Challenges and Opportunities Facing American Muslim Youth

Abstract

American Muslim youth struggle with a flux of developmental, social, cultural, and religious factors that can propel them toward negative attitudes and behavior that impede their development. This paper explores the challenges identified by American Muslim youth, namely the lack of support experienced, issues of identity ad acculturation, difficulties maintaining religious beliefs, and struggle with gender relations. The Positive Youth Development (PYD) model is explored within the context of American Muslim youth. Finally, recommendations are provided to government and community agencies, educational institutions, youth organizations, and the Muslim religious community, in order to better meet the needs of American Muslim youth and promote their positive development.

Muslim Americans’ Responses to Social Identity Threats: Effects of Media Representations and Experiences of Discrimination

“…First, the use of a student sample somewhat limits the generalizability of the results obtained from the present study. However, research suggests that Muslim American youth are especially likely to experience discrimination and dissatisfaction with media's representation of their religious group (e.g., Ahmed & Ezzeddine, 2009;Ahmed & Reddy, 2007;Ibrahim & Abdelhalim, 2012;. Nevertheless, future research should examine these processes using an adult sample.…”

“…Muslims in America report alarming levels of discrimination due to their religious identity and report dissatisfaction with the ways in which Muslims are represented in American media (Ahmed & Ezzeddine, 2009;Ahmed & Reddy, 2007;Ibrahim & Abdelhalim, 2012). These frequent social identity threats are likely a source of stress in Muslim Americans' everyday lives, affecting various spheres of life such as housing, education, healthcare, and banking.…”

“…These findings map onto the experiences of Muslim Americans, many of whom have had direct experiences of religious discrimination (Ahmed & Ezzeddine, 2009;Sirin, Bikmen, Mir, Zaal, & Fine, 2008;. In addition to direct experiences of discrimination, the majority of Muslim Americans report dissatisfaction with the media's representation of Muslims (Ahmed & Ezzeddine, 2009;Ahmed & Reddy, 2007;Ibrahim & Abdelhalim, 2012).…”

“…In addition to direct experiences of discrimination, the majority of Muslim Americans report dissatisfaction with the media's representation of Muslims (Ahmed & Ezzeddine, 2009;Ahmed & Reddy, 2007;Ibrahim & Abdelhalim, 2012). Indeed, Muslims are frequently linked with violence, terrorism, and aggression across American media outlets, including cable news (Dixon & Williams, 2015), newspapers (e.g., Nacos & Torres-Reyna, 2007;Powell, 2011), television and movies (e.g., AlSultany, 2012), web animations and flash-based games (e.g., Van Buren, 2006), and traditional video games (e.g., Sisler, 2008).…”

Contraception and Sexual and Reproductive Awareness Among Ghanaian Muslim Youth

“…Against the background of the social and economic by guest on June 4, 2016 Downloaded from challenges facing the Ghanaian Muslim youth, this article evaluates their awareness about contraception focusing on the issues and their ramification with the aim of speculating on prospects for positive development. As sexual immorality among the present Muslim youth has been a debilitating problem in many countries (Ahmad & Akhter, 2006;Ahmad & Ezzeddine, 2009;Harun & Hasan, n.d.), in an era of HIV/ AIDS, research in this direction is not untimely.…”