Identity in crisis : - identity and adaptation among immigrants in Sweden

Abstract When immigrants move to Sweden from their native country it is not unusual that they experience some kind of identity crises. Their own experience of their cultural identity can be very problematic and they often lose a part of what they previously saw as their own identity. To handle such crises the immigrants can use different strategies. They can for example accept their disparity, deny it or emphasize it. The aim of this study is to examine how immigrants in Sweden experience that their cultural identity has changed since they moved here from a country that has a culture that is different from the Swedish culture. To reach my goal with this study I interviewed immigrants/refugees from Chile, Lebanon and Thailand. Some of the results are that my presentation of the problem and the aim with the study were not profound enough. I intended to only write about cultural identity but I came to the conclusion that individual identity and different adaptation strategies were no less important. A further conclusion is that these three ingredients are completely different things; an immigrant can have one individual identity, another cultural identity and use a strategy that does not correspond with any of these. Moreover I also found that a person’s identity does not need to change when moving from their native country to Sweden. Finally I want to stress that my study is not about making sweeping statements, it is rather exemplifying. Identity and strategies are different from one person to another. Keywords: individual identity, cultural identity, adaptation strategie