Religion in the Hallways: Academic Performance and Psychological Distress among Immigrant origin Muslim Adolescents in High Schools

Abstract

Islamic norms and Islamophobia present unique challenges for Muslim adolescents in Western countries. For Muslim students, even "secular" public schools are not a religion-free space because their religious beliefs and values are central in their manner of living. To inquire more about these issues, an exploratory sequential design mixed-method study was conducted that included focus groups and a survey addressing the public school experiences of Muslim adolescents in a Midwestern state in the United States and how those experiences are related to their academic achievement, educational aspirations, and psychological adjustment. Overall, the findings characterize this study's sample as coping well in the school context in terms of academic achievement, high educational expectations, and relatively low levels of psychological distress. However, those who experience greater frequency and severity of hassles at school report higher levels of psychological distress. In particular, the frequency of hassles associated with representing Islam, limited English competency, relations with both Muslim and non-Muslim peers, and religious discrimination at school related to increased distress. Together, these findings suggest the importance of considering both individual and ecological determinants of wellbeing for Muslim adolescents. The findings also suggest the importance of looking more carefully at the sample, context, and time when the data were collected before making generalizations within or across cultural and/or religious groups.

Relative Privilege, Risk, and Sense of Community: Understanding Latinx Immigrants’ Empowerment and Resilience Processes Across the United States

“…This experience may depend on immigrants' cultural orientations (e.g., Su arez-Orozco & Su arez-Orozco, 2001) and personal, social, economic, and language resources (e.g., Erwin, 2003). Intersecting characteristics associated with relative privilege-race/ethnicity, age, indigeneity, gender, (dis)ability, religion, nationality, sexuality, and immigration status-also shape experiences (e.g., Cisneros, 2018;C ordova & Cervantes, 2010;Oberoi & Trickett, 2018). Latinx immigrants' reception experiences diverge sharply from European immigrants, with the majority of Latinx immigrants reporting discrimination in many aspects of their daily lives (Lopez et al, 2018).…”

Inside‐Out: Representational Ethics and Diverse Communities

“…As a researcher, I study adaptation of immigrant and refugee youth, particularly their school lives. Five years ago, I decided to study the experiences of Muslim adolescents in public high schools in Chicago and surrounding suburbs (Oberoi & Trickett, ). As a community psychologist, a first‐generation immigrant, and a mother of a turbaned Sikh boy, I wanted to understand what school was like for adolescents caught at the cross section of religion as a way of life and a negative sociopolitical spotlight because of their religious identification as Muslims.…”