Adaptation, integration, assimilation – an attempt at a theoretical approach

by Małgorzata Budyta-Budzyńska

The present study was aimed at describing the degrees and ways in which Polish immigrants make their “entry” into the community of the majority. For this purpose, a theoretical model of the “entry” of aliens into the host society was formulated, distinguishing four analytical categories: separation, adaptation, integration ans assimilation, which are referred to four dimensions of the life of individuals and groups: the economic, the socio-political, the cultural, and concerning identity. The “entry” of immigrants into the host community happens at different rates and intensities in each of the four mentioned areas, therefore they need to be analyzed separately. Not always are all of the cases enumerated and described in the model observed in a given country – some may appear sporadically while others are clearly overrepresented, and this was indeed found to occur in Iceland. In this chapter several indicators were proposed to gauge the “entry” of immigrants into the host society in the four aforementioned areas.

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