The effects of acculturative stress on incarcerated Alaska Native and non-Native men

The relationship of acculturative status, acculturative stress, and interpersonal violence was examined in a study consisting of 73 incarcerated Alaska Native and non-Native men. The instruments used were the Acculturation Scale, Padilla SAFE Acculturative Stress Measure, Conflict Tactics Scale, Rorschach test, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Results found few inmates in the marginal group and no relationship between acculturative status and acculturative stress. Native inmates had significantly higher levels of acculturative stress than non-Native inmates, and other measures of stress did not discriminate between these two groups. Only non-Native inmates had higher levels of interpersonal violence related to acculturative stress, but their experience of acculturative stress was compounded by perceived, chronic, and situational stress. Apparently, non-Native inmates' feelings of acculturative stress are actually a sense of being discriminated against unrelated to their ethnicity. Bicultural inmates had significantly higher levels of violence than assimilated inmates did. For these inmates, acculturative stress is not the link between cultural conflict and interpersonal violence, but attempting to be a part of both cultures may be. The problem for these inmates seems to be in adapting to their cultural orientation, not in the orientation itself. While in prison, many native men seem to cope by renewing their cultural and spiritual practices, which may be providing them with a cultural identity they did not possess before incarceration. Acculturative status may need to be viewed as a continuum and a conscious choice. Implications for treatment and further research are discussed.