North African Immigrants Research Articles

Maternal birthplace and experiences of perinatal healthcare in Belgium: Evidence from a cross-sectional survey

BackgroundPatient experience is an important part of perinatal care quality. Migrant women in high-income countries often report more negative experiences than non-migrants, but evidence in Europe is patchy. In this study, we compared the experiences of two migrant populations with non-migrants, taking into account socioeconomic characteristics. MethodsWe surveyed mothers born in Belgium, North-Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa (n = 877) using an adapted version of the Migrant-Friendly Maternity Care Questionnaire. Two patient experience scores were created using multiple correspondence analyses: a) information and communication with healthcare professionals and overall satisfaction with pregnancy care, and b) patient-centred aspects and satisfaction with delivery care. Through descriptive analyses and multivariable logistic regressions we estimated the associations of maternal characteristics with each score. ResultsOverall, positive experiences were reported in terms of communication (83 %) and patient-centred care (86 %). North African immigrants with low language proficiency had higher odds of negative communication experience (especially problems understanding information) (ORa: 2.30, 95 %CI 1.17–4.50), regardless of socioeconomic position. Among women with language barriers, 88 % were never offered a professional interpreter, relying on family members for translation. Patient-centred care was not associated with maternal birth region but was rated more negatively by older mothers, those with longer residence in Belgium, and higher majority-language proficiency. ConclusionIn Belgium, perinatal care experiences were generally positive, although communication with immigrants was suboptimal. Language barriers, single motherhood, and unstable housing increased communication issues. Our findings underline the necessity to improve information-exchange with immigrants and socioeconomically vulnerable women.

The Immigrant Mortality Advantage Among Over-65 Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants to the United States.

Immigrants to the United States often have longer life expectancies than their U.S.-born counterparts, however it is unclear whether a similar "immigrant advantage" exists for immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This study uses a novel machine-learning name classifier to offer one of the first national-level examinations of MENA mortality patterns by nativity in the United States. A recurrent neural network model was developed to identify MENA individuals based on given name and surname characteristics. The model was trained on more than 2.5 million mortality-linked social security records in the Berkeley Unified Numident Mortality Database (BUNMD). Mortality rates and life expectancy were estimated using a Gompertz distribution and maximum likelihood estimation, focusing on high-coverage years between 1988 and 2005 and deaths over age 65. Foreign-born MENA men over 65 showed a significant immigrant mortality advantage with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.64 and an estimated 3.13 additional years of life expectancy at age 65 compared to U.S.-born counterparts. Foreign-born MENA women also exhibited an advantage, with a HR of 0.71 and an additional 2.24years of life expectancy at age 65. This study is one of the first national-level analyses of mortality outcomes among the over-65 MENA population in the United States, finding a MENA immigrant mortality advantage. The results suggest further research is needed to identify and disaggregate the MENA population in health research.

Long-term benefits to psychological health and well-being after ceremonial use of Ayahuasca in Middle Eastern and North African immigrants and refugees.

Refugees and immigrants can experience complex stressors from the process of immigration that can have lasting and severe long-term mental health consequences. Experiences after ayahuasca ingestion are shown to produce positive effects on psychological wellbeing and mental health, including anecdotal reports of improved symptoms of trauma and related disorders. However, data on the longitudinal health impact of naturalistic ayahuasca use in Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) immigrant and refugee populations is limited. The current longitudinal online survey study was conducted to gather prospective data on ceremonial ayahuasca use in a group (N = 15) of primarily female MENA immigrants and refugees and to provide further insight into the patterns and outcomes surrounding that use. The study sought to assess self-reported changes in physical and mental health, well-being, and psychological functioning, examine relationships between aspects of individual mindset (e.g., psychedelic preparedness) prior to ayahuasca use and observed outcomes during (e.g., subjective drug effects) and afterwards (i.e., persisting effects), characterize risks and negative experiences, and describe trauma exposure and personal history. Our findings revealed ceremonial use of ayahuasca is associated with significant improvements in mental health, well-being, and psychological functioning, including reductions in depression, anxiety, and shame, and increases in cognitive reappraisal and self-compassion. Most participants reported no lasting adverse effects and experienced notable positive behavioral changes persisting months after ingestion. While preliminary, results suggest naturalistic ayahuasca use might hold therapeutic potential for MENA populations exposed to trauma prior to and during the process of migration.

Modifiable Risk Factors for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias Among Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants to the United States.

Modifiable risk factors across the life course play a role in the development of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Studies have identified racial and ethnic disparities in ADRD risk factors. Few studies have explored the epidemiology of ADRD risk among Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Americans, largely due to their classification as White in US national health surveys. Our aim was to estimate ADRD risk factors among MENA immigrants compared to US- and foreign-born non-Hispanic White adults. We linked cross-sectional 2000-2017 National Health Interview Survey and 2001-2018 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data (N = 108695; age ≥ 18 years). Modifiable risk factors for ADRD that were evaluated (yes or no) included less than ninth grade education, hearing loss, traumatic brain injury, hypertension, alcohol use, obesity, smoking, depressive symptoms, marital status, physical inactivity, and diabetes. Bivariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression were conducted. Regression models were adjusted by age and sex. Compared to US-born White adults, MENA immigrants had higher odds of reporting less than 9th grade education (OR = 1.93; 95% CI = 1.17-3.21) and psychological health concerns (OR = 1.28; 95% CI = 1.06-1.56). Compared to foreign-born White adults, MENA immigrants had higher odds of diabetes (OR = 1.48; 95% CI = 1.06-2.08) and psychological health concerns (OR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.01-1.54). The findings provide the first comprehensive look at potentially modifiable risk factors for ADRD among MENA immigrants based on a life course model. Without a racial/ethnic identifier for MENA individuals on a national level, ADRD risk factors among US-born MENA adults and MENA immigrants cannot be examined. More research is needed to explore these risk factors by life stage (early, midlife, and late) to further determine ADRD risk and prevention strategies for MENA Americans.

North African immigration in France: The aftermath of the Algerian War in graphic narratives Les Mohamed and Une Famille Nombreuse

The Algerian War (1954–62) has had a lasting impact on Arabs living in France since the First World War, whether they are Algerians or not. This article focuses on North African immigrants and ethnic minority lived experiences using Les Mohamed by Jérôme and Une Famille nombreuse by Chadia Chaibi , two graphic narratives that depict the North African immigrants’ contribution to a more diverse French history and the family/communities’ memories. Throughout this article, I analyse the various framing strategies used in Les Mohamed and Une Famille nombreuse that seek to change French readers’ perception of the North African identity and ultimately speak against the myth of cultural assimilation. By telling personal stories, Ruillier and Loueslati succeed at creating a collective memory that promotes a discourse in favour of integration. By designing his characters in a minimalist fashion, Ruillier combats existing stereotypes and invites his readers from diverse backgrounds to identify with the characters. By using humour and metatextual comments from her siblings, Loueslati emphasizes the diversity of immigrant and second-generation experiences. Using those framing strategies, both authors expose the normalcy of mistreatments and discrimination towards immigrants and their descendants in France.

Une analyse de Mäli-mäli de Selma Sardouk

The analysis focuses on the political function of cyberfeminism, taking as its subject the decolonial podcast Mäli-mäli by Selma Sardouk. From the first season of the program, the episodes under study focus on collective neuroses, in dialogue with the management of transgenerational traumas in France, among generations of children from North African immigration.

Cognitive Limitations Among Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants.

To estimate and compare the prevalence of cognitive limitations among Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) immigrants compared to US- and foreign-born non-Hispanic Whites from Europe (including Russia/former USSR) and examine differences after controlling for risk factors. Cross-sectional data using linked 2000-2017 National Health Interview Survey and 2001-2018 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data (ages >=65years, n = 24,827) were analyzed. The prevalence of cognitive limitations was 17.3% among MENA immigrants compared to 9.6% and 13.6% among US- and foreign-born non-Hispanic Whites from Europe. MENA immigrants had higher odds (OR = 1.88; 95% CI = 1.06-3.34) of reporting a cognitive limitation than US-born non-Hispanic Whites after controlling for age, sex, education, hearing loss, hypertension, depression, social isolation, and diabetes. To further examine cognitive health among the MENA aging population, policy changes are needed to identify this group that is often absent from research because of their federal classification as non-Hispanic Whites.

(Un)Familiar Spaces: paris in Outside the Law (2010) and Free Men (2011)

ABSTRACT The Hollywood-inspired Maghrebi-French films Outside the Law (Bouchareb, 2010) and Free Men (Ferroukhi, 2011) narrate geographies of exclusion and belonging in Paris, France during the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) and World War Two (1939–1945) respectively. The films employ space and spatial metaphors to articulate and insist on the place of Maghrebi-French people in France. In doing so, they work to disrupt dominant imaginaries of Paris, whilst also revealing the possibilities for resistance in the city as seen from the point-of-view of North-African immigrants. The films are a significant part of a cultural and commercial ‘shift’ toward more mainstream filmmaking in Maghrebi-French cinema. Through reading some of the spaces in the films, this paper interrogates the ways in which they map new geographies of a (post)colonial Paris reimagined at the intersections of colonialism, beur cinema, and Hollywood. The geographical imaginaries constituted in the films are read as the product of a stylistic aesthetic that helps to locate Maghrebi-French identity beyond the confines of the French banlieue. In doing so, the paper contributes to recent debates around cultural flows and exchanges in transnational cinema by centring the importance of space in the context of an aesthetic shift in Maghrebi-French cinema.

Reimagining North African Immigration: Identities in Flux in French Literature, Television, and Film. Edited by Véronique Machelidon and Patrick Saveau

<i>Reimagining North African Immigration: Identities in Flux in French Literature, Television, and Film</i>. Edited by <scp>Véronique Machelidon</scp> and <scp>Patrick Saveau</scp>

Outcomes of Culturally Tailored Dietary Intervention in the North African and Bangladeshi Diabetic Patients in Italy.

Immigrants show higher adjusted diabetes prevalence than Italians, especially among South-East Asians followed by North and Sub-Saharan Africans. Diabetes progression is influenced by food behaviors, and diet control is a critical aspect in disease management. Food habits have many cultural and symbolic implications. Guidelines recommend that every patient should receive appropriate self-management education according to cultural and socioeconomic characteristics. This study aims to test whether a customized diet and transcultural mediator’s support can improve immigrants’ food habits. A pre-post quali-quantitative study was conducted among 20–79-year-old Bangladeshi and North African diabetic immigrants. The INMP transcultural mediator, an expert in the social and health care field, actively participates in clinical activity by decoding linguistic and cultural needs expressed by the foreigner patient. Five culturally tailored dietary profiles were designed according to international diabetes guidelines and adjusted to traditional food habits. Data were collected with two different semi-structured questionnaires. Changes in food consumption were assessed through McNemar’s test, while paired Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test was used to analyze pre and post intervention. Fifty-five patients were enrolled. At follow-up, cereals, meat, and potatoes intake significantly improved, and the number of adequate dietary habits for each patient increased significantly. Transcultural mediator support was 90% positively evaluated. Adherence to dietary control is favorably influenced by a transcultural intervention, which is based on clinical and socio-cultural criteria, in compliance with patient’s lifestyles.

Catholics and Communists in Twentieth-Century Italy: Between Conflict and Dialogue

Catholics and Communists in Twentieth-Century Italy: Between Conflict and Dialogue

From development towns to ‘Mizrahi enclaves’ – was it Mapai's intentional policy?

The notion that development towns, founded at the dawn of the state of Israel, have become slums for North-African Jewish immigrants as part of a deliberate policy that served the status interests of the veteran, dominant Ashkenazi population, is a common perception among some scholars, which has recently taken root among the Israeli public, as well. This article focuses on the problems and hardships that emerged in development towns upon their establishment and the myriad considerations of state leaders and the ruling Party (Mapai), and provides a different interpretation of the government’s actions. In this article, I aim to show how some development towns became Mizrahi enclaves, not as a result of an intentional policy, but mainly due to plans that turned out to be flawed and the demographic trends that took place in these towns, in contradiction to the government’s original intentions and efforts to prevent such an outcome.

Representations of Maghrebians' Immigrant Life in France in Two Literary Generations: A Multilevel Cognitive Stylistic Reading of Driss Chraibi’s Les boucs and Azouz Begag’s Le gone du Chaaba

&lt;em&gt;While political analysts, economists, cultural studies scholars have all been offering insightful analyses of the different matters relating to immigrant life in different parts of the world, this article reaches for a first-hand testimony in two autobiographical novels by two internationally recognized Maghrebian novelists who respectively represent the first and second generations of Maghrebian immigrants in France. In a rather innovative manner, the portrayal of immigrant life in the two novels is analyzed from a cognitive stylistic perspective, and informed by the author’s multiple research viewpoints, those of a Maghrebian literature critic, a francophone postcolonial studies researcher and a frequent visitor to France carrying the concerns of an extended family based there. The interest in style during our close reading of these largely autobiographical narratives is based on the assumption that an author's style is a reflection of their attitude and worldview. Chraibi’s novel Les Boucs (1955) is as timely now as it was in the day of its first appearance for its balanced and largely objective analysis of the sociological, psychological and economic conditions of North African immigrants. Stylistically, Les boucs features a close correlation between its form and content in that the chaotic nature of immigrant life is formally embodied in Chraibi's non-linear mode of writing. In contrast to the bleak picture presented throughout Chraibi's text, Begag's convivial approach oozes hope for his readers who come to realize the futility of continuing to curse the state of deprivation and inequity while there can always be ways setbacks can be turned into opportunities. The study uses a qualitative method of stylistic analysis and applies the two necessary principles of 'contextualization' and 'comprehensiveness' to ensure a high degree of analytical and interpretive validity.&lt;/em&gt;

Mapping as a Complementary Perspective on the Dynamics of Participation in a City’s Musical Life

Maps and map-making have been used in a range of research about musical phenomena in cities. Yet, most of these studies focus on musicians; few have attempted to understand how people take part in a city’s musical life in terms of event attendance. Likewise, little has been said about the attendance habits of immigrants, despite the quick transformation of urban populations due to the expansion of human migration. Approaching a subject that has received so little attention as the dynamics of participation of immigrants in a city’s musical life therefore requires an inventive research design. Building from a methodology combining semi-structured interviews and observation, I used maps and map-making to deepen the analysis of North African immigrants’ cultural practices in Montreal. Trying to give a spatial legibility to their musical activities in the city generated many technical and theoretical concerns, but was also helpful for reflecting on the project differently and highlighting some characteristics of the data that were not obvious from the initial fieldwork. In brief, maps and map-making proved to be efficient complementary tools to ethnography, bringing new insights and raising new queries about the practices being considered.

Civic Attitudes and Engagement Among Middle Eastern and North African Refugees and Immigrants in the U.S.

Given the importance of civic engagement to the well-being of immigrants and refugees and their communities, the goal of the current study was to investigate civic attitudes among immigrants and refugees from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). First, the researcher examined predictors of civic attitudes. Second, the mediating effect of attitudes between the potential predictors (i.e., gender, health status, English proficiency, and the U.S. length of stay) and level of civic engagement was investigated. The researcher recruited 145 respondents to complete online and paper-based surveys. Using linear regression models, the results show that health and English language proficiency significantly predict civic attitudes among this group. Attitudes also mediated between health status and level of civic engagement. This study provides some implications for social work, resettlement programs, health policies, and civic organizations that can be beneficial for the target group as well as for the host communities.

Book Review: Citizen Outsider: Children of North African Immigrants in France

Book Review: <i>Citizen Outsider: Children of North African Immigrants in France</i>

Mizrahim in the big city: an inside look at the social and cultural world of middle-class Iraqi immigrants in 1950s and 1960s Israel

ABSTRACTIsraeli society in the first decades of statehood is thought of as a dichotomous one, with middle and upper class Ashkenazi Jews on one hand and on the other, lower class immigrants from Muslim countries. Though the emergence of a Mizrahi middle class is associated with the 1970s and 1980s, a deeper look into early-statehood Israel indicates that the ethnic/class dichotomy was already more nuanced in the 1950s. In fact, the social landscape of this period included a group of new Middle Eastern and North African immigrants of urban middle and upper classes, who managed to integrate into Israel's urban middle class. Most of them had come from Iraq. Scholarly discussion on this urban group presents methodological challenges, as documentation regarding it is scant and even rare. The current article concerns a particular sub-group of young middle-class immigrants from Iraq who published a journal documenting their world-view and activities. The article examines the characteristics of this group's integration process, its social and cultural perceptions, guiding aspirations, and dilemmas, placing particular emphasis on the identity and self-representation of these young people.

Citizen Outsider: Children of North African Immigrants in France. By Jean Beaman. Oakland: University of California Press, 2017. 170 pp., $34.95 (paper)—ERRATUM

<i>Citizen Outsider: Children of North African Immigrants in France</i>. By Jean Beaman. Oakland: University of California Press, 2017. 170 pp., $34.95 (paper)—ERRATUM

Citizen Outsider: Children of North African Immigrants in France. By Jean Beaman. Oakland: University of California Press, 2017. Pp. xivi+152. $34.95 (paper).

<i>Citizen Outsider: Children of North African Immigrants in France</i>. By Jean Beaman. Oakland: University of California Press, 2017. Pp. xivi+152. $34.95 (paper).

Citizen Outsider: Children of North African Immigrants in France. By Jean Beaman. Oakland: University of California Press, 2017. 170 pp., $34.95 (paper)

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