Transformative Acculturation in the Context of Trauma and Gender-Based Violence

In my doctoral research, Transformative Acculturation: Identity, Relationships, and Adaptation Among Refugee Women in Switzerland (King, 2025), findings highlighted the need to extend existing acculturation frameworks to more fully account for the impact of pre-migration trauma, particularly gender-based violence (GBV), on post-migration adaptation. While Berry’s (1997) acculturation framework conceptualised acculturation through four strategies marginalisation, separation, integration, and assimilation these categories did not adequately capture the lived experiences of participants exposed to GBV.

Participants in this doctoral research who had experienced gender-based and intimate partner violence (GBV/IPV) described post-migration processes that did not align with either Berry’s (1997) framework or Bornstein’s (2017) specificity principle. Their narratives suggested that acculturation could not be understood solely as cultural adjustment. Rather, it reflected a process shaped by trauma, characterised by a pursuit of safety, autonomy, and identity reconstruction in the aftermath of violence (King, 2025).

Acculturation has frequently been conceptualised as a process of cultural adjustment (Kuo, 2014). However, findings from my doctoral research demonstrated that, for participants exposed to GBV, post-migration adaptation functioned as a deliberate and agentic response to trauma, rather than a passive process of cultural negotiation (King, 2025). This interpretation aligns with emerging research indicating that, for women who have survived GBV, post-migration trajectories often involve active identity reconstruction and the pursuit of autonomy, rather than simple adoption of host cultural norms (Taheri et al., 2024).

To conceptualise these processes, I introduced Transformative Acculturation (TA) as an original interpretative framework developed through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (King, 2025). Transformative Acculturation conceptualises acculturation as an active, dynamic, and trauma-informed process in which individuals reshape their cultural identities, gender roles, and intimate relationships in response to experiences of violence. Within TA, acculturation is driven not only by exposure to a new cultural context, but by the pursuit of safety, agency, and psychological reconstruction.

TA extends Berry’s (1997) model by recognising that individuals may selectively engage with both pre-migration and host cultural frameworks, while actively rejecting harmful norms that perpetuate violence. Unlike Berry’s relatively static categories, TA conceptualises acculturation as a fluid and intentional process, shaped by individuals’ efforts to reconstruct meaning, identity, and relational life following trauma (King, 2025).

Findings from my doctoral research further demonstrated that participants used acculturation as a mechanism to transform multiple domains of their lives, including their intimate relationships, gendered beliefs, cultural identities, and sense of agency. Their accounts suggested that post-migration environments created opportunities not only for adjustment, but for profound personal transformation, including the redefinition of self and the reconstruction of life trajectories following exposure to GBV (King, 2025).

These findings are consistent with Taheri et al. (2024), who found that gender-specific trauma shaped the lived experiences of refugee women transitioning from survival towards empowerment in post-migration contexts. Across both bodies of work, post-migration adaptation was characterised by identity transformation, increased autonomy, and a reorientation towards purpose and contribution.

The findings from my doctoral research can also be understood through the lens of identity theory. Identity has been conceptualised as comprising traits, beliefs, and values (Abrams, 2001), while social identity theory highlights the role of group membership and belonging in shaping self-concept (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). Berry (1997) similarly emphasised the importance of belonging across cultural contexts. In the present research, participants’ beliefs about gender, autonomy, equality, and relational roles were shaped through an interaction between pre- and post-migration experiences. Their narratives reflected an active process of identity renegotiation, in which elements of prior cultural identity were critically evaluated and, in some cases, deliberately rejected (King, 2025).

Transformative Acculturation also provides a useful framework for understanding changes in gender norms and intimate relationships. Butler’s (1990) theory of gender performativity conceptualises gender as constructed through repeated social practices rather than as a fixed attribute. This perspective helps to contextualise how gender norms can be disrupted and redefined following migration. In line with this, Habash and Omata (2023) demonstrated that displacement can reshape gender roles within refugee families, while Wessells and Strang (2006) highlighted the influence of cultural and religious norms on women’s social and relational positions. Taken together, this literature supports the interpretation that participants’ post-migration changes in identity and relationships reflected deliberate and transformative shifts, rather than passive adaptation (Butler, 1990; Habash & Omata, 2023; King, 2025; Wessells & Strang, 2006).

A trauma-informed perspective is essential in understanding these processes. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, 2014) defines trauma as experiences that are physically or emotionally harmful and have lasting adverse effects on functioning and well-being. Exposure to GBV can profoundly shape how individuals perceive safety, relationships, and their broader environment. Research has consistently shown that GBV is associated with increased risk of psychological distress, including post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety (Habtamu et al., 2023; Kuupiel et al., 2024; Mburu et al., 2022).

In my doctoral research, participants’ engagement with Transformative Acculturation appeared to be directly influenced by their exposure to GBV. Their narratives suggested that trauma played a central role in shaping their motivations for change, particularly their pursuit of safety, autonomy, and reconstruction of identity and relationships. In this sense, TA can be understood as a trauma-informed and agentic response, in which acculturation becomes a pathway for survival, recovery, and transformation (King, 2025).

TA also extends Bornstein’s (2017) specificity principle by demonstrating that acculturation cannot be understood independently of the conditions in which it occurs. In this research, those conditions included GBV, forced migration, and the need to establish safety in a new sociocultural context. TA therefore offers a more nuanced framework for understanding how trauma, adaptation, identity reconstruction, and agency intersect within acculturation processes (King, 2025).

At the same time, participants’ experiences were shaped by intersecting structural factors. Intersectionality, first articulated by Crenshaw (1989), highlights how overlapping social positions—such as gender, race, and refugee status—can compound vulnerability. Participants described challenges including racism, social isolation, language barriers, and limited access to resources, all of which impacted their sense of belonging. These findings align with Pittaway and Bartolomei (2003), who demonstrated how intersecting forms of marginalisation can impede integration, and with Alessi (2023), who identified structural barriers affecting refugee women’s post-migration experiences in Switzerland. As such, while GBV shaped participants’ engagement with TA, broader structural inequalities also influenced their acculturation trajectories (King, 2025).

Overall, findings from my doctoral research suggest that, for refugee women exposed to GBV, acculturation cannot be adequately understood as a process of cultural adjustment alone. Instead, it may function as a trauma-informed, agentic, and transformative process through which individuals reconstruct identity, renegotiate cultural and relational norms, and pursue safety and autonomy in the aftermath of violence. It was to capture this complexity that Transformative Acculturation was developed (King, 2025).

References

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Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied Psychology, 46(1), 5–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.1997.tb01087.x 

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