022 - Finding Home

Pollock and Van Reken define a Third Culture Kid (TCK) as a person who has spent a considerable amount of their formative developmental period outside their birth country or culture due to their parents' working outside of the country of origin (Pollock & Van Reken, 2001; Choi & Luke, 2011; Melles & Frey, 2014). Adults who lived in these circumstances are referred to as Adult Third Culture Kids (ATCK's) (Melles & Frey, 2014). As a result of their experiences, young ATCK's have difficulty fully identifying with any one culture and may experience multiple challenges in forming adult relationships upon repatriating to their culture or country of origin (Choi & Luke, 2011). A review of the literature on TCK's and ATCK's shows little research has been done in the area of relationships after repatriation. I am interested in understanding the lived experience of TCKs so that we can better address the issues with repatriation.