10 Culture Shock from Immigration to the United States

Russian-speaking immigrants have accounted for a considerable share of European immigrants to the United States since the late 19th century. Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, immigrants from Russia comprised the largest group compared to those from other former Soviet countries, according to the Migration Institute (2022). Immigrants from Ukraine, Belarus, and other former Soviet countries are often treated as the same demographic group because they speak Russian as their first or second language and have similar mindsets.

Since 2022, however, it has become important to distinguish between countries of origin. The reasons for immigration after 2022—fleeing from war for Ukrainians and escaping the crackdown on oppositional thought and action in Russia and Belarus—have brought new challenges to Russian-speaking immigrants. It is beyond the scope of this resource to delve into the stress associated with the post-2022 challenges faced by these groups of Russian-speaking immigrants. Assistance, in this case, needs to be tailored to individual situations.

Integration into the new society is impossible without some form of assistance and our resource provides some information and practice on assisting Russian-speaking immigrants in their integration into American life. Our resource still views these groups of immigrants as the same cohort because they go through a similar process of acclimation to a new culture. The acculturative process leads to feelings of frustration and mental health stress that accumulate from various aspects, such as inadequate language proficiency, adjusting to new ways of communicating, and missing the home country. Some of these feelings can be alleviated for Russian-speaking immigrants in similar ways due to the commonality of their previously conjoined histories, social processes, and national mindsets.

Russian-speaking immigrants face the same challenges of acculturation and integration as individuals from other countries: limited language proficiency, finding a job that matches their qualifications or adjusting to lower-paying jobs, navigating the education and healthcare systems, adjusting to different social norms, and feeling lonely and unaccepted, to name a few major adjustments. Younger and older generations of immigrants, often brought into immigration by family circumstances rather than by choice, face additional challenges within their age groups. Younger immigrants may struggle with adapting to new teaching methods, curricula, and social dynamics in schools. At this age, being able to integrate socially is crucial for their well-being and character development, yet making friends and social connections can be difficult due to cultural differences and language limitations. Older generations, uprooted from their usual lifestyles, can feel lost in the new environment and dependent on other family members.

The information in this part covers some of these topics. The discussion of the challenges in the lives of Russian-speaking immigrants is based on our personal experiences, a wider internet search, and some research studies that are highlighted below.

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This study examined how Russian-speaking immigrants from Russia and Ukraine adapt to a new culture in the U.S. It found that immigrants sought everyday life information and information about local culture using interpersonal communication and online media as primary sources. Interestingly, the study found that all participants addressed the issue of a shortage of information when describing their first experiences in the United States. The most frequently searched for information concerning realities that either didn’t exist in the home countries or were still foreign, such as medical insurance, tax returns, mortgages, education, housing, and banking systems. The researchers noted that people also searched for information about politics, cultural events, and news. Despite seeming secondary in importance, this information was valuable in alleviating their lack of cultural competence.

This study also explored the importance of mentors in the acculturation process. A mentor is someone whom immigrants can trust and who can explain what is going on. For instance, participants in this study who came to universities, such as faculty or students, shared that they received strong support from university departments for international students. Others found mentors in Russian-speaking communities who explained the importance of various aspects of American culture to help newcomers avoid culture shock. Grasping even little things, like the importance of cars and knowing how to drive, can help newcomers adjust better and feel less isolated when they are mentally prepared to change their habit of relying on public transportation. The need for mentors from host communities becomes more important in the context of a smaller city, far from large ethnic diasporas and cultural resources.

This recent qualitative study focused on elderly female immigrants with Jewish heritage who were raised in Soviet culture and spoke Russian. The study found that one of the most challenging aspects of immigration was the increased dependency on family members for translation, transportation, and financial support. Immigration also disrupted their customary productivity and everyday lifestyle, increasing the stress of acculturation. However, many participants found solace in establishing new hobbies, such as stitching or taking walks, or in helping their children by taking care of their grandchildren.

Another interesting point of integration into American society for this group was living independently and changing their views on elderly care. All the women in the study grew up in multigenerational households common in Russian-speaking cultures. The so-called “communal living” is widely accepted in post-Soviet countries, where several generations of the same family (grandparents, parents, children) share the same apartment or home. One of the advantages of such a living model, and an integral part of its culture, is the commitment to care for older family members. For this reason, it is very foreign to the mindset of Russian-speaking immigrants that in the United States, older relatives can live in long-term care facilities rather than at home. Placing an elderly parent in a nursing home can be seen as a betrayal in Russian-speaking cultures. This disposition stems from both collectivist values of the mindset and poor conditions of state-run nursing homes in former Soviet countries. It was further surprising for the study participants that Americans could voluntarily choose to go to a nursing home, even when they had adult children.

This study also examined older Russian-speaking immigrants, focusing on acculturative stress. The results highlighted the importance of community, which has a significant impact on the process of acculturation and related stress. Similar to other studies cited in the article, findings indicated that the less integrated participants were into American life and society, the greater their feelings of alienation from American culture and overall acculturative stress. The study also found that support from American friends helped reduce both feelings of alienation and acculturative stress.

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