"Managing culture shock and conflict: Creative strategies of African immigrants in the city of Philadelphia"

Kalu Oji, Fielding's School of Educational Leadership & Change

The study investigated the impact of culture shock and conflict on immigrant families of African descent in the United States. The participants in the project consisted of 10 members of the target population and the researcher. The racial composition of the target population was 100 % people of African descent. The gender breakdown of the target population was 90 % males and 10 % females. The methods utilized consisted of depth interviewing and auto-ethnography. The in-depth interview consisted of 10 interviews administered to members of the target population. The auto-ethnography was administered using the personal experience of the researcher. The results indicated that culture shock and conflict was a problem encountered by immigrant families of African descent when they come into the United States. The conclusions drawn verified the problem statement: There has been an increase in culture shock and conflict encountered by immigrant families of African descent when they come into the United States. The research inferred that a change project (setting up an organization) is warranted to address the problem of culture shock and conflict encountered by immigrant families of African descent in the city of Philadelphia.