Summarizes a March 2008 presentation by Maha Sulaiman, licensed family and marriage therapist, to attendees of The American Experience: A National Summit to Promote the Well-Being of Arab and Muslim Youth. Sulaiman compared the psychological impacts of immigration on first- and second-generation immigrants: The first generation grieves the loss of the old country and finds adjustment stressful; the second generation feels less grief over the loss but feels more stress from conflicts that erupt among first-generation family members. Stress on members of each generation is magnified if they are fleeing war and displacement. First-generation members in such circumstances are likely traumatized by war-related experiences and may self-medicate through drugs or alcohol. They may become emotionally unavailable to their children, and the children’s development may suffer. Anti-Arab/anti-Muslim discrimination intensified after the 9/11 attacks as shown by a 2001 Zogby poll in which 61% of Arab/Muslim resondents said they worried about discrimination after 9/11; 20% had experienced it personally; and 45% knew someone who did. A 2004 Moradi & Hasan study reported 53% of Arab/Muslim respondents felt they were being treated unfairly by strangers due to their ethnicity; 47% had been in an argument over something racist done to them; and 46% had been called racist names more than once in the past year. More research is needed a well as early identification and treatment of at-risk youth. Recommendations also included cultural competency workshops and resources at schools; as well as support of public policies that recognize and address Arab/Muslim-Americans’ psychological needs.
