Moroccan Immigrants Research Articles

Spousal Choice among the Children of Turkish and Moroccan Immigrants in Six European Countries: Transnational Spouse or Co-ethnic Migrant?

Transnational marriages of migrants in Western Europe tend to be seen as hampering integration. In response, policies have been tightened, despite little knowledge on transnational marriages and the effects of such measures. This paper investigates the role of individual preferences and contextual factors such as family reunification policies, group size and development levels of the regions of origin in partner choice of the children of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants. We draw on a novel dataset collected in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Our findings suggest that transnational marriages are partly associated with contextual factors such as a rural origin and family reunification policies. The analysis indicates higher rates of transnational marriages under open family reunification policies, providing tentative evidence of policy effects. On the individual level, the choice of a partner from the parents’ origin country is associated with religiosity.

The Effect of Universal Service Delivery on the Integration of Moroccan Immigrants in Spain: A Case Study from an Anti-Oppressive Perspective

The Effect of Universal Service Delivery on the Integration of Moroccan Immigrants in Spain: A Case Study from an Anti-Oppressive Perspective

Parental Involvement in Partner Choice: The Case of Turks and Moroccans in the Netherlands

This study describes and explains parental involvement in partner choice among Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands. It thus contributes to previous research on third-party influence on partner choice. The study provides quantitative findings on the actual extent of parental involvement in partner choice among immigrant groups compared with the native population in the Netherlands. Analysis of the data, which are from the large-scale Netherlands Longitudinal Life-Course Study, shows that parental involvement is modest among Turkish and Moroccan immigrants, but relatively high when compared with the levels of parental involvement found among the native Dutch. Furthermore, analyses reveal variation in parental involvement within the Turkish and Moroccan groups. Parental involvement is greater among children with lower-educated parents. But this effect is counteracted by a child's higher educational attainment and a later age on formalizing the union. Potential implications of parental involvement for endogamous partner choice are discussed.

The conditional returns to origin-country human capital among Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in Belgium

This study extends the analysis of the economic returns to pre-migration human capital by examining the role of the receiving context, co-ethnic residential concentration, and post-migration investments in human capital. It uses large-scale survey data on Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in Belgium. The analysis demonstrates that regarding employment, Moroccan immigrants, that is, those originating from former French colonies receive larger returns to their origin-country education and work experience in French- vs. Dutch-speaking regions. Other than the positive interaction effect between co-ethnic residential concentration and work experience on employment, there is little evidence that co-ethnic concentration increases the returns to origin-country human capital. Speaking the host-country language facilitates economic returns to origin-country work experience. Conversely, immigrants who acquire host-country credentials and work experience receive lower returns to origin-country education and experience, suggesting that, at least among low-skilled immigrants, pre- and post-migration human capital substitute rather than complement each other.

The majority's perceptions about adaptation to the host society of different immigrant groups: The distinct role of warmth and threat

The main objective of this research was to show that majority members differ in their perceptions of different immigrant groups as regards their warmth, competence, similarity, and triggered threat, and that these differences might explain why majority members vary in their perception of adaptation and the perceived need to adapt for different immigrant groups. Particularly, the study aimed to test the distinct role of stereotypes (especially the warmth dimension) and perceived threat (especially realistic threat) in predicting the majority's perception of adaptation and the need for immigrants to adapt. Spanish participants (N=307) responded to a questionnaire assessing Moroccan, Romanian, and Ecuadorian immigrants, reporting their perceptions of adaptation and the need for immigrants to adapt to the host society, on two dimensions of stereotypes (warmth and competence), perceived (realistic and symbolic) threat, and intergroup similarity. Results showed that the majority's perceptions about immigrants were specific to the immigrant target assessed. The psychosocial variables that predicted perception of adaptation and need to adapt differed depending on the immigrant target assessed, although warmth generally predicted perception of adaptation, and perceived threat generally predicted need to adapt. Accordingly, warmth was found to be a mediator in predicting perception of adaptation, whereas perceived realistic threat was a mediator when predicting the need to adapt. Intergroup similarity was a reliable mediator in both perception of adaptation and need to adapt. Overall, warmth seemed to be more closely related with acculturation perceptions, whereas perceived threat was more related with acculturation preferences.

Host National Identification of Immigrants in the Netherlands

This study examines immigrants’ identification with the host country. We use survey data of more than 1,700 Turkish and Moroccan immigrants and more than 2,200 natives in the Netherlands. We answer four main questions in this study. First, do immigrants have lower national identification than natives? Second, does the level of national identification differ between immigrant groups? Third, do economic and social integration similarly affect national identification among immigrants and natives? And fourth, what are important additional determinants of national identification among immigrants? The results show that, compared to Dutch natives, Turkish but not Moroccan immigrants have lower national identification. Being employed and socially integrated is associated with higher national identification among immigrants as well as natives, but only among immigrants is higher occupational status associated with higher national identification. For immigrants, Dutch language proficiency, perceived discrimination, and contact with natives proved to be important conditions for national identification.

Ethnic Differences in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

have investigated all first and second degree immigrants from our IBD patient cohort. In Antwerp – Belgium there is an important Moroccan immigrant population since the 1960s. Phenotype differences were assessed between Moroccan and Caucasian immigrants. We looked at age at diagnosis, sex, disease location and behavior (Montreal classification), extraintestinal manifestations, need for anti-TNFα treatment and surgery. Our single-center results suggest that first and second degree Moroccan immigrants with IBD suffer predominantly from Crohn’s disease with a more severe phenotype characterized by penetrating disease leading to higher rates of CD-related surgery and need for anti-TNFα treatment. In addition, extraintestinal manifestations tend to be more prevalent in the Moroccan immigrant population. Possible explanations are discussed.

The invention of al-Andalus: discovering the past and creating the present in Granada's Islamic tourism sites

In a 2008 survey by the Pew Research Centre, 52% of Spaniards confessed to having negative views of Muslims. Yet, one of the most profitable segments of Spain's tourism industry is built on marketing the concept of convivencia, the supposedly harmonious coexistence of Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the medieval Iberian Peninsula. This article examines Granada's tourism industry as a site for mapping Spain's contradictory relationship with the Islamic world and with its own Islamic past. Granada is a privileged site for this examination: the former Naṣrid capital not only boasts the most famous of Andalusi travel destinations, the Alhambra, but also hosts a large population of Moroccan immigrants and of Spanish converts to Islam. Building on the polysemy of the word ‘invention’ – which can mean both ‘discovery’ and ‘creation’ – this article investigates three different inventions of al-Andalus in Granada's tourism industry. First, I explore the nineteenth-century Romantic ‘re-discovery’ of Andalucía's ‘Oriental’ past. Second, I analyse one of the most visible tourist initiatives in contemporary Granada related to the promotion of the Andalusi past: the Legado Andalusí Foundation. My analysis demonstrates how the work of the Legado Andalusí Foundation has been shaped by the Romantic ‘discovery’ of al-Andalus, as well as by Andalusian nationalist thought and by the discourse of Spanish colonialism in Morocco. In the concluding section, I consider the debates surrounding Islam and Moroccan immigration in Granada's Albayzín neighbourhood, a ‘traditional’ Arab area where the Islamic Community in Spain (Comunidad Islámica en España) recently inaugurated the first mosque to be built in Granada since 1492.

Identity Politics and Politicized Identities: Identity Processes and the Dynamics of Protest

Over the last decades, the concept of identity has become increasingly central in the social psychology of protest. Collective identity, politicized collective identity, dual identity, and multiple identities are concepts that help to understand and describe the social psychological dynamics of protest. In this article, I theorize about identity processes in the context of protest participation: how group identification establishes the link between social identity and collective identity, how multiple identities and dual identities influence protest participation, and how collective identity politicizes and radicalizes. I will illustrate my argument with results from research into collective action participation among farmers in the Netherlands and Spain, Turkish, and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands and New York, South African citizens, and participants in street demonstrations conducted by my research group at VU‐University.

Dissident Bodies and Migrant Hogra among Young Maghrebi during Two Years of the ‘Arab Spring’ (Tangiers 2011, Morocco; Turin 2010-2013, Italy).

The immense so-called Arab Spring mobilization suggested a politically-produced process; created by contingent dimensions and fluent coalitions that influence the current migration dynamics and policies in Europe. The present contribution is part of a multi-local ethnography effectuated in Morocco (Khouribga 2007; Tangiers 2011) and Turin among the ultimate-decade’s Moroccan immigrants and Tunisian migrants from the so-called North African Emergency. During summer 2011, Moroccan media renamed Tangiers: ‘People’s Capital of the 20 February Movement’; depicted as young and new, albeit heterogeneous in age, genre and of socio-political appurtenance. Furthermore, the last decade has witnessed populace protests throughout Morocco; particularly in small, medium-sized cities like Khouribga; emigration springboard towards Turin since the eighties. Here the 20 F movement redefined and integrated itself with local-migration policies. Crucial, politically-related events within an intimate and familiar sphere - concomitant with intergenerational, social breakdowns and continuity amplified by emigration - will emerge through life-stories. Migrants, both in Tangiers and Turin, criticize the hogra as standing for vulnerability and a life-style when confronted by power. My analysis shows how this sentiment - publicized during the Arab Spring, but rooted in Moroccan history - emigrates by accompanying people, who encounter growing migration-policy and life-condition difficulties in a new context. In conclusion, I will show how corporeity can transmute into a manipulatively exploitable power-element; culminating in individual and collective violence. This occurred both during Tangier’s movement and in Turin amongst Tunisian Asylum-seekers and migrants held within the CIE (Centre of Identification and Expulsion). DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n11p58

Explaining majority members’ acculturation preferences for minority members: A mediation model

Two studies were conducted to integrate processes described in the literature on acculturation, stereotype content, and intergroup threat. Spanish majority members filled out questionnaires about their views of Moroccan immigrants (Study 1) and Ecuadorian immigrants (Study 2). They reported their perception of the immigrants’ endorsement of culture maintenance and adoption, their preferences for immigrants to maintain the original culture and adopt the host culture, their positive stereotypes about immigrants, and perceptions of threat. Results showed that ‘perceived culture adoption’ had an effect on ‘stereotypes’, which in turn had an effect on ‘perceived threat’, which in turn had an effect on ‘preference for culture maintenance’ (Studies 1 and 2) and ‘preference for culture adoption’ (Study 1). Moreover, results confirmed that there were significant indirect effects of the majority's acculturation perceptions on majority members’ acculturation preferences, yielding further support that ‘stereotypes’ and ‘perceived threat’ are important mediators in the process. Stereotypes and perceived threat were both consequences of majority members’ acculturation perceptions and predictors of majority members’ acculturation preferences.

“This is for the Children, the Grandchildren …”: Houses of Moroccan Immigrants in Metropolitan Tel Aviv

ABSTRACTThe meaning of migrant housing materiality has not been adequately researched, especially when compared to the meaning of the home for immigrants, a matter of extensive discussion in the past two decades. This paper focuses on the meaning of housing materiality for 12 immigrants who migrated from Morocco to Israel some 60 years ago. Drawing on qualitative data gathered in 2007 and 2008, the paper develops a theoretical framework considering “house as community” and “house materiality” as two interrelating explanations for the migrant housing materiality. Through this framework, and with the concepts of performance and performativity, the paper first explores former houses of participants in Morocco and then presents current houses in Tel Aviv, Israel, to establish links between the two housing forms and reveal the meanings of objects in the homes. It is argued that as a reaction to the dominant Israeli society, housing materiality enables participants to educate successive generations and Israeli society at large about the rich cultural life of Moroccan-Jews that existed before their migration to Israel.

Children of immigrants and social mobility in officially bilingual societies

This article analyses the role of language in the intra- and intergenerational social mobility of Argentinean, Colombian and Moroccan immigrants in Catalonia, an officially bilingual society. We start from the notion that the knowledge and use of and attachment to local languages are affected by the range and importance of opportunities for social mobility offered by the host society. Empirical evidence is based on 45 biographical interviews with members of first generation immigrant groups and their children (raised in Catalonia and currently living outside the family home). We show that the attitudes towards and use of the Catalan language depend on expectations and constraints with regard to upward social mobility. This article questions the causal relationship between languages spoken and job opportunities, postulated by means of the theory of human capital whereby language is only considered as a competitive advantage on the basis of its communicative value.

Explaining Social Discrimination: Racism in Brazil and Xenophobia in Spain

The present study investigates the arguments used by university students in order to explain social differences between social minorities and majorities. In Brazil, the issues investigated refer to White and Black people. In Spain, the reference is to native Spaniards and Moroccan immigrants. The participants were 144 Brazilians and 93 Spaniards, who answered a questionnaire composed of socio-demographic variables and one open question about the causes of social inequalities between Black and White people in Brazil and between autochthonous Spaniards and Moroccan Immigrants. A model is proposed to integrate the four discursive classes found using ALCESTE software. In Brazil, the strongest argument is based on the historical roots of the exploitation of Black people. In Spain, cultural differences are the main explanation for social inequalities.

Mantenimiento y adaptación cultural de diferentes grupos inmigrantes: variables predictoras

This study aimed to analyze the cultural maintenance and adaptation dimensions expressed by Moroccan, Romanian, and Ecuadorian immigrants in Spain, as well as psychosocial and social-demographic variables that predicted such tendencies. A correlational study was carried out with immigrants of Moroccan (N = 71), Romanian (N = 74), and Ecuadorian origin (N = 70) who responded to a questionnaire reporting their tendency to maintain the original culture, to adapt to the host culture, and their perceived duty to adapt to the host culture. It was also measured the stereotype dimensions of warmth and competence about Spanish people, out-group threat, in-group identification, perceived in-out-group similarity, nature of out-group contact, perception of inter-group relations, perceived enrichment by immigration, and some social-demographic variables. Results showed the importance of immigrants’ origin on all variables of the study. In addition, the predictors of acculturation dimensions were different depending on the group considered. These results highlight the need for specific interventions, as each immigrant group faces the adaptation process to the new host society in a different way.

Application of the New Moroccan Family Code in Spain (with a Gender Perspective)

The application of the Moroccan Family Code by Spanish legal operators is not simple, to the extent that it is not only a question of knowing its contents, but also, behind each of its articles and, relating to the institutions contained in the Code, there is a specific understanding of the world and, more specifically, family relations. The Spanish system of Private International Law is to serve as a “communication channel” between legislations which are beginning to coincide due to the new private international situations taking place in Spain, as a new foreign population begins to settle, in particular when it comes to female Moroccan immigrants. In these cases, Moroccan family law may be applied or considered by the Spanish authorities, favouring thus the recognition of decisions taken in Morocco.

Managing Muslim Visibility: Conversion, Immigration, and Spanish Imaginaries of Islam

ABSTRACT This article explores the efforts of Muslims, particularly European converts and Moroccan immigrants, to represent Islam in southern Spain. It examines Muslims’ different representational strategies; their debates about representation; and related tensions between converts and immigrants regarding religious authenticity, representational authority, and social inequalities. The article contributes to understandings of Islam in Europe by examining how Muslims’ representational practices unfold in Andalusia, a social context shaped by both pan‐European, secular concerns about Islam, and a longstanding local tradition that both shuns and celebrates Spain's Muslim heritage. The author argues that converts’ and immigrants’ different placement in Spanish racialized imaginaries of Islam, uneven access to romantic historical narratives of Muslim Spain, and distinct structural positions in Spain's political economy converge to produce an unequal multiculturalism. This is expressed in converts’ and immigrants’ racial, gendered, and class‐based anxieties about representing Islam in Spain.

Talking in triads: communication with Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the palliative phase of cancer

To gain insight into the factors that influence communication between health professionals and Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the palliative phase of cancer. In palliative care, communication is crucial. The question, however, is whether Dutch healthcare providers, on the one hand, and Turkish and Moroccan patients and their family members, on the other, agree on what is constituted by good communication. A descriptive qualitative method is used. Data of semi-structured interviews with 83 persons (six patients, 30 relatives and 47 professional care providers) were analysed to determine perceptual communication differences about care and treatment during the palliative phase of 33 cases. As many patients with a Turkish or Moroccan background speak little Dutch, conversations often take place in triads, which makes it difficult for the actors to understand and resolve communication problems arising from diverging perceptions of 'good communication'. Miscommunication around palliative care cannot solely be explained by the different cultural backgrounds of patients and their care providers. The multilingual communication triangle of patient - family - care provider often also complicates the bridging of differences in care perceptions. Professional care providers should develop adequate strategies to handle triads, explore their own conventions and those of patients and relatives.

Perspectives on care and communication involving incurably ill Turkish and Moroccan patients, relatives and professionals: a systematic literature review

BackgroundOur aim was to obtain a clearer picture of the relevant care experiences and care perceptions of incurably ill Turkish and Moroccan patients, their relatives and professional care providers, as well as of communication and decision-making patterns at the end of life. The ultimate objective is to improve palliative care for Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands, by taking account of socio-cultural factors in the guidelines for palliative care.MethodsA systematic literature review was undertaken. The data sources were seventeen national and international literature databases, four Dutch journals dedicated to palliative care and 37 websites of relevant national and international organizations. All the references found were checked to see whether they met the structured inclusion criteria. Inclusion was limited to publications dealing with primary empirical research on the relationship between socio-cultural factors and the health or care situation of Turkish or Moroccan patients with an oncological or incurable disease. The selection was made by first reading the titles and abstracts and subsequently the full texts. The process of deciding which studies to include was carried out by two reviewers independently. A generic appraisal instrument was applied to assess the methodological quality.ResultsFifty-seven studies were found that reported findings for the countries of origin (mainly Turkey) and the immigrant host countries (mainly the Netherlands). The central themes were experiences and perceptions of family care, professional care, end-of-life care and communication. Family care is considered a duty, even when such care becomes a severe burden for the main female family caregiver in particular. Professional hospital care is preferred by many of the patients and relatives because they are looking for a cure and security. End-of-life care is strongly influenced by the continuing hope for recovery. Relatives are often quite influential in end-of-life decisions, such as the decision to withdraw or withhold treatments. The diagnosis, prognosis and end-of-life decisions are seldom discussed with the patient, and communication about pain and mental problems is often limited. Language barriers and the dominance of the family may exacerbate communication problems.ConclusionsThis review confirms the view that family members of patients with a Turkish or Moroccan background have a central role in care, communication and decision making at the end of life. This, in combination with their continuing hope for the patient’s recovery may inhibit open communication between patients, relatives and professionals as partners in palliative care. This implies that organizations and professionals involved in palliative care should take patients’ socio-cultural characteristics into account and incorporate cultural sensitivity into care standards and care practices.

Seroprevalence of varicella-zoster virus and predictors for seronegativity in the Amsterdam adult population

BackgroundIn the Netherlands, infection with varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is considered a benign common childhood illness and routine vaccination against VZV is not done. In 1995 it was estimated that 98-100% of the adult Dutch general population is immune, yet the estimate is based on a database in which a relative small number of people of non-Dutch ethnic origin were represented. As the city of Amsterdam has large immigrant communities originating from various subtropical and tropical countries, such as Morocco, Surinam, and Turkey with probably lower VZV transmission, this study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of VZV IgG antibodies (anti-VZV) among various ethnic groups in Amsterdam, and identify factors associated with seronegative VZV status.MethodsThe study was a cross-sectional survey of the Amsterdam population (2004), and the study sample was stratified by age and ethnicity, with deliberate oversampling of minority ethnic groups. Serum samples obtained from 1,341 residents in 2004 were tested for antibodies to VZV. Basic demographic data (gender, age, country of birth, age at immigration and number of children) were also available.ResultsThe anti-VZV seroprevalence in the overall Amsterdam population was estimated to be 94% (95% confidence intervals; 92–96%). Regarding ethnic origin, first generation immigrants (Moroccan immigrants 90%, Surinamese or Antillean immigrants 91%, and Turkish 92%), especially those that migrated after the age of 11 years, were more likely to be anti-VZV seronegative compared to those arriving at an earlier age or those born in the Netherlands (97–98%). Both ethnic origin and generation of immigration were positive predictors for IgG seronegativity to VZV (p<0.015). No other predictors for seronegativity were found.ConclusionThe results of this study imply that about 4–8% of the general adult Amsterdam population is still susceptible to infection with VZV, and that susceptibility is even higher in some immigrant groups. When assessing the risk of infection after VZV exposure alertness is needed for vulnerable persons like pregnant women, patients with hematological malignancies or organ transplants in particular among first-generation immigrants.