A Sociological Perspective On Growing Up A Third Culture Kid
Growing up a Third Culture Kid
A Sociological Approach
Who am I?Even though I had reason enough to ask myself this question during my adolescence years, I only recall reflecting and identifying personal characteristic personality traits intensely in the recent years.I am about three neighborhoods away from where I used to live 17 years ago.It is the fourth month now, that I would have had the opportunity to pass by the house I used to live in with my parents, my sister, my dog, Swami, Prema and their three children of which I only remember Sangitas name. I have not even come close enough to the neighborhood to see the flower shop next to the big sign where it was written "West End".The first days after my arrival in Delhi I was struggling with sleepless nights yet fully enjoying the extreme heatwave of India´s July month. In many nostalgic moments I had longed for such …show more content…
Yet, it is a culture only they share in that specific setting.
In this context the Useems defined the home culture from which the adults originally came from as the first culture. They named the host culture where the family lived the second culture.
They defined the third culture as the shared lifestyle of the expatriate community which functions as the interstitial culture or „culture between cultures“.
As Dr. Ruth Hill Useem noticed common characteristics among those growing up in this third culture, she used the term Third Culture Kids (TCK) for those children raised in that interstitial culture.
A Third Culture Kid also known as Trans-Culture Kid is defined by David C. Pollock (1988)
A Sociological Approach
Who am I?Even though I had reason enough to ask myself this question during my adolescence years, I only recall reflecting and identifying personal characteristic personality traits intensely in the recent years.I am about three neighborhoods away from where I used to live 17 years ago.It is the fourth month now, that I would have had the opportunity to pass by the house I used to live in with my parents, my sister, my dog, Swami, Prema and their three children of which I only remember Sangitas name. I have not even come close enough to the neighborhood to see the flower shop next to the big sign where it was written "West End".The first days after my arrival in Delhi I was struggling with sleepless nights yet fully enjoying the extreme heatwave of India´s July month. In many nostalgic moments I had longed for such …show more content…
Yet, it is a culture only they share in that specific setting.
In this context the Useems defined the home culture from which the adults originally came from as the first culture. They named the host culture where the family lived the second culture.
They defined the third culture as the shared lifestyle of the expatriate community which functions as the interstitial culture or „culture between cultures“.
As Dr. Ruth Hill Useem noticed common characteristics among those growing up in this third culture, she used the term Third Culture Kids (TCK) for those children raised in that interstitial culture.
A Third Culture Kid also known as Trans-Culture Kid is defined by David C. Pollock (1988)