Acculturation of the Muslims Settled in the West

Abstract

Muslims from all over the World have settled in Western countries. They bring with themselves a rich cultural heritage and numerous skills. However, adjusting to a culture, different from their original culture, can be a challenge. They have to undergo an acculturation process to get adjusted to a new country and a new way of life. Although acculturation has been considered an important phase in the resettlement process, it has not been studied extensively with the Muslim population in the West. The present commentary examines briefly the studies conducted in the last decade. Findings are discussed and the gaps are highlighted. Future directions that researchers and academics could take are discussed.

Migration as a Challenge to Couple Relationships: The Point of View of Muslim Women

“…However, such a change in their everyday lifestyle and routine does not seem to be associated with a parallel modification of their value system that places women in a subordinate position and sees them as being in charge of the house and the family. Moroccan women in our sample, therefore, seem to use a situational acculturation model: they hold onto their cultural identity while selectively adapting to the new culture [9].…”

“…Immigration inevitably leads to contacts and potential clashes among different cultures and require both immigrants and mainstream society members to change to adjust to the new situation. The results of such an adjustment process are far from predictable as they are largely dependent on both personal as well as situational factors [6,7,9,10]. While some individuals are willing to integrate adopting values and practices of the host country while at the same time keeping their own, others opt for separation and thus keep their original culture while avoiding contact with the dominant culture.…”

“…While most research focused on acculturation, trying to identify both the inner (i.e., demographic characteristics, personality traits, religiousness) and contextual (i.e., attitudes of the receiving society, perceived support, or discrimination) factors hindering or facilitating integration, see [6,9,13,15,19], only a paucity of studies have investigated the effects of immigration on the spouses' subjective experiences of their marital relationship [7,30,33,67]. Moreover, research studies have often adopted a deficit theory or a problem-focused approach, thus overlooking the coping strategies put at play by immigrants as well as at the positive changes produced by migration.…”

“…With over 30 million immigrants living beyond their national borders, the integration and acculturation process of Muslim immigrants living in Western countries has been extensively studied, especially after the 9/11 terrorist attacks [6][7][8][9][10][11]. Acculturation has been defined as "the process of cultural change and adaptation that occurs when individuals from different cultures come into contact" [12] (p. 2).…”

Cultural competence in working with the Arab Australian community: a conceptual review and the experience of the Arab Council Australia (ACA) gambling help counselling service

“…The politics of fear of Islamic terrorism implicates Muslims and Arabs for complicity, making Arab Australians feel that the government policy sanctions vilification of Arabs and Muslims (Australian Arabic Council 2001 ). This perception would be detrimental and some Arabs Australians may feel that their path for integration is blocked (see Khawaja 2016 ). Berry’s acculturation studies ( 1997 , 2005 ) report better mental and physical health for integration and assimilation acculturation strategies for migrants.…”