self-esteem and self-perception, as she begins assigning blame for her social ostracism to herself. This in turn leads to a host of new problems, such as depression, substance abuse, delinquent behavior, and low academic performance (Andersen & Collins, 2007).

Many of these negative consequences eventually cause a vicious cycle of deterioration in personal development for a rejected or neglected adolescent. For example, low self-perception and self-esteem may result in apathy about one's personal appearance, or even deliberate underscoring of one's unattractiveness, achieved through clothing and personal hygiene (Anyon, 2005). Depression leads to even greater social apathy, unbalanced psyche, substance and medication abuse, and even thoughts and attempts of suicide. Delinquent behavior often is in itself a self-perpetuating condition, as children who are perceived as strange decide to become as strange as they can as a sign of rebellion, but in fact subconsciously affirming the group's perception of them (Andersen & Collins, 2007). Low academic phenomenon also can become a self-perpetuating phenomenon, with the adolescent's abilities already reduced by the poor command of the English language. If not encouraged to improve by teachers and teased or ostracized for academic inadequacy by her peers, an immigrant adolescent may decide that she is indeed incapable of learning and stop making an effort. In fact, in an act of self-identifying defiance, she might do even less academically that was done before (Cole, Cole & Lightfoot, 2005).

Delinquent behavior is also likely in this situation according to Kohlberg's moral stages (Cole, Cole & Lightfoot, 2005). Adolescents exhibit moral behavior somewhere between the stages 3 and 4 of Kohlberg's hierarchy. Their understanding of the "Golden Rule" is skewed, as others do unto them what they do not really enjoy, and they answer with the same. They see little reason to care for others since they perceive that no one cares for them. They are unable to maintain mutual relationships through trust, loyalty, respect, and gratitude because they cannot establish social relationships in the first place. Consequently, these individuals have little or no desire to adhere to the rules of the existing social order and to keep the institution going as a whole since they do not see the institution as beneficial to themselves. Instead of evaluating their own interests in relation to those of a larger social groups - be it just a group of friends or one's entire community - these adolescents perceive their surroundings based on the formula of "me against everyone else." As a result, they consider their own interests ahead of everyone else's.

The negativity encountered in school may spill over into family relations. Seeing the child's poor academic performance, parents might undertake punitive measures that will only exacerbate the adolescent's loneliness and depression. Such measures may be the only ones in the parents' arsenal since their own lack of language proficiency would preclude them from helping their children more productively, for example, by helping them with their homework. This is likely to exacerbate the conflict between parents and children, since, due to lack of peer support, these adolescents are more likely to turn to their parents for support. If such support is not forthcoming, and instead is replaced by constant criticism, the child has no one left to turn to. This may force her to seek undesirable group affiliations, such as neighborhood- or ethnicity-based gangs (Cole, Cole & Lightfoot, 2005).

Overall, such circumstances are likely to lead to adolescents not only becoming socially isolated, but also confused about their own identities. According to Erikson (cited in Cole, Cole & Lightfoot, 2005), adolescence is when the person's identity is formed on the basis of belonging to a social group. Social ostracism due to culture shock and language barriers can lead to this identity confusion in the most important personality-forming stage before adulthood. Inability to form stable social contact also may produce negative results in early adulthood when, according to Erikson, an individual either acquires the ability to form intimate relationships or settles on considering herself socially isolated.

REFERENCES
* Andersen, M. L., & Collins, P. H. (2007). Race, class, and gender: An anthology. (6th ed.). Florence, KY: Wadsworth Publishing.
* Anyon, J. (2005). What "counts" as educational policy? Notes toward a new paradigm. Harvard Educational Review, 75, 65-88.
* Cole, M., Cole, S. R., & Lightfoot, C. (2005). The development of children. In J. Bayne, J. Ahren, & T. Kuehn (Eds.), (pp. 230, 251-255). New York: Worth Publishers.
* Tatum, B. (1997). "Why are all the black kids sitting together at the cafeteria?" And other conversations about race. New York: Basic Books.