Background: Arab Americans, a growing population in the U.S., tend to have high rates of smoking and low rates of smoking cessation. Arab Americans and their families are at a high risk for poor health outcomes related to smoking. Objective: The purpose of this study is to better understand the smoking behaviors of Arabs in the U.S., using the two publishable manuscripts format. The first manuscript is a systematic review of the literature exploring the smoking behavior, prevalence and use among Arab Americans and examining studies addressing the effect of acculturation on this behavior. The second manuscript is a cross-sectional quantitative study investigating factors influencing desire to quit smoking among Arab Americans, and their association with acculturation and health beliefs. Results: The majority of the studies included in the first manuscript focused on smoking prevalence and cessation. Some discussed the impact of acculturation and health beliefs only two smoking cessation programs have been developed. Thus a cross-sectional descriptive study among adult Arab American smokers was conducted to measure tobacco use, nicotine dependence, desire to quit smoking, acculturation, and health beliefs. The desire to quit smoking was positively associated with perceived severity and susceptibility to cancer, perceived benefits of quitting smoking; and negatively associated with smoking barriers and nicotine dependence. Being female, having lower level of nicotine dependence, and higher perception of cancer severity predicted higher desire to quit smoking. Conclusion: Smoking cessation intervention studies need to target appropriate health beliefs, especially cancer severity of smoking among male Arab Americans.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Central Florida, 2008. / Adviser: Houman Sadri. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-74).

Available literature showed that the Egyptian diaspora (e.g., emigrants who share a common situations and work for the same cause) has been developing and engaging politically in the United States during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. The diasporas’ role was of interest to researchers and policymakers; however, the literature concerning diasporas has underexamined the Egyptian diaspora regarding its proliferation and active political engagement. Using the conflict and climate theories of Truman, and Cigler and Loomis in conjunction with the political engagement factors theory of Jang as the theoretical foundation of the study, the purpose was to explore how members of the diaspora explain and perceive their political engagement in Washington, DC. In this qualitative study, the key characteristics of diaspora and political and social factors of home and host countries that enable and inhibit that engagement regarding particular issues were addressed through 16 in-depth, face-to-face interviews with Egyptian-Americans. Maxwell and Miller’s doubled-strategy and Yin’s case study steps approach were used for analysis. The findings indicated that the engagement of the diaspora except Coptic and some Islamic groups are passive most of the time because of the political home culture; despite that fact, the diaspora became active for a short time because of the Egyptian revolution. Future research should exam those aspects to better understand the mechanism of building an Egyptian lobby to work continuously and effectively on Egyptian interests in the United States. The diaspora and policymakers may use the study results to help improve the role of this diaspora to impose positive social changes in Egypt and the future political engagement of Egyptian younger generations.

Even within counseling psychology’s multicultural literature, attention to individuals of Arab descent remains narrow (Awad, 2010; Abdel-Salam, 2019). Despite counseling psychologists’ goals regarding multiculturally proficiency, the dearth of systematic empirical research on the counseling of Arab Americans remains conspicuous. The present study attempts to fill this gap by exploring the impact of racial ambiguity and legal invisibility on Arab Americans’ sense of belonging and well-being. This exploratory consensual qualitative research (CQR) investigation analyzed interview data from 13 non-veiled Arab American women. The interview probed their reactions to Arab Americans’ legal invisibility in the US, queried how they believed White people versus people of color racially perceived them, and examined their subsequent emotional responses and coping strategies. The study’s results revealed participants’ feelings of invisibility, invalidation, and hurt when they were not recognized as a person of color (PoC) and brought the participants’ perpetual experience of exclusion to the forefront. The results not only have implications for professional practice and education but also for policy. Specifically, this study lends support to Arab and Middle Eastern North African (MENA) advocacy efforts for census recognition, as this acknowledgment of the Arab/MENA community would foster a sense of belonging not only among other PoC but also within US society as a whole.

This study examined the perceptions of a sample of female Muslim-American students regarding their socio-cultural accommodation in California public high schools. The research provides insight into the daily lives of female Muslim-American high school students to be available to counselors, teachers, and administrators. It also illustrates female Muslim-American students' struggle in trying to adjust to the school environment. The study used perspectives from the theoretical framework of social and psycho-social development, principles of multi-cultural education, and education in Islam. The research was based on data gathered through focus groups and individual interviews with six female Muslim-American first-year university students. The study findings suggested the following: Stereotypical assumptions among fellow students, teachers, and administrators exist with regards to female Muslim-American students on California public high school campuses. Also, despite the lack of accommodation for their religious and socio-cultural practices and the fact that they are socially marginalized, the female Muslim-American students interviewed during this study were able to graduate from high school and attend university. The students attributed their success in high school to the support of their families and religious life, which prepared them to be resilient and to overcome the challenges presented by common misconceptions during their high school years.

Stereotypes routinely appear within Hollywood films. This study focuses on films released from 1994-2000 that feature Arab/Arab-American characters. A literature analysis reviewed the use of stereotypes in other portrayals of Arab/Arab-American characters. A qualitative analysis of six movies examined specific characteristics that were displayed by Arab/Arab-American characters. These characteristics included speaking with an accent, traditional/native attire, acts of hostility and aggression, affiliation with terrorism, and whether they were depicted as victimizers or victims. These films were selected in order to demonstrate the frequent existence of negative portrayals in popular films prior to 9/11. A primary coder, the author, analyzed 108 scenes, while the secondary coder analyzed 10% of the total scenes as a reliability check. The findings suggest that negative images of Arabs/Arab-Americans appeared frequently in the popular films within this study. The conclusions suggest that stereotypes are evident in films and are detrimental to Arab/Arab-American races and cultures.

No description available.

This research project will determine whether or not Arab Americans are portrayed as members of an out-group, in-group, or victim following the events of 9/11. This study improves upon previous research by analyzing the content of newspaper articles in USA Today, The New York Times, and The Washington Post pertaining to Arab Americans. Since the majority of research indicated the mass media has a tendency to perpetuate a negative stereotype of minorities and of Arabs, it was expected that the media would portray a negative stereotype of Arab Americans as well. The content analysis addressed the coverage of Arab Americans in the five years before and the five years after 9/11 in order to determine to what extent Arab Americans were depicted as members of an in-group, out-group, or victim following that date. A total of 1379 articles were analyzed placed into the social categories of in-group, out-group, or victim utilizing a clearly defined coding method. Findings showed that overall Arab Americans were depicted as members of an out-group more than they were depicted as members of an in-group or victim. Since the total number of articles dramatically increased following 9/11, the number of articles placing Arab Americans as members of an in-group, out-group, or victim increased accordingly. However, approximately three years after 9/11, the number of articles pertaining to Arab Americans began returning to pre-9/11 levels. While the number of articles placing Arab Americans as members of an in-group or victim increased immediately following 9/11, articles in both social categories steadily declined following 9/11. While the number of articles placing Arab Americans as members of an out-group decreased in the year immediately following 9/11, the number of articles placing Arab Americans as members of an out-group steadily increased following 9/11.

This study aims at answering questions pertaining to the performance of bilingual Arab-American students on solving word problems written in their home and school languages: (1) Does the language in which a word problem is stated have an effect on the performance of the bilingual Arab-American students?; (2) Do Arab-American students with higher levels of Arabic proficiency perform better in either or both versions of the word problems?; and (3) What are some common differences and similarities in the problem solving processes of Arab-American students as they solve problems in English or Arabic? The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze these questions. A total of 173 students from a full-time Islamic school participated in this study: 56 students in fifth grade, 56 students in sixth grade, and 61 students in seventh grade. All students were asked to solve two sets of ten word problems each. The students were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Results showed that Arab-American students performed significantly better in the English version of the word problems. Arab-American students with higher levels of Arabic proficiency performed better in the Arabic version of the word problems. Students' standardized scores on mathematics problem solving was a significant factor in explaining variances in student performance on both language versions of both sets of word problems. While students' standardized scores on reading comprehension was a significant factor in predicting the students' performance on the English version of the word problems, students' final average in the Arabic subject was a significant factor in predicting students' performance on the Arabic version of the word problems. Differences and similarities emerged in the problem solving processes of Arab-American students solving the word problems in either English or Arabic. Some students found statements involving double comparisons, problems with hidden information, and problems that required multi-step solutions or thinking backwards to be problematic in both language versions of the problems. Difficult vocabulary was especially problematic for students when solving the Arabic version of the word problems.

This literature and interview-informed dissertation research sought to explore the educational experiences of a small sample of those who identify as part of the generation of Muslim youth in the United States who have come of age in “the age of terror,” precipitated by the September 11th terrorist attacks on the U.S. The research involved analyses and interpretations of selected literatures pertaining to seminal theories, histories, and discourses pertaining to U.S situated Muslim students in high schools. In addition, responses from seven Muslim high school students who describe how they see themselves, their schooling environments around them, and their place within that constructed world also contributed to this dissertation work. The researcher interrogated study participants’ descriptions garnered mostly via facilitations of interviews, and some student written narrative and poetry. Simultaneously, the researcher, who identifies as a queer Arab Muslim-American educator, reflexively interrogated her own assumptions, biases and expectations propelling and affecting her analyses and interpretations of study data. Themes of visibility and “coming out” as Muslim as well as of political structures, forms of oppression, namely Islamophobia, and school environments are all navigated as well as questioned through the perspectives of both students and the Arab-American Muslim educator-researcher. The research both creates and leaves spaces for further delvings into teacher education dominant notions of pedagogy, classroom images, and school communities. Additionally, this dissertation research offers possibilities for change in relation to conceptions of larger intersecting power structures that influence not only how the public perceives Muslim cultures but also on how these youth see themselves.