Arab American Research Articles

Fear Among the Feared: Arab Americans’ Fear of Crime in an Ethnic Enclave Community

Drawing on racial threat hypothesis and in-depth interviews with first- and second-generation Arab immigrants, this study explores Arab immigrants’ perceptions of risk and fear of crime in an ethnic enclave community. We find that Arab immigrants’ fear of crime is shaped by the unique context in which they live, with this particular population perceiving members of other minority groups as the greatest threat to their culture, community, and safety. This study extends the minority threat perspective, which typically highlights the majority group’s fear of immigrants and other minorities, by examining the inverse of this relationship. Specifically, what and who do immigrants fear at a time when they are perceived as one of the most threatening populations in the U.S.?

Religious Fields and Subfields: Transnational Connections, Identities, and Reactive Transnationalism

The relationship between religion and transnationalism has only recently gained scholarly attention to document the influence religious organizations have on mediating transnational ties. While scholarship on second-generation transnationalism has gained interest, second-generation Arab Americans remain understudied. Yet, Arab Americans, especially Muslim Arab Americans, have been progressively encountering overt anti-Arab and Islamophobic sentiments for two decades, since 11 September. These experiences of discrimination are bound to affect their transnationalism. Based on 32 semi-structured interviews with children of Arab immigrants from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, this study finds that religious organizations are important transnational social fields for the second generation, especially those who experienced discrimination. This study finds that for Muslim Arab Americans, mosques are important transnational social fields in which they engage in transnational ways of being and belonging that connect them to their parental homeland and transnational identity. Consistent with reactive transnationalism, when experiencing discrimination Muslim Arab Americans increased their participation within their mosques in two ways. First, mosques are places Muslim Arab Americans draw on the support of other Arab Americans who have experienced discrimination. Second, the social networks of Muslim Arabs provide important historical and cultural knowledge about their parental homeland; knowledge that Muslim Arab Americans would later use to advocate and educate others when/if they reencountered discrimination.

Cinema: Arab Americans in Film: From Hollywood and Egyptian Stereotypes to Self-Representation, by Waleed F. Mahdi (book review)

Cinema: Arab Americans in Film: From Hollywood and Egyptian Stereotypes to Self-Representation, by Waleed F. MahdiSyracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2020. 304 pages. $75 cloth; $29.95 paper, e-book.

Diversifying neighborhoods and schools engender perceptions of foreign cultural threat among White Americans.

A nationally representative survey (N = 2,213) and five experiments (four preregistered, total N = 1,920) revealed that Whites perceived a foreign cultural threat, or a threat to their American culture and way of life, from the projected growth of racial and ethnic minority populations in their majority-White neighborhoods (Studies 1-5) and schools (Study 6). Whites perceived the increasing presence of Arab Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans to pose an especially strong degree of perceived foreign cultural threat relative to Black Americans, who were perceived as more threatening than no demographic change. Furthermore, perceptions of foreign cultural threat predicted Whites' desires to move out above and beyond other established intergroup threats (e.g., realistic and symbolic threats). These findings highlight how Whites' concerns about losing their American culture and way of life as racial and ethnic minority groups enter majority-White neighborhoods and schools may contribute to the maintenance of racial segregation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Risk Factors for COVID-19 Positivity and Hospital Admission Among Arab American Adults in Southern California.

Objective:Little is known about risk factors associated with COVID-19 infection among Arab American people. We aimed to understand the predictors of receiving a positive COVID-19 test result and being admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 among Arab American adults using data from a hospital near an Arab ethnic enclave.Methods:We used electronic medical record data for Arab American adults aged ≥18 years from March 1, 2020, through January 31, 2021, at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, California. The primary outcomes were receiving a positive COVID-19 test result and being admitted to the hospital for COVID-19. We ran logistic regression models with individual- and population-level risk factors to determine the odds of each primary outcome.Results:A total of 2744 Arab American adults were tested for COVID-19, of whom 783 (28.5%) had a positive test result. In the fully adjusted model, women had lower odds of receiving a positive test result than men (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.77; 95% CI, 0.64-0.92), and adults living in high-poverty areas had higher odds of receiving a positive test result than adults in lower-poverty areas (aOR = 1.25; 95% CI, 1.04-1.51). Of the 783 Arab American adults with data on admission, 131 (16.7%) were admitted. For every 1-unit increase in the Charlson Comorbidity Index, the odds of admission increased by 66% (aOR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1.36-2.04).Conclusion:The risk of receiving a positive test result for COVID-19 was higher among Arab American adults living in high-poverty areas than in lower-poverty areas. The risk of admission was directly related to overall health status. Future work should aim to understand the barriers to prevention and testing in this population.

Comparative predictors for cervical cancer screening in Southeast Michigan for Middle Eastern-North African (MENA), White and African American/black women

The cervical cancer screening behaviors of Arab American women are not adequately understood, in part because Middle Eastern North African (MENA) descent is not a US Census category. Others have shown decreased cervical cancer screening in this race of women. Our primary aim is to evaluate the predictors of cervical cancer screening among MENA, White and Black women of southeast Michigan.A community-wide health survey reached MENA, White and Black populations asking self-report questions about health behaviors, attitudes, and medical history. Cervical cancer screening was considered up-to-date if it was reported to have occurred within the past three years. Survey responses were limited to women 30–65 years old and were analyzed with inferential and logistic regression models to determine risk factors for cervical cancer screening.Overall, 78% reported cervical cancer screening within the past three years. MENA women screened less often if time in the US was less than ten years (aOR 0.24 (0.05, 0.76)) compared to more than ten years and if single (aOR 0.27 (0.07, 0.97)) compared to married. Religion was not associated with screening in any study population. Those of all races without insurance screened significantly less often than those with insurance.The barriers to cervical cancer screening among MENA women are not associated with religion but instead with lack of insurance and length of time residing in the US.

Differential COVID-19 testing, admissions, and mortality for Arab Americans in Southern California.

BackgroundUnderstanding of COVID-19 acquisition and severity risk in minoritized groups is limited by data collection on race and ethnicity; very little is known about COVID-19 risk among Arab Americans in the United States.PurposeTo quantify whether Arab Americans in the El Cajon region of California experienced differential levels of SARS-CoV-2 infection, severity and mortality when compared to other racial/ethnic groups.MethodsA retrospective study was conducted using Sharp Grossmont Hospital’s electronic medical records. Patients were included in the study if they were: 18 years of age or older, tested for SARS-CoV-2, admitted for COVID-19 infection, or had COVID-19 listed as a cause of death between March 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021. The primary outcomes of interest were a positive COVID-19 test result, admission to the hospital due to COVID-19, and in hospital COVID-19 related mortality. Comparisons were made across racial/ethnic groups using chi-squared statistics and logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographics, comorbidities, and time from March 2020.ResultsArab Americans had greater odds of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 than non-Hispanic White (adjusted odds ratio, AOR: 3.83, 95% confidence interval, CI: 3.29, 4.46) and non-Hispanic Black (AOR: 2.34, 95% CI: 1.91, 2.88) patients but lower odds of admission (AOR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.36, 0.63) and in-hospital mortality (AOR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.65) than Hispanic patients.ConclusionsThere were distinct patterns for COVID-19 infection, severity, and mortality for Arab Americans in Southern California. Without a dedicated ethnic identifier, COVID-19 disparities facing Arab Americans will continue to go undocumented.

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Arab Americans.

(1) Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccines have a significant impact on reducing morbidity and mortality from infection. However, vaccine hesitancy remains an obstacle in combating the pandemic. The Arab American (AA) population is understudied; thus, we aimed to explore COVID-19 attitudes within this community. (2) Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. An anonymous online survey was distributed to members of different AA associations and to the community through the snowball method. (3) Results: A total of 1746 participants completed the survey. A total of 92% of respondents reported having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 73% reported willingness to receive a booster, and 72% plan to give their children the vaccine. On multivariate analysis, respondents were more likely to be vaccine-hesitant if they were hesitant about receiving any vaccine in general. They were less likely to be vaccine-hesitant if they were immigrants, over the age of 40, up to date on their general vaccination and if they believed that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in preventing an infection. The belief that all vaccines are effective at preventing diseases was also associated with lower hesitancy. (4) Conclusions: This sample of AAs have higher vaccination rates and are more willing to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 when compared to the rest of the population. However, a reemergence of hesitancy might be arising towards the boosters.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Access to Mental Health Services for African and Arab American Youth: An Audit Study

ABSTRACT Racial disparities exist in the quality of and access to mental health services for people of color. Provider bias has been found to avert African American adults from accessing services. However, it is unknown whether provider bias affects service access for African and Arab American youth. Moreover, little is known about the role of client gender and community variables such as urbanicity (i.e., urban versus non-urban) in access to care for youth. Audit methodology examined whether client race/ethnicity and gender predicted providers’ responses to help-seeking messages in an urban and non-urban area of Michigan. Voice actresses created audio recordings portraying a White, African American, or Arab American mother requesting a therapy appointment for her adolescent. Recordings were left on providers’ voicemails in Metro Detroit and Southwest Michigan. Data were collected on whether the providers: (i) called back, and (ii) initiated or denied services. The effect of client characteristics on the odds of a provider calling back differed by location. In the non-urban location, White clients had a 3.4–3.8 times greater odds of receiving a callback than the African and Arab American clients. Additionally, in the urban location, female clients had a 2 times greater odds of receiving a callback than the male clients. Findings from this study suggest that provider bias limited access to mental health services for African and Arab American adolescents in the non-urban location, highlighting the need for strategies to address disparities in access to mental health services for youth of color.

COVID-19 in Arab Americans Revealed a Public Health Concern

COVID-19 infection can lead to severe consequences, especially among ethnic minorities. Data about COVID-19 infection outcomes in the Arab American population as a minority ethnic group compared to other racial and ethnic minorities are lacking. We conducted a retrospective observational cohort study that included 1,740 hospitalized adult patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection from March 12th, 2020, to January 30th, 2021, at a single center to compare baseline characteristics and outcomes in Arabs hospitalized with COVID-19 to patients from other ethnic groups during the same study period. Of those, we identified 320 Arab patients. We found that Arab American population suffered similar odds of complications and adverse outcomes despite having fewer risk factors for severe illness.

Trends in college student mental health and help-seeking by race/ethnicity: Findings from the national healthy minds study, 2013–2021

BackgroundA considerable gap in knowledge exists around mental health trends in diverse racial and ethnic adolescent and young adult populations. The purpose of this study is to examine annual trends for mental health and help-seeking by race/ethnicity in a national sample of college students. MethodsSurvey data come from >350,000 students at 373 campuses that participated in the Healthy Minds Study between 2013 and 2021. Analyses are descriptive in nature focusing on year-by-year prevalence and help-seeking rates for each racial/ethnic group. ResultsIn 2020–2021, >60% of students met criteria for one or more mental health problems, a nearly 50% increase from 2013. Mental health worsened among all groups over the study period. American Indian/Alaskan Native students experienced the largest increases in depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and meeting criteria for one or more mental health problem. Students of color had the lowest rates of mental health service utilization. The highest annual rate of past-year treatment for Asian, Black, and Latinx students was at or below the lowest rate for White students. Although Arab American students experienced a 22% increase in prevalence, there was an 18% decrease in treatment. LimitationsResponse rates raise the potential of nonresponse bias. Sample weights adjust along known characteristics, but there may be differences on unobserved characteristics. ConclusionsFindings have important implications for campus mental health programming and underscore the urgency of reducing mental health inequalities in college student populations through the identification and implementation of best practices both in clinical settings and through system-level change.

KNOWLEDGE ATTITUDE AND PERCEPTION OF HYPERTENSION AMONG STAFF OF A TERTIARY INSTITUTION IN NIGERIA

Background: Hypertension was a prevalent disease in developed countries, but has recently become a major disease of public health importance in developing countries. Objective: Study assessed knowledge, attitude, and perception about hypertension among the staff of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Method: Cross- sectional study was conducted among the staff in July 2019. 256 staff was randomly selected across all the Faculties. Data collected using structured questionnaire include, demographic information, knowledge, perception and attitude about hypertension and statistical analysis carried out with SPSS version 20 Result: Total 54.7% (140) respondents were academic staff and 45.3% (116) non- academic. 61.7% (158) male, females constitute 38.3% (98). Male academic staff was 67.1% (94); most academic staff, 36.4% (51) was within 50-59 years, 28.6% (40) were between 40-49 years. Total 37.1% (43) non-academic staff were within 40-49yrs. Respondents have a good knowledge, 87.9%, of hypertension, but only 61% (85) of academic and 47% (54) non-academic staff knew that hypertension can be inherited. Total 40% (56) academic, 44.8% (52) non-academic claimed to have multiple source of information about hypertension. Knowledge on risk factors of hypertension was poor, 20%. Conclusion: Knowledge level of respondents on hypertension was high, with moderate attitude but poor perception. Peer Review History: Received: 12 January 2022; Revised: 23 February; Accepted: 1 March, Available online: 15 March 2022 Academic Editor: Ahmad Najib, Universitas Muslim Indonesia, Indonesia, ahmad.najib@umi.ac.id UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. Received file: Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.5/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.5/10 Reviewers: Md. Monirul Islam, Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Northern University Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh. monirul.islam@nub.ac.bd Rola Jadallah, Arab American University, Palestine, rola@aauj.edu Similar Articles: PATTERN OF ANTI-HYPERTENSIVE DRUGS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN KERALA AND ADHERENCE TO JNC-8 GUIDELINES SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS EFFECT ON MANAGEMENT OF HYPERTENSION IN COMMUNITY PHARMACY IN SOUTH- SOUTH ZONE IN NIGERIA

Photography and the Remapping of Home in Contemporary Arab American Literature

Cet article a pour but d’étudier les notions de « chez soi » et d’identité dans la fiction de deux auteures arabo-américaines à travers l’utilisation de représentations photographiques et de photos. Il se concentre sur la manière dont la photographie et les photos sont mises en œuvre dans les récits de deux romans de Mohja Kahf et Alia Yunis afin d’examiner comment les personnages immigrés des romans s’engagent dans un processus de reconfiguration de l’espace du « chez soi ».

Home and Homeland in Contemporary Arab American Literatures

Home and Homeland in Contemporary Arab American Literatures

Recreating Palestine: Arab American Drama and Transnational Exilic Loss

Dans les littératures diasporiques, le théâtre arabo-américain est un genre tout à fait spécifique en ce qu’il propose la recréation du pays d’origine tel qu’il est imaginé par les Arabes Américains des première et deuxième générations, et ce à partir de l’espace de l’exil, de l’immigration ou de l’appartenance transnationale. Les pièces de théâtre Sabra Falling d’Ismail Khalidi et Urge for Going de Mona Mansour rendent de l’humanité et de la valeur aux vies palestiniennes. Les personnages de leurs pièces, comme toutes les victimes de déplacements forcés et d’occupations, désirent une terre d’accueil, que cette dernière soit réelle ou qu’elle soit imaginée par les possibilités qu’ouvrent le théâtre.

Arab American Identity in Mohja Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

Dans cet article nous nous demandons comment l’identité se forme, comment elle se négocie et comment elle se transforme dans un contexte de diaspora et de migration. Ce questionnement prend place dans la fiction arabo-américaine de l’Amérique post-11 Septembre. Prenant pour objet d’analyse le roman The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf de Mohja Kahf, nous cherchons à souligner le rôle essentiel que joue le récit et la mise en récit pour comprendre comment l’identité est influencée et altérée dans un monde où le racisme et les discriminations contre les Arabes et les Musulmans se sont intensifiés.

Concordant physician-patient characteristics lose importance for Arab American women and their healthcare- cross-sectional study

SummaryBackgroundArab American women have preferred women physicians of their own culture in the past. The primary aim of this study is to determine the current influence of religion/culture among MENA women and their preferences for physicians of same sex, culture, and religion on the avoidance and uncomfortableness of routine and women’s health exams.MethodsA cross sectional community survey including religiosity and the importance of physician matched sex, culture, and religion was completed. Outcome measures were avoidance of a routine physical exam, or a women’s health exam because of religious/cultural issues; and the uncomfortableness of the women’s health exam. Linear regression modeling was used to evaluate the association between outcomes and potential predictors, with significance assessed using a bootstrap method.FindingsThe responses of 97 MENA women 30–65 years old showed that MENA women agreed that they would avoid routine health exams because of religious/cultural issues if their physician was of the same religion or culture as they were (p < 0.001, p < 0.05, respectively) or they had less education (p < 0.05). MENA women also avoided women’s health exams due to religious/cultural issues if her physician was of the same religion as she (p < 0.01).InterpretationMENA women 30–65 years old may no longer be bound to a female physician of their same religion/culture for their health exams.

Acculturative Stress and Postpartum Depressive Symptoms among Immigrant Arab American Couples.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between acculturative stress, perceived stress, social support, and postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms among immigrant Arab American couples. Using a cross-sectional design, 30 Arab American immigrant couples were enrolled. During home visits, couples completed the demographic information, the Multi-Dimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory, Perceived Stress, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support among Arab Women, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Data were analyzed using bivariate linear regression and Pearson correlation. In bivariate regressions, paternal and maternal acculturative stress was moderately associated with maternal PPD symptoms (r = .39, and .46, respectively; p < .05). Maternal perceived stress (r = .70, P < .01) was strongly associated with PPD and maternal perceived social support was moderately associated with PPD (r = -.42, p < .05). Maternal and paternal acculturative stress was strongly correlated (r = .61, p < .001). Couple's acculturative stress and mother's perceived stress were positively associated with mother's PPD symptoms. Our findings suggest the need to develop a culturally appropriate procedure to assess couple's stress that may affect immigrant women at high risk for PPD.

In a Word, and: Flashlight, and: Absence, and: Embrace

In a Word, and: Flashlight, and: Absence, and: Embrace Dunya Mikhail (bio) In a Word When my students misspell Arabic,they discover how letterscan change fates.Amal (hope) can makean anagram of alam (pain),an exercise I'd hesitate to dissuade,and shafa (healing) will meansome shaqa (suffering)I can't spare them,but when they learn bahr,letting them express a desireto go to sea, I ensure they don'tspell harb, before they end upin a war they never intended.Even a kiss (qubla) could explodeif they wrote qunbla (bomb),but I can't keeptheir best teacher (life)from giving themall the lessons they need. [End Page 11] Flashlight They all know the little boyfrom the flashlighthe carries—not from a fearof the dark in Tahrir Squarebut to shine it as he searchesfor his father, among the facespainted on the tunnel wall.Every day the protestersdraw new facesand when he haloes themwith his flashlight, another deathilluminates their firmament.When one day,the little boy didn't arrive,his face was painted on the wall,beside a dimmed flashlight. Absence The tree too,gets memory loss.She forgets the birdsand their nests on the branchestenderly encircling the eggs,the breath of their flapping wingsteaching her leaves to fly.She forgets the birdsongs,as if she didn't hear them seasonafter season, just as she doesn't waitfor them to return after the storm. [End Page 12] When a bullet tumbles one birdfrom its perch, seed fallingfrom its beak—she will forgetthat, too, but she will knowsomething is missing,leaving a scar in the placewhere a strange silence abides. Embrace Deep inside the beach,moss grows around a rock:a soft embrace.When the water washes it away,it trembles like the gestureswe make waving from balconiesfor our loved onesin the time of pandemic. [End Page 13] Dunya Mikhail Dunya Mikhail was born in Iraq in 1965 and came to the United States in 1996. Her books include In Her Feminine Sign, selected as the Wild Card Choice (UK) and chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the ten best poetry books of 2019; The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq, a finalist for the pen/John Kenneth Galbraith Award and long-listed for the National Book Award; The Iraqi Nights, which received POETRY magazine's Translation Award; Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea, which won the Arab American Book Award; and The War Works Hard, shortlisted for the Griffon Poetry Prize and named one of the New York Public Library's Twenty-Five Books to Remember from 2005. She edited a pamphlet titled 15 Iraqi Poets. She currently works as an Arabic special lecturer at Oakland University in Michigan. Copyright © 2022 University of Nebraska Press

Photographs, Diaspora, and Identity: Homecoming in Hala Alyan’s The Arsonists’ City

ABSTRACT Hala Alyan is an Arab American novelist and poet. Besides The Arsonists’ City (2021), which will be examined in this paper, she has published a novel titled Salt Houses (2017) and four collections of poetry. This paper argues that Alyan’s novel shows how photographs help the protagonist, Ava, to re-discover her own identity and unveil a forty-year-old family secret. This goal will be achieved by drawing on Roland Barthes’s concepts of punctum and stadium. Ava’s story is situated within the broader context of Palestinian experiences of displacement and homelessness. Her life turns upside down when she spends her summer holiday in Beirut in the late 2010s. She realises her identity by tracing a number of photographs which she finds in an album in her grandparents’ old house in Beirut. Like other Arab novelists in diaspora, Alyan portrays Ava’s identity as a site over which social, cultural and transnational forces converge.