1986 - 1 - Siirtolaisuusinstituutti

L Padilla, Amado, 1980, s. 48,50.
10 Vrt. akkulturaation tasot Kilpelainen, Hannu,
1975 Karjalan onodoksiperinreen akkutiLrraa
tiosta s. 124,126. Uskonnollinen liike. Toim.
Juha Pentikeinen, Pieksamdki; Sairtolaisten
kotitaustasra ks. Korkiasaari, Jouni 1983
Ruorsista Suomeen vuosina 1980 1981 paiann€et.
Sijrtolaisuusrutkimuksia A g, Turku;
s.64. Koivukangas Ola!|, 1975. Suomalarnen
srrrlolaisur.rs Australtaan loisen maailmansodan
jelkeen, Siirtolaisuustutkimuksia A1, Trjrku,
THE ACCULTURATION OF FINNS IN THE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY AFTER
WORLO WAR II
Prrt I
In the area of central, western and southern Eu
rope, there live an estimared 3O,0O0 odd pefsons
of Finnish birth, and of rhese some 11,100 are
residenr in the Federal Republic of Germany,
ncludrng West Eerlin. A common feature among
the Finnish emigrant population of europe s the
singular division of the sexes numencal y: women
account lor over 80 '/o of the toral numb€r ot
Finnish emigrants. Another feature common to
thjs em'granr populalron is the high proporiion of
ethnically mixed marflages. In Wesr Germany,
.or erdmple, morp lhan hdlt lhe F nnrsh emigrarls
have been o/ still are married to natives of the
Federal Republic A thifd common feature rs the
high educational level of thp Finnr5h emrgrsnts
and their good command of forergn langLrages.
The information about the Finns resident in
the Federal Republic of Germany has been collected
through questionnaires delivered by mall and,
n addition, personal intervlews ell over the republic,
rncludrng West Eerljn Approxrmarely 10 9Z of rhe
rotal Frnnish emigrant populat on particrpated
aciively in the sludy.
The theoretical frame of refer€nce was con
structed by takinq into accounr three fundamenral
facrs rhe close ethnic ki^ship between rhe German
and Finnish cultures, the high educaiional level of
rhe Finnish emigrants, and their Finnish blrth.
Accordingly, the by now tiadjtjoDal adapiation
levels from material cultLrral factors ro immaterial
culiura features are no longer applicable as such to
rhe present gfo\rp, lor in view ol the group s
speclal character it was necessary to concentrate
on the rr.mater|al side of adaptarion, on the psychlc
rnfluences brought rnto p ay by emigration. Used
26
s.38-39.
1'l Ks, es;m. Koivukangas Olavi, 1975, s. 52-53.
12 Ks. akkulturaatiopros€ssista esim. Kilpel6insn
Hannu, 1975, 124'125; Lairinen lrmeli, Suu.
San F.ancjscon suomalaisteh sijrrolajsteri so'
peutumisesta amerikkalaiseen yhteiskuntaan.
Sosiaalipolitiikan pro gradu-tutkielma, Helsingin
yliopisto 1981; Borrie, W. D. The Cultural
lntegration of lmmig.ants. Paris: Unesco 1975.
as ards In worklng out th€ frame of reference
were Amado Padilla's theory ot accultura on .nd
the Finn Hannu Kilpel€inen's concepr of the
different levels of the acculturatjon process.
Two important elements of acculruration in
Padilla s vtew are "cullural awareness" and "ethntc
loyalty. The backgfound force behind ethnic
ioyaJry is the ethnicity facior, man's elhnic prjde
and the preservation of identiry coupled ro it. The
trend and depth of ioyalty determine how any
individual undergoes accullu.atisn. Thus, for
instance, an assimilated rmmigrant has.eject€d his
own ethnic background; his ethnic loyalty is di
recled $/holly in the direction of the domtnant
ct/ltural environment. ln isolation, the situation is
qurte the oppostte: the.e, the emigrd clings wholly
to his own ethnic cultural backgfound and takes a
resistant, even hostile, atritude toward the dominant
(ulture Cullir'il iusion dnd rn'egrdr'on,
again. are levels of acculturatron in which ihe
immigranr's cultural awareness rs on a high plane:
he thoroughly knows his own origrnal e(hnic cUlture
as we I as the culture to which he must become
adapted as an immigrant.
Cult!.al tusion is a natural consequence of amal
gamation, for in this process the immigrant takes
culrural elsments selecrively trom both cultures to
produce, as i were. a third culture.
Integra|on is a reqursite for cultural pluralrsm.
It is d leler of acculturarron in which the individ!al
has outwardly adiusted himself harmoniously to
ihe dominant culrure but has nevertheless held
lasr to his own whol€some elhnic rdeniity €nd
feeis thar he belongs to his own smatler ethnic
Eihnic awareness among the Finns In Germany
also begins wirh encLrlturarion. An important
{dctor in this is rhe lormarion o{ ahe individlal s
outlook on lile, as transmitted by parents employ
ed as lunctionaries or enqaged in oth€r whit€,
collar occ!pations, lh€ generally quite un forr