Notes on Culture Change and Personality Adjustment Among the North Alaska Eskimos

Discusses the effects of rapid transition to western culture, as investigated at Kaktovik on Barter Island since 1958. Due to various factors, noted, this community adjusted to wage labor at a nearby DEW Line radar installation without undue disruption. The effects on individual mental health, as in...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:ARCTIC
Main Author: Chance, Norman A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 1963
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic3546
http://arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/3546/3521
Description
Summary:Discusses the effects of rapid transition to western culture, as investigated at Kaktovik on Barter Island since 1958. Due to various factors, noted, this community adjusted to wage labor at a nearby DEW Line radar installation without undue disruption. The effects on individual mental health, as indicated by the Cornell Medical Index questionnaire, were examined in 1960. Results suggest that individuals whose knowledge of white culture was less than their degree of identification with it tended to be more emotionally disturbed than those whose knowledge matched or exceeded their identification. Women showed more symptoms of disturbance than men; other demographic factors (age, education, etc.) had no apparent influence.