HOW SOCIAL CATEGORIZATION MAY INFORM THE STUDY OF HISPANIC IMMIGRATION

The basic tenet of this article is that social categorization theories are useful for a better understanding of the immigration experience. The article summarizes findings in the categorization literature as th ey may serve to clarify many aspects of the immigration phenomena. How social categorization theories may contribute to the understanding of immigration, particularly Hispanic immigration, is also examined. It is argued that immigration necessarily involves changes in the way imm igrants make sense of the world and that immigration poses new challen ges to the host group. Entering a new society implies a dual process i n which immigrants are categorized by others and recategorize themselv es bared an new comparison groups. Some options to negotiate self-impo sed and socially imposed categories are: assimilation, integration, al ternation, acculturation, biculturalism and separation. Finally, ethno centrism and emotional problems that may result from the dynamic invol ved in categorization are examined.