Re-entry and the Academic and Psychological Problems of the Second Generation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the re-entering second generation of Turkish migrants and their "resident" peers in terms of academic and psychological adjust ment. Academic adjustment was defined as receiving passing grades on courses chosen for this study (social studies, science, maths, Turkish, foreign language). Psychological adjustment was defined as receiving scores within the range of one standard deviation above or below the mean on the Beck Depression Inventory and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory—Trait Form. The subjects were 800 "returnee" students and 599 "resident" students. The chi square and t-test comparisons were inade in terms of several related variables like age, gender, type of school attended, living with/without the family, private academic support, year of return, returning with/without the family, length of time spent abroad, Turkish language courses taken abroad, and re-entry orientation courses attended upon return. In general, the returnee students showed less achievement compared to resident peers and they scored significantly higher on depression and anxiety measures. These results are discussed in the light of the culture shock and re-entry research .