Pathways to Positive Development for Muslim Immigration Youth in Western Contexts

Published 2012. Contact: Jaimee Stuart

Overview

Muslim youth growing up in Western contexts face a complex set of issues as a result of meeting the various, and often incongruent, expectations placed upon them by their family, religion, ethnic community and host national society. This group of young people is often thought to face high risks of maladaptation, as they potentially experience the negative effects of acculturation more so than host nationals or other immigrant youth.

Recent research, however, has suggested that many Muslim migrant young people are successfully negotiating their experiences of cultural transition in Western societies. Therefore, the major aim of this research was to obtain systematic data on young Muslim migrant’s “pathways to positive development”, or how these young people achieve successful adaptation in the face of adversity.

Outcome

The findings of this research contributes novel perspectives to acculturation and development research as well as cross-cultural psychology more generally.

Using multiple methods in the study of psychological phenomena enables a move beyond traditional descriptions of acculturation processes as situated predominantly within one cultural setting, and advances our understanding of how Muslim youth fare in a global context.

Read the full research "Pathways to Positive Development for Muslim Immigration Youth in Western Contexts" here.