The Stress of Losing Family Values to Overseas Pakistanis Living in The West

The West and Western countries are no less than a magical world for a common Pakistani where all problems will be solved in a pinch. Pakistanis fantasize about the western world and it is every Pakistani’s dream to settle in the West. Unaware of this, everything has a price tag and far away drums. The problems that can be faced abroad are realized only by going there, Pakistanis fear losing their family values ​​when they go to Western countries, among other issues.

Eastern Cultural Values

South Asian culture is rooted in the well-being of the family, which includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and it is considered good for any individual to sacrifice his personal desires for the sake of his family. Being emotionally dependent on one’s parents, parents and grandparents have complete control over every aspect of children’s lives, and personal individuality is considered a category of undue freedom.

Culture Clash

Challenges faced by Pakistanis living abroad include challenges related to ethnic identity that cause stress for parents. This challenge leads to many issues for parents including depression, anxiety, stress, academic difficulties, relationship problems, career choices, coping with stress and other issues such as psychological problems such as eating disorders, addictions. Addiction and crime are included. This difference in moral values ​​and lifestyle makes the process of cultural transition even more difficult. For overseas Pakistani families, especially their children, who are exposed to a different culture. Through your school, environment and media. A famous Canadian researcher Mr. Berry suggests that immigrants living abroad and their children must make two important decisions about their cultural preferences. One is to what extent to maintain their cultural heritage and behavior, secondly to what extent to adopt the current civilization and cultural values ​​and practices of the western country. This decision is very important for overseas Pakistanis, but these two decisions. Instead, four different results are observed.

1. Fully embrace the cultural values ​​and beliefs of the host country.
2. . Separation from the culture of the western country by fully adopting the moral values ​​and culture of his parents.
3. Incorporating selected parts and aspects of both cultures into your life.
4. Rejection of both cultures
Although overseas Pakistani parents and the younger generation have been seen adopting different behaviors. Parents’ emphasis on complete separation from western culture and children’s emphasis on adopting the positive aspects of both cultures. As a result, this difference affects children’s acquisition of collective cultural identity. While living in a country, complete detachment from its culture is not possible, so Pakistani parents should expose children to the positive aspects of this new culture and Avoid negative aspects.