Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Educating The Multi-Ethnic Population On The Municipal By-Laws: City Of Windsor, Mohammed Shiblee

Major Papers

Although more difficult to articulate than implement, educating the multi-ethnic populace about municipal by-laws is among the most difficult tasks for any Canadian administrative institution, whether provincial, federal, municipal, or even grassroots. When considering such circumstances, the present state of the Corporation of the City of Windsor, or the City of Windsor as a whole, offers both a challenge and an opportunity. In terms of challenges, Windsor is home to a vibrant, multi-ethnic community comprised of local, diaspora and minority populations, which often encounters various socio-cultural obstacles concerning the understanding and upholding of municipal by-laws. From an opportunity standpoint, the …

The Mediating Role Of Cultural Coping Behaviours On The Relationships Between Academic Stress And Positive Psychosocial Well-Being Outcomes, B.C.H Kuo, Kendall M. Soucie, Siqi Huang, Refa Laith

Psychology Publications

While culture’s effect on the coping process has long been acknowledged in the stress-coping literature conceptually, empirical evidence and attempts to discern the specific relationship between culture and coping remain very scarce. Against this backdrop, the present study applied the Cultural Transactional Theory (Chun, Moos, & Cronkite, 2006) to examine the mediating role of cultural coping behaviours (Collective, Engagement and Avoidance Coping) on the relationship between academic stress (AS) and two positive psychosocial well-being outcome measures: Collective Self-esteem (CSE) and Subjective Well-being (SWB). Responses from a sample of undergraduate students in Canada (N =328) were analysed to test a theory-driven, …

Acculturation And Enculturation: Ethnic Identity Socialisation Processes, Julie Hakim-Larson, Rosanne Menna

Psychology Publications

This chapter begins with a brief review of various approaches to the study of ethnic identity, because they form the foundation for the research studies on the acculturation and enculturation processes of Arab Americans. In particular, the seminal works of John W. Berry, Jean Phinney, and their colleagues (e.g. Berry, Phinney, Sam, & Vedder, 2006 ) are discussed in light of research on the acculturation of Arab Americans to the U.S. Acculturation involves the variety of diff erent ways that a person can adapt to a culture that is diff erent from that of their family’s culture(s) of origin. Enculturation, …

Youth Development: An Ecological Approach To Identity, Kristine J. Ajrouch, Julie Hakim-Larson, Rand Ramadan Fakih

Psychology Publications

This chapter examines the process of youth development and the impact of socialization among Arab Americans. The distinctiveness of Arab Americans as an ethnic group stems from the fact that their visibility is intimately tied to events and political instabilities in the Arab world. This reality places them in a uniquely marginal position as “not quite White” (Samhan, 1999 ), yet not fully accepted as a legal minority (Cainkar, 2009 ). This wider societal experience provides an overarching context for the study of Arab American youth development within an ecological model. This chapter explores theoretical models for understanding youth identity …

Coping, Acculturation, And Psychological Adaptation Among Migrants: A Theoretical And Empirical Review And Synthesis Of The Literature, B.C.H Kuo

Psychology Publications

Given the continuous, dynamic demographic changes internationally due to intensive worldwide migration and globalization, the need to more fully understand how migrants adapt and cope with acculturation experiences in their new host cultural environment is imperative and timely. However, a comprehensive review of what we currently know about the relationship between coping behavior and acculturation experience for individuals undergoing cultural changes has not yet been undertaken. Hence, the current article aims to compile, review, and examine cumulative cross-cultural psychological research that sheds light on the relationships among coping, acculturation, and psychological and mental health outcomes for migrants. To this end, …

Theory And Method In Cross-Cultural And Intercultural Psychology, John Berry

International Symposium on Arab Youth

The field of cross-cultural psychology examines the relationships between the cultural contexts in which individuals develop and now live, and the psychological characteristics they display. The field of intercultural psychology examines how individuals with different cultural backgrounds and psychological characteristic engage each other and adapt to each other when living in culturally-diverse societies. In both fields, the theoretical position of universalism is helpful. This approach considers that all human beings share the same fundamental psychological processes (such as perceiving, thinking). Cultural experiences shape these processes during the course of development into variable competencies (such as abilities, attitudes, and values). Cultural …

Resiliency In Lebanese Adolescents, Huda A. Abdo Dr

International Symposium on Arab Youth

This study investigated resiliency using the Resiliency Scale of Children and Adolescents (RSCA; Prince-Embury, 2007) grounded in three factors (i.e., Sense of mastery, Sense of relatedness, and Emotional reactivity) in a sample of 599 Lebanese adolescents. The aim of the study was to examine the relationships between resiliency factors, the Big Five personality traits and Hope. We also explored gender differences in the key study variables. As a secondary aim, we compared differences in resiliency scores of the present Lebanese sample and a comparative US sample of adolescents (taken from Prince-Embury & Steer, 2010). Emotional stability correlated negatively …

Development, Knowledge And Perception Of Sexuality Among Arab Youth, Brigitte Khoury

International Symposium on Arab Youth

This presentation explores Arab youth sexuality and the challenges of studying youth sexuality in the Arab world. 330 young adults (70% ages 18-25) completed an online survey that assessed their knowledge, experience, perceptions, and values related to reproductive health and sexual education, masturbation, virginity, sexual experiences and relationships, marriage, and sex and the internet. Participants primarily resided in Lebanon (79%), but respondents also included individuals from Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, and Morocco. The results indicate that Arab youth are getting more liberal with their ideas and some practices with the …

Youth Coping With Oppression In Arab Spring And Its Psychological And Socio-Political Dynamics: The Example Of Palestinian Youth, Ibrahim Aref Kira, Abdul-Wahab Nasser Alawneh, Sharifa Aboumediene, Linda Lewandowski

International Symposium on Arab Youth

Arab Spring exemplified how distress due to cumulative dynamics of oppression, poverty and chronic stress can result in mental health events that prime shared distress and trigger socio-political uprisings. Further, Islamist parties won the elections that followed the uprisings. Additionally resiliency of youth and will to survive is the source of their positive coping with oppression. Unfortunately, most of our understanding of and interventions with trauma are focused on past traumas perpetrated by individuals, current and ongoing traumas perpetrated by social groups, such as oppression and discriminations are mostly ignored. Why Arab Spring? And why religious groups became the dominant …

Acculturation, Identity And Wellbeing Among Ethnocultural Youth, John Berry

International Symposium on Arab Youth

Acculturation is the process of cultural and psychological change that results from the prolonged contact between groups and individuals of different cultures. Much acculturation takes place in culturally-diverse societies that have emerged following colonization and immigration. There are three important acculturation issues that need consideration: how do individuals of different cultures engage each other; how well do they adapt to their intercultural situation; and are there relationships between how individuals acculturate and how well they adapt. Core concepts in dealing with these questions are acculturation strategies and cultural identities (how) and psychological and social wellbeing (how well). The search for …

Factors Associated With Self-Reported Depression In Arab, Chaldean, And African Americans, Hikmet Jamil, Mary Grzybowski, Julie Hakim-Larson, Monty Fakhouri, Jessica Sahutoglu, Radwan Khoury, Haifa Fakhouri

Psychology Publications

Although depression is a chronic illness with high morbidity and personal and economic losses, little is known about depression in immigrants with an Arab or Chaldean ethnic background.

Our primary objective was to determine the overall and ethnicity-specific prevalence of self-reported depression in Arab Americans, Chaldean Americans, and African Americans in the Midwest. The secondary objective was to evaluate the associations between potential risk and protective factors and the presence of self-reported depression.

A total of 3543 adults were recruited from the Arab and Chaldean communities in Metropolitan Detroit. The sample in this study was restricted to those of Arab, …

Counseling Arab And Chaldean American Families, Julie Hakim-Larson, Ray Kamoo, Sylvia C. Nassar-Mcmillan, John H. Porcerelli

Psychology Publications

The last century has seen an increase in the population of Americans of Arab and Chaldean descent. In recent decades, clinicians have articulated the goal of enhancing their knowledge of cultural diversity for the purpose of improving their appreciation for diversity and the quality of their mental health interventions with diverse populations. However, there is currently little systematic empirical research regarding the counseling of Arab and Chaldean Americans, although awareness of the need for such research among mental health professionals has started to emerge. The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative review of the values and socio-cultural …