Ethnic Discrimination and Psychological Distress Among Middle Eastern/Arab Americans

Ethnic Discrimination and Psychological Distress Among Middle Eastern/Arab Americans PDF Author: Ayse Selin Ikizler
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Arab Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 69

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Book Description
Despite increased public attention in the past decade towards the Middle East and Arab world, only a small but growing body of research literature investigating the mental health of individuals with ethnic background originating in these countries exists. Given the major stigma associated with being Middle Eastern/Arab (MEA) in the United States, the mental health-related implications for MEA Americans is of particular interest in the present study. Specifically, we investigated (1) the moderating role of religiosity in the link between religious affiliation and ethnic discrimination and (2) potential mediators (coping via internalization, detachment, and drugs/alcohol) and moderators (ethnic identity and family connectedness) in the relationship between ethnic discrimination and psychological distress among 122 MEA Americans. We found that Muslim identification predicted ethnic discrimination for MEAs with high but not low religiosity. In addition, higher levels of ethnic discrimination and more coping with discrimination via internalization, detachment, and drugs and alcohol were uniquely related to higher levels of psychological distress. Finally, family connectedness buffered the link between discrimination and coping via internalization. Future research directions and clinical implications are discussed.

Ethnic Discrimination and Psychological Distress Among Middle Eastern/Arab Americans

Ethnic Discrimination and Psychological Distress Among Middle Eastern/Arab Americans PDF Author: Ayse Selin Ikizler
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Arab Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 69

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Book Description
Despite increased public attention in the past decade towards the Middle East and Arab world, only a small but growing body of research literature investigating the mental health of individuals with ethnic background originating in these countries exists. Given the major stigma associated with being Middle Eastern/Arab (MEA) in the United States, the mental health-related implications for MEA Americans is of particular interest in the present study. Specifically, we investigated (1) the moderating role of religiosity in the link between religious affiliation and ethnic discrimination and (2) potential mediators (coping via internalization, detachment, and drugs/alcohol) and moderators (ethnic identity and family connectedness) in the relationship between ethnic discrimination and psychological distress among 122 MEA Americans. We found that Muslim identification predicted ethnic discrimination for MEAs with high but not low religiosity. In addition, higher levels of ethnic discrimination and more coping with discrimination via internalization, detachment, and drugs and alcohol were uniquely related to higher levels of psychological distress. Finally, family connectedness buffered the link between discrimination and coping via internalization. Future research directions and clinical implications are discussed.

Handbook of Arab American Psychology

Handbook of Arab American Psychology PDF Author: Mona M. Amer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135019185
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 681

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Book Description
The Handbook of Arab American Psychology is the first major publication to comprehensively discuss the Arab American ethnic group from a lens that is primarily psychological. This edited book contains a comprehensive review of the cutting-edge research related to Arab Americans and offers a critical analysis regarding the methodologies and applications of the scholarly literature. It is a landmark text for both multicultural psychology as well as for Arab American scholarship. Considering the post 9/11 socio-political context in which Arab Americans are under ongoing scrutiny and attention, as well as numerous misunderstandings and biases against this group, this text is timely and essential. Chapters in the Handbook of Arab American Psychology highlight the most substantial areas of psychological research with this population, relevant to diverse sub-disciplines including cultural, social, developmental, counseling/clinical, health, and community psychologies. Chapters also include content that intersect with related fields such as sociology, American studies, cultural/ethnic studies, social work, and public health. The chapters are written by distinguished scholars who merge their expertise with a review of the empirical data in order to provide the most updated presentation of scholarship about this population. The Handbook of Arab American Psychology offers a noteworthy contribution to the field of multicultural psychology and joins references on other racial/ethnic minority groups, including Handbook of African American Psychology, Handbook of Asian American Psychology, Handbook of U.S. Latino Psychology, and The Handbook of Chicana/o Psychology and Mental Health.

The Impact of Ethnic Identity on Psychological Well-Being and Perceived Discrimination Among Arab Americans

The Impact of Ethnic Identity on Psychological Well-Being and Perceived Discrimination Among Arab Americans PDF Author: Rawan Atari
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780355324341
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 101

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Book Description
The current study intended to expand upon psychological research on the Arab American community, which has faced increased discrimination since 9/11 and recent ISIS-related terrorist attacks. Since perceived discrimination has been associated with greater psychological distress among Arab Americans, it is important to determine whether any protective factors are available for this community. In a sample of Arab Americans, the relationship between perceived discrimination and aspects of psychological well-being (i.e., self-esteem, flourishing, and satisfaction with life) were examined in order to gain a better overall picture of Arab American mental health. Because ethnic identity has been recognized as a protective factor against discrimination for other minority groups, it was examined as such for the current sample. Ethnic identity exploration, resolution, and affirmation were studied in relation to psychological well-being, and ethnic identity was studied as a moderator between perceived discrimination and psychological well-being. A recent typology created by Umana-Taylor, Yazedjian, and Bamaca-Gomez was used to classify participants into ethnic identity clusters based on degrees of exploration, resolution, and affirmation. The sample comprised 156 self-identified Arab Americans living in the United States who were at least 18 years of age. Results from multiple regression analyses demonstrated that perceived discrimination was negatively related to self-esteem and flourishing. Ethnic identity exploration was not significantly related to psychological well-being. However, ethnic identity resolution and affirmation were significantly, positively related to self-esteem, flourishing, and satisfaction with life. Ethnic identity affirmation appeared to be a moderator by mitigating the impact of perceived discrimination on flourishing. Based on Umana-Taylor and colleagues' typology, four ethnic identity clusters emerged using a hierarchal cluster analysis, and participants fell into one of the following: (a) Achieved Positive, (b) Diffuse Positive, (c) Moratorium Positive, and (d) Diffuse Negative. Findings are generally consistent with previous research among various minority groups, as well as Erikson's theory and Tajfel's theory. However, the current study suggests that it may be ethnic identity affirmation that serves as protective factor against discrimination, rather than ethnic identity exploration or resolution. Therefore, future studies are encouraged to study the components of ethnic identity independently of one another.

Biopsychosocial Perspectives on Arab Americans

Biopsychosocial Perspectives on Arab Americans PDF Author: Sylvia C. Nassar
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031283600
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
The biopsychosocial study of Arab Americans yields compelling insights into innovative theoretical and applied initiatives. In the context of a growing population of Arab Americans, coupled with the current tenure of xenophobia and exposed structural racism in the US, clinical and community practitioners must be attuned to their clients of Arab ancestry, whose experiences, development, and health concerns are distinctly different than that of their White counterparts. This second edition, with its uniquely interwoven sections of culture, psychosocial development, and health and disease, provides a rich overview of timely, critical topics. The audience for the text includes counselors, social workers, psychologists, nurses, psychiatrists, sociologists, and any other public and mental health practitioners, researchers, and policy makers who work with and on behalf of clients and patients of Arab descent. The authors represent a team of leading experts spanning disciplines of sociology, clinical mental health, and community public health. "This edition draws on leading experts in Arab American health and sociology who document the complexity of this population's immigration and acculturation experience. It offers critical and current research that speaks to the centrality of context and diversity in treating Americans of Arab descent. Contributors explore the complex and limited racial framework within which Arabs in the U.S. form their identities, and the impact of structural racism on their lives and health. This collection offers practitioners much needed insights on a population often hidden or rendered invisible by data limitations, and yet misrepresented by cultural stereotypes." Helen Hatab Samhan, Former Executive Director, Arab American Institute/Foundation. "Nassar, Ajrouch, Hakim-Larson, and Dallo’s breakthrough work in the area of culturally competent health care has been inspiring across interdisciplinary fields and to the communities they serve. Their work on Arab American health issues, in particular, has greatly improved clinical practice at the community and national levels. I heartily recommend taking the time to become familiar with their important body of work and this latest text." Ismael Ahmed, Former Michigan State Director of Health and Human Services.

Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11

Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11 PDF Author: Amaney Jamal
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 9780815631774
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
Bringing the rich terrain of Arab American histories to bear on conceptualizations of race in the United States, this groundbreaking volume fills a critical gap in the field of U.S. racial and ethnic studies. The articles collected here highlight emergent discourses on the distinct ways that race matters to the study of Arab American histories and experiences and asks essential questions. What is the relationship between U.S. imperialism in Arab homelands and anti-Arab racism in the United States? In what ways have the axes of nation, religion, class, and gender intersected with Arab American racial formations? What is the significance of whiteness studies to Arab American studies? Transcending multiculturalist discourses that have simply added on the category “Arab-American” to the landscape of U.S. racial and ethnic studies after the attacks of September 11, 2001, this volume locates September 11 as a turning point, rather than as a beginning, in Arab Americans’

Identity, Discrimination, and Belonging

Identity, Discrimination, and Belonging PDF Author: Hanan Mustafa Hashem
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This dissertation fills a significant lacuna in the literature exploring the experiences of emerging adults with minoritized identities, specifically Arab American Muslims. Arab American Muslims hold an ethnic identity (i.e., being Arab) and a religious identity (i.e., being Muslim) that are commonly conflated. This conflation can have an impact on their understanding of themselves (i.e., identity) and negative experiences from others (i.e., discrimination). Social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) ties the meaning-making process that individuals partake in to understand their identity to its influence on their mental health outcomes. According to the cumulative racial/ethnic trauma model (Awad et al., 2019), Arab Americans experience chronic micro-level and macro-level factors of trauma, such as discrimination and issues of identity. Those factors, in turn, impact individual-level and group-level outcomes, including experiences of belonging and mental health outcomes. This dissertation utilized path analyses to examine the role of micro-level factors (i.e., discrimination and identity) in predicting an individual-level outcome (i.e., psychological distress) through a group-level outcome (i.e., belonging) as a mediator. The overall findings provided three main ideas which provide significant additions to the literature exploring the experiences of young Arab American Muslims. First, the findings provide evidence of an intersectional ethnic-religious discrimination experience but a distinction between ethnic identity and religious identity. Second, the main finding that provides an opportunity for further exploration is the significant role that religious identity centrality played in predicting belonging and distress for this sample while ethnic identity centrality did not play a role in these relationships. Third, the role of belonging stood out as an important meditator when explaining the religious identity-distress and discrimination-distress relationships for young Arab American Muslims. While this study’s use of path analyses provides support for these relationships, future research can further explore causal relationships between these key variables through longitudinal studies. Additionally, future studies can explore the impact of cultural-geographical differences, such as the impact of living in an Arab or Muslim epicenter, which may provide more nuance to the experience of this diverse group

Arab American Mental Health in the Post September 11 Era

Arab American Mental Health in the Post September 11 Era PDF Author: Mona M. Amer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Arab Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
Persons of Arab (North African/ Middle Eastern) descent have faced unique psychosocial stressors due to the socio-political backlash following the World Trade Center attacks. These are compounded by traditional acculturation challenges, leading to increased psychological distress. This study satisfies an urgent need to better understand the acculturation and mental health experiences of Arab Americans by comprehensively and rigorously investigating hypotheses introduced in the previous literature. Participants were 611 Arab Americans from 35 U.S. states who completed a secure Internet form. Variables assessed were: acculturation (Vancouver Index of Acculturation- Modified Arab Version), acculturative stress (SAFE Acculturation Stress Scale- Revised; included issues of discrimination and American foreign policy), family functioning (Family Assessment Device- General Functioning Subscale), social support (Personal Resource Questionnaire85- Revised), religious coping (Brief Arab Religious Coping Scale), anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory), depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies- Depression Scale), and a socio-demographics survey. Seven research foci were examined. First, 13 socio-demographic indexes hypothesized to relate to acculturation (including SES, generation status, length of residence in the U.S., English vs. Arabic language use, and Arabic TV viewing) were found to relate to American identity in the expected directions, while most indexes did not relate to Arab identity. Second, participants reported significantly higher anxiety and depression compared to normative samples and studies with other ethnic minority groups. Third, as hypothesized, integrated and assimilated individuals reported less stress, anxiety, and depression compared to those who were separated or marginalized. Fourth, as hypothesized, acculturation stress correlated with anxiety and depression, and both family functioning and social support related to less stress and less psychological distress. However, religious coping did not correlate with mental health. Fifth, contrary to the hypotheses, females did not demonstrate greater stress or psychological distress compared to males. Consistent with hypotheses, Christians demonstrated significantly less acculturative stress, anxiety, and depression compared to Muslims. Finally, structural equation modeling was used to develop a tenable model that explained the complex interactions among SES, acculturation, stress, mental health, and coping resources. Specific and practical recommendations are provided for clinical intervention, community programming and policy planning, and future research.

Middle Eastern Lives in America

Middle Eastern Lives in America PDF Author: Amir B. Marvasti
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742519589
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
Using data from in-depth interviews, this book brings to light the existence of Middle Easterners in America and shows the human complexity of their lives. This work gives special attention to how members of this ethnic group cope with, resist and combat discrimination. Visit our website for sample chapters!

Arabs in America

Arabs in America PDF Author: Michael Suleiman
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 1566397278
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
For many North Americans, Arab Americans are invisible, recalled only when words like "terrorism" or "anti-American sentiments" arise. However, people of Arab descent have been contributing to U. S. an d Canadian culture since the 1870s in fields as diverse as literature, science, politics, medicine, and commerce -- witness surgeon Michael DeBakey, former Oregon governor Victor Atiyeh, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, and Canadian M.P. Mac Harb. Yet while Arab American contributions to our society are significant and Arab Americans surpass the U.S. average in both education and economics, they still struggle for recognition and acceptance. In this volume, editor Michael Suleiman brings together 21 prominent scholars from a wide range of perspectives -- including anthropology, economics, history, law, literature and culture, political science, and sociology -- to take a close look at the status of Arabs in North America. Topics range from the career of Arab American singer, dancer, and storyteller Wadeeha Atiyeh to a historical examination of Arab Americans and Zionism. The contributors discuss in Detroit, a group of well-educated Jordanian men, and the Shi'a Muslims -- to illustrate the range of Arab emigre experience. More broadly, they examine Arab American identity, political activism, and attempts by Arab immigrants to achieve respect and recognition in their new homes. They address both the present situation for Arab Americans and prospects for their future. Arabs in America will engage anyone interested in Arab American studies, ethnic studies, and American studies.

Citizenship and Crisis

Citizenship and Crisis PDF Author: Detroit Arab American Study Group
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610446135
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
Is citizenship simply a legal status or does it describe a sense of belonging to a national community? For Arab Americans, these questions took on new urgency after 9/11, as the cultural prejudices that have often marginalized their community came to a head. Citizenship and Crisis reveals that, despite an ever-shifting definition of citizenship and the ease with which it can be questioned in times of national crisis, the Arab communities of metropolitan Detroit continue to thrive. A groundbreaking study of social life, religious practice, cultural values, and political views among Detroit Arabs after 9/11, Citizenship and Crisis argues that contemporary Arab American citizenship and identity have been shaped by the chronic tension between social inclusion and exclusion that has been central to this population's experience in America. According to the landmark Detroit Arab American Study, which surveyed more than 1,000 Arab Americans and is the focus of this book, Arabs express pride in being American at rates higher than the general population. In nine wide-ranging essays, the authors of Citizenship and Crisis argue that the 9/11 backlash did not substantially transform the Arab community in Detroit, nor did it alter the identities that prevail there. The city's Arabs are now receiving more mainstream institutional, educational, and political support than ever before, but they remain a constituency defined as essentially foreign. The authors explore the role of religion in cultural integration and identity formation, showing that Arab Muslims feel more alienated from the mainstream than Arab Christians do. Arab Americans adhere more strongly to traditional values than do other Detroit residents, regardless of religion. Active participants in the religious and cultural life of the Arab American community attain higher levels of education and income, yet assimilation to the American mainstream remains important for achieving enduring social and political gains. The contradictions and dangers of being Arab and American are keenly felt in Detroit, but even when Arab Americans oppose U.S. policies, they express more confidence in U.S. institutions than do non-Arabs in the general population. The Arabs of greater Detroit, whether native-born, naturalized, or permanent residents, are part of a political and historical landscape that limits how, when, and to what extent they can call themselves American. When analyzed against this complex backdrop, the results of The Detroit Arab American Study demonstrate that the pervasive notion in American society that Arabs are not like "us" is simply inaccurate. Citizenship and Crisis makes a rigorous and impassioned argument for putting to rest this exhausted cultural and political stereotype.