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The Lived Experiences of Immigrant Arab Muslim Women in the United States PDF

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University of New Orleans The Lived Experiences of Immigrant Arab Muslim Women in the United States: Implications for Counselors and Other Helping Professionals A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of New Orleans in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Counselor Education by Iman En-Nabut B.S., Tulane University, 2000 M.Ed., University of New Orleans, 2003 May 2007 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I want to thank Allah (God) for making this possible. I never really thought I would see this day come. I want to thank my parents, Abdel Raheem Nabut and Wafa Nabut for always being there for me and always supporting and guiding me, even in the hardest of moments. I want to thank them for going to Office Depot in the middle of the night or without prior notice, just to meet a deadline, and for never complaining about it. I only wish to be as successful a parent as you two have been to me. I love you and appreciate you more than you will ever know. A great big thank you goes out to you, mom and dad. Although they may never realize it or even expect it, my brothers have truly been an inspiration. Mohamed Waquad Nabut and Mohamed Yosri Nabut, I want to thank you for always taking an interest in everything I do. Although I viewed it as annoying at the time, your persistence is truly what got me to this day. I extend a warm gratitude to Zusel and my two beautiful nephews (known as “Haboobie” and “Abud”). Although I missed out on a few special occasions with you because I had to interview or revise and edit, you were always positive and uplifting. You never forgot about your “Aunt E.” Thank you! It goes without saying that there is much appreciation for my dissertation committee. I thank you for your support and insistence that “we get it right.” Dr. Barbara Herlihy, Dr. Zarus Watson, and Dr. Louis Paradise, I thank you dearly for your patience, guidance, encouragement, and willingness to see this project to completion. I extend a special gratitude to you all for sincerely expressing an interest in the subject matter, and when others doubted, you stayed by ii my side. Thank you for allowing me to study a group that I was truly interested in learning more about. A warm thank you to all my participants in the study who welcomed me into their lives/homes to share their life experiences, hopes, and the challenges they faced. I understand it was difficult to do, and I am forever grateful. Thank you for placing your trust in me. I appreciate all my friends and colleagues who encouraged and supported me in my educational pursuits. Without their support in times of hardship and agony, this would not have been possible. A huge thank you goes out to Theresa Phillips, Kristy Brumfield, Sundy Barjon, Tameka Bob, and Dawn Ironside. I thank you for the times we complained and questioned, but kept the race. Merlyna, Barbara, Jenny, Carla, Selina, and Connie at St. Rose Elementary, I want to thank you for always supporting me. A special thank you to Kevin Barney for always assuming it [Ph.D. process] was going to my head. If I did not care to finish before, you made me want to finish it even more. Thank you for allowing me to prove you wrong. Finally, I owe this journey to Dr. Danny Roussel. As I completed my Master’s degree, I was mentored by Dr. Danny Roussel. I was fortunate to take several classes with Dr. Roussel. He motivated me and encouraged me to apply to the doctoral program and had complete faith in my abilities as a professional counselor and a counselor educator. The journey at the University of New Orleans has been long, one that enriched me with challenges from many wonderful people. There were times when I considered giving up, but there was always encouragement from my friends to stay the course. I say thank you to all of you. You know who you are. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………………...vii LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………...….viii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………...ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………..1 Purpose of the Study……………………………………………………………………… 2 Rationale for the Study…………………………………………………………………….5 Conceptual Framework…………………………………………………………………….5 The Research Questions……………………………………………………………………8 Method……………………………………………………………………………………..9 Role of the Researcher………………………………………………………………..9 Participants…………………………………………………………………………..10 Data Collection……………………………………....……………………………...12 Data Analysis………………………………………………………………………..13 Limitations………………………………………………………………………………..14 Definitions of Terms……………………………………………………………………...14 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………...16 Organization of Chapter…………………………………………………………………..16 Arab Immigrants………………………………………………………………………….16 Islam…………………………………………………………………………………17 Muslims in the U.S………………………………………………………………….22 Arab Muslim women………………………………………………………………..23 Anecdotal stories……………………………………………………………………23 Enas…………………………………………………………………………………23 Shereen and Jumana………………………………………………………………...24 Heba…………………………………………………………………………………25 Multiple Cultural Identities of Arab Muslim Women……………………………………30 Feministic Theory…………………………………………………………………...31 Womanism…………………………………………………………………………..32 Multicultural Competence and Ethical Counseling Practice……………………………..33 Rose…………………………………………………………………………………33 ACA code of ethics…………………………………………………………………34 Relevant Research Studies………………………………………………………..………36 Counselor’s Limited Knowledge……………………………………………………37 Qualitative Studies…………………………………………………………………..37 Quantitative Studies…………………………………………………………………37 Why Study Arab Muslim women?.............................................................................40 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………….40 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………….41 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….41 Rationale for the Use of a Qualitative Approach…………………………………………41 Why van Manen’s Approach?............................................................................................42 Research Questions……………………………………………………………………….43 iv Sampling………………………………………………………………………………….43 Participants……………………………………………………………………………….44 Data Collection…………………………………………………………………………...46 Demographic Questionnaires………………………………………………………..46 Observations……………………………………………………………………...…46 Interviews……………………………………………………………………………47 Data Analysis and Coding……………………………………………………………..…49 Role of the Researcher……………………………………………………………………50 Assumptions………………………………………………………………………………52 Trustworthiness…………………………………………………………………………...52 Summary………………………………………………………………………………….53 CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS………………………………………………………………54 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………54 Descriptions of the Study Participants……………………………………………………55 Demographic and Individual Profiles of Participants…………………………………….57 Table 1…………………………………………………………………………………57 Maiba (Palestine)…………………………………………………………...………58 Zeina (Iraq)…………………………………………………………………...…….60 Samia (Palestine)………………………………………………………………...…63 Manza (Egypt)……………………………………………………………………...65 Aysha (Palestine).......................................................................................................66 Fatmeh (Palestine) …………………………………………………………………67 Data collection and Analysis Procedures…………………………………………………69 Emergent Themes (Figure 1)…………………………………………………………..73 Gender and Class……………………………………………………………………75 Gender Roles………………………………………………………………………...78 Family Support...……………………………………………………………………83 Religion……………………………………………………………………………..84 Adaptation/Alienation………………………………………………………………90 Participants’ descriptions of their struggles (Table 2)……………………………………98 Support, finding a voice, and Counseling………………………………………………..98 Participants’ views on seeking Counseling (Table 3)…………………………………..100 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………102 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………….104 Introduction……………………………………………………………………...………104 Discussion………………………………………………………………………….……105 The Findings Suggest……………………………………………………………………105 Gender Roles: Stressors of differing expectations…………………………………106 Lack of Family Support/Communication………………………………………….108 Religion: Modernity vs. Tradition…………………………………………………109 Major decisions: hijab, raising children, and maintaining Arabic………………110 What does it all mean?......................................................................................................113 Feminist perspective……………………………………………………………….113 Limitations…………………………………………………………………………...…114 v Implications for counselors, counselor educators, and the counseling profession……...115 Future Research/Recommendations……………………………………………………..118 Final Thoughts…………………………………………………………………………..119 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………..…122 APPENDICES……………………………………………………………… ………………...133 Appendix A: Demographic Questionnaire………….…...………………………………133 Appendix B: Interview Protocol for Round one………………………………… ……..134 Appendix C: Consent Form……………………………………………………………..135 Appendix D: Institutional Review Board Approval...…………………………………..137 Appendix E: Sample Interview with Zeina ……………………………………………..138 VITA…………………………………………………………………………………………...164 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Demographic and Individual Profiles of Participants…………………………………..58 Table 2: Participants’ descriptions of their struggles in the United States………………………98 Table 3: Participants’ views on seeking Counseling………………………………………...…100 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1: Emergent Themes……………………………………………………………………74 viii ABSTRACT As the demographic landscape of the United States continues to change, counselors along with other helping professionals are going to be challenged to find ways to meet the varying personal, social, and academic needs of an increasingly multiracial, multi-religious, and multicultural population. This study was an attempt to document and explain through an ethnographic study the experiences of six immigrant Arab Muslim women, ranging in age from 21 to 35, living in the United States. Data were gathered in the participants’ natural setting, utilizing ethnographic interviews. The general research question was “What are the lived experiences of immigrant Arab Muslim women in the United States?” Secondary questions were: (a) How do Arab American Muslim women perceive themselves culturally? (b) How do Arab American Muslim women describe their specific cultural experiences? (c) What barriers, if any, do Arab American Muslim women experience in their daily lives? (d) What do Arab American Muslim women describe as their support system? And, (e) What are Arab American Muslim women’s viewpoints on seeking counseling? The findings reveal that the six immigrant Arab Muslim women participants have difficulty assimilating in a society that differs in values and beliefs from their culture of origin. From a multicultural and feminist point of view, I found that the experiences of the Muslim women can lead to a counseling curriculum that educates and informs in-coming counselors and encourages the seasoned mental health professionals to target their services toward this group. Support from friends and family or lack there of, played a major role in the women’s integration. By learning about the experiences in their day to day lives, what they need, how they feel and react to those experiences, counselors and other helping professionals are more informed and better equipped to recruit, retain, and assist Arab American Muslim women in counseling. ix

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