The purpose of this study was to explore how living outside of the passport country during the developmental years affected the experiences of adult Third Culture Kids (TCKs). Individual interviews were conducted with 15 adult TCKs who had lived at least one year outside of their passport country prior to age 18 and had returned to their passport country for at least one year. They were asked questions about how their experiences living outside of their passport country affected them. Data analyzed from the interviews generated 13 themes: (a) broader understanding of the world and the differences of people, (b) developing a support system of genuine relationships based on support and understanding, (c) development of an identity that integrates experiences and cultures, (d) feeling misunderstood, isolated, and different, (e) experience resulted in opportunities and skills sets that are not traditional in the passport country, (f) challenges of returning to the passport country, (g) internal struggles in relating to others and developing effective coping skills, (h) ability to negotiate change and a lack of fear of change, (i) difference in understanding of wealth and financial management, (j) view experience as positive and life-changing, (k) challenges in adjusting to a different culture, (l) variation in relationships with family, and (m) desire to travel and be in other places. These themes and their repeating ideas generated a grounded theory about the experiences of TCKs. This theory represents the relationships between the themes and the research questions. The theory consisted of six elements: (a) development of a global perspective, (b) affirmation of the complexity of relationships, (c) struggle to achieve cultural efficacy, (d) confirmation of the value of the experience, (e) challenge of acculturation, and (f) change as a source of achieving equilibrium. Findings from this study demonstrated that the experience of growing up outside of the passport country during the developmental years was perceived as a valuable and beneficial experience that significantly affected the participants. The results also identified challenges of the TCK experience and the influences these had in participants’ lives. Research and practice implications are presented. Results of this study may assist mental health professionals to understand the term TCK and the challenges with which they may present for treatment. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

With growing recognition of the duality of language and culture, the TESOL profession is placing increasing emphasis on the importance of understanding intercultural dynamics in the second language classroom. Currently, however, there is a lack of empirical information and measurement instruments to aid understanding within the field of cross-cultural communication. In response to this lack of instrumentation, Kelley and Meyers (1993) recently created the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI), a 5 0-item, self-perception inventory designed to measure cross-cultural adaptability through a total score and four contributing dimensions: Emotional Resilience, Flexibility/Openness, Perceptual Acuity and Personal Autonomy. The two primary purposes of this study were: (1) to add to a limited empirical base by studying the effect of four independent variables--host culture contact, cultural distance, second language proficiency, and length of previous experience abroad--on the dependent variable of cross-cultural adaptability; (2) to explore the possibility of using the CCAI for cross-cultural training in the TESOL profession. Two hundred and forty-five college/university students from two schools participated in the study. Subjects were selected based on location and length of previous cross-cultural experience abroad. Twenty-eight subjects with academic minors in TESOL were also specifically selected. The statistical methodology of this study differed from that of Kelley and Meyers in its treatment of the CCAI Likert scale data as ordinal rather than interval data. After creating an index based on rank scores, one-way analysis of variance and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used for statistical analysis. Overall, the four primary variables of the study were shown to be significantly related to self-perceptions of cross-cultural adaptability. Of the four, cultural distance showed the weakest relationship. One scale, Personal Autonomy, stood out for consistently different results than those of the other three scales. Results were also discussed for TESOL vs. non-TESOL minors, age, gender, and satisfaction with sojourn abroad.

Studies addressing racial/ethnic identity development have often overlooked the developmental cultural context. The impact of growing up with contradictory cultures has not been well explored. Immersion in multiple cultures may produce mixed patterns of strengths deficits. This study reviews the literature's currently inconsistent usage of the terms race, ethnicity, and culture; introduces the concept and theoretical framework of Cultural Homelessness; relates CH to multicultural integration; and develops two study-specific measures (included) to examine the construct validity of CH. The sample’s (N = 448, 67% women) racial, ethnic, and cultural mixture was coded back three generations using complex coding criteria. Empirical findings supported the CH-specific pattern of cognitive and social strengths with emotional difficulties: social adaptability and cross-cultural competence but also low self-esteem and shame regarding diff

Text in Afrikaans / Euro-centric (Western) therapeutic approaches in psychotherapy are criticized by several authors as being unsuitable in an African context. The reconciliation of the contrasting approach of world- and human views regarding individualism (Western) and collectivism (Africa) is being questioned. In this research a qualitative approach was used. The objectives were to explore, describe and to explain the use of gestalt play therapy with the adolescent who suffered trauma due to the loss of one or both parents, in a multicultural context. Case studies were done on three adolescents in eight therapeutic sessions of Gestalt play therapy. The finding and conclusion of this research showed that Gestalt play therapy could be used with the traumatised adolescent in a multicultural context. The child could be understood from a holistic point of view as the individual as well as a member of a cultural group. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

Text in Afrikaans / Euro-centric (Western) therapeutic approaches in psychotherapy are criticized by several authors as being unsuitable in an African context. The reconciliation of the contrasting approach of world- and human views regarding individualism (Western) and collectivism (Africa) is being questioned. In this research a qualitative approach was used. The objectives were to explore, describe and to explain the use of gestalt play therapy with the adolescent who suffered trauma due to the loss of one or both parents, in a multicultural context. Case studies were done on three adolescents in eight therapeutic sessions of Gestalt play therapy. The finding and conclusion of this research showed that Gestalt play therapy could be used with the traumatised adolescent in a multicultural context. The child could be understood from a holistic point of view as the individual as well as a member of a cultural group. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)