Haji Molana, Hanieh., Ph.D., August. 2020 Geography

Home , Cultural geography, Iranian Americans, Iranian diaspora, Little Pakistan, Tehrangeles

HAJI MOLANA, HANIEH., PH.D., AUGUST. 2020 GEOGRAPHY

EVERYDAY NARRATIVES OF IRANIAN WOMEN ON BELONGING IN THE UNITED

STATES (108 PP.)

Dissertation Advisor: David Kaplan

The acculturation process and psychological aspects of cultural change and adaptation have become the center of diaspora and immigration scholarship over the past decades. The goal of this piece is to amplify the voices of female immigrants who have experienced both cultural and physical separation from their home country. Specifically, assessing the ways in which the acculturation process in a host society has impacted their psychological health and well-being.

The primary focus of this study is on the two factors of gender and ethnic enclave, to answer the research questions: 1) How does gender play a role in encountering and adopting new socio- cultural values? 2) How does the existence of an established ethnic enclave and living among people with similar ethnic backgrounds in a host society affect the acculturation process and the psychological aspects of it? Data was collected through an in-depth interview method called collective biography, executed with seventeen Iranian women in Los Angeles, CA and

Cleveland, OH. The research findings allow for a new way to approach the acculturation studies; precisely, an evaluation of the levels of importance of factors such as gender, existence of ethnic enclave, current political climate, religion, family support and marital status. The overall findings will be beneficial in expanding acculturation theory and highlighting the important role of gender and women’s issues in studying immigrants’ post-migration. Future policy-making institutions and organizations that study immigration will benefit from the knowledge of potential risks to the personal and social lives of their subjects after migration.

VOICES OF ACCULTURATION:

EVERYDAY NARRATIVES OF IRANIAN WOMEN ON BELONGING IN THE

UNITED STATES

A dissertation submitted

To Kent State University in partial

Fulfillment of the requirements for the

Degree in Doctoral of Philosophy

Hanieh Haji Molana

August 2020

Except for previously published materials

Dissertation written by

Hanieh Haji Molana

B.A., University of Tehran, 2014

M.A., Kent State University, 2016

Ph.D., Kent State University, 2020

Approved by

Dr. David Kaplan ______, Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee

Dr. James Tyner ______, Members, Doctoral Dissertation Committee

Dr. V. Kelly Turner ______

Dr. Richard Adams ______

Dr. John Updegraff ______

Accepted by

Dr. Scott C. Sheridan ______, Chair, Department of Geography

Dr. Mandy Munro-Stasiuk ______, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………...…………………………………………………iv

LIST OF FIGURES…………….……….………………………………………………….……vi

LIST OF TABLES………………...…….………………………………………………………vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………….…………………….………………….……………viii

CHAPTERS:

I. INTRODUCTION………...……..…..………………………..………………………1

Background of the study ……………………………………………...………………1

Significance of the study ……………………………………………………………...4

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE…….………….…………………..……………………5

Acculturation and cultural adaptation…………………………………………………5

Acculturation strategies ……………………………………………………………....9

Berry’s model …………………………………………………………………….9

Nishida’s cultural schema theory……………………….………………………..10

Acculturation and psychological level ………………………….……..…………….12

Factors affecting the degree of acculturation ………………………………………..16

Connecting gender to acculturation process……………………………...………….18

Connecting ethnic enclaves and ethnic identity to acculturation process ……….…..21

III. IRANIAN IMMIGRANTS AND DIASPORA IN THE U.S………………………..25

History of Iranian diaspora ………………………………………………………….25

Iranian ethnic enclave in Los Angeles, CA …………………………..……………..34

Iranian ethnic enclave in Northeast, OH …………………………………………….37

IV. RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE ………….…………………………..40

iv Collecting data ……………………………………….………………………..…….40

Interviews …………………………………………………………………..………..41

Interview analysis …………………………………………………….……………..43

Limitations and strengths ……………………………………………………………45

Ethical considerations ……………………………………………………...………..47

V. LOS ANGELES, CA ……………..…………………………………………………49

Narratives ……………………………………………………………………………49

Leaving behind life in Iran …………………………………………………...….49

Searching for a balance in the U.S.: Adapting to American culture …………….52

Cultivating and abandoning the cultural pieces ………..………………………..55

Summary of key findings ……………………………………………………………58

VI. CLEVELAND AREA, OH ……………………………………...…………………..62

Narratives ……………………………………………………………………………62

Reasons behind migration and life in the U.S. …………………………………..62

How do you describe your experience so far? …………………………………..66

Do you feel like you belong here? ………………………………………………69

Summary of key findings ……………………………………………………………74

VII. CONCLUSION AND FINAL DISCUSSION ………………………………………78

Key findings ………………………………………………...……………………….78

Dimension 1: Gender, acculturation process and acculturative stress ………………79

Dimension 2: Ethnic enclave, acculturation and acculturative stress ……….………82

Final thoughts ……………………………………………………………………….85

REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………….87

v LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Relationship among terms associated with cross-cultural adaptation ……………...….8

Figure 3.1: Reports on International Educational Exchange is a comprehensive information resource on international students …………………………………………………….……..…..38

Figure 5.1: Factors affecting the acculturation process in Los Angeles, CA …...………………61

Figure 6.1: Factors affecting the acculturation process in Cleveland, OH ……………….……..77

vi LIST OF TABLES

4.1. Interview questions …………………………………………………………………………42

4.2. Participants information ……….………………..…………………………………………..44

vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. David Kaplan, for providing guidance and feedback throughout this research project. I would also like to thank my husband, for putting up with me being in the office for hours and giving me all his love and support. Finally, kudos to all the women who participated in this research. Without their bravery and participation this study would not have been possible.

viii

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the study

The United States has the largest number of immigrants in the world. Today, over 44 million foreign born individuals live in the U.S., making up about 13.6% of the total population.

51.7% of immigrants in the U.S. identify as female, with a median age of 44 (Pew Research

Center, 2017). Based on the most recent data, 1.8 million of the immigrants hail from the Middle

East region (consisting of Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon,

Yemen, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Turkey, Syria and Israel/Palestine). There is no accurate number of Iranian immigrants, but according to a 2016 study, it is estimated that

210,405 of the total number of immigrants from the Middle East were born in Iran (Malek,

2019).

The cultural depictions of Iranians and Middle Easterners in Western society has often been colored by orientalism and xenophobia. People from this area of the world are sometimes perceived as posing a threat to the Western values. Such notions have led to increasing levels of marginality from the rest of society. As a result it can negatively affect migrants’ feelings of belonging and membership in U.S. society (Mahdavi, 2006; Sadeghi, 2016). The research of

Mobasher (2012) on Iranians living in Texas has described the double pressure on Iranian immigrants in American society; one characterized by exile and loss of homeland, and secondarily experiencing rejection, humiliation and loss of cultural pride in the U.S. On the contrary, the study of Mostofi (2003) described that discrimination faced by Iranians in the U.S.

1 may encourage them to move toward incorporating American ideologies and cultural norms. In the long run they become more fully connected and integrated to the mainstream society.

These immigrants have crossed cultural and political boundaries to find a home in a new society. They often face complex challenges in navigating novel cultural norms in an unfamiliar environment. This process of learning and acclimating to a new culture is described as acculturation. The psychological challenges accompanying the adaptation process is called acculturative stress (Abouguendia & Noels, 2001; Kim, 2001; Berry, 2003). There is a foundational conflict over how stress effects psychological health and acculturation process. The research of Bhunga (2003) indicated that the stress negatively affects the acculturation process.

In other words, when individuals experience trauma and severe stress they go through a harder time in adjusting to the host society. As a result, they feel marginalized and alienated. On the contrary, the research of Kim (2001) has found the acculturative stress is positively correlated with learning, growth and the. acculturative process; it provides an individual with the impetus to involve themselves in the host society and build a more complete feeling of belonging and membership.

As demonstrated above, the vast number of studies on acculturation endeavor to understand the complexity of the post-migration life and its psychological effect on individuals.

This research breaks down the components that affect the post-migration experience. The two main factors of ethnic enclave and gender are used to delve deeper into individuals’ post- migration experience and the psychological challenges following their journey. Most studies of acculturation are focused on a few marginalized ethnic communities, broadly composed of

Hispanic and Asian newcomers (George et al., 2017; Romero & Watson 2017). Most immigrants in these studies are represented as sharing similar reasons for migrating: suffering from

2 socioeconomic problems in their homeland and looking for better job opportunities in a host society. However, immigrants from Middle Eastern countries often migrate to the United States due to political and religious persecution and look for a level of personal freedom that they do not have in their homeland. These migrants and their motives are often omitted from the current literature.

In bringing forth. the stories of Iranian women’s journeys to the U.S., this study first expands the scope of acculturation studies to include the uniqueness in the individual’s journey; second, it begins to grow a platform for marginalized voices to be heard and recognized. The two cities of Cleveland, OH, and Los Angeles, CA, and their environs are being used as case studies.

The reason behind this selection is the number of Iranian-born residents in each region; Los

Angeles is home to the largest Iranian ethnic community in the United States, while Cleveland is not usually a destination for Iranian immigrants. The total number of seventeen interviews was conducted in both cities. Appendix A shows the interview questions and the pre-interview questionnaire (such as age, occupation, marital status, education, etc.). As I explain more in depth in chapters three and four, the participants in both places are women who migrated to the

U.S. after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The interviews took place through a qualitative method called “collective biography.” This method allowed me to spend additional time with participants in order to capture the complexity of their post-migration and the push and pull factors contributing to their migration motives. Collective biography values forms of knowledge that are often dismissed as so-called one-off situations, personal or subjective experiences, or emotional reactions of individuals (Gonick 2011, Davis & Gannon, 2006). Being subjective in capturing individuals’ journey lent me an opportunity to explore the affective experiences of

3 individuals in various places: feeling out-of-place socially, legally, culturally and institutionally

(Haug et al., 1999; Hawkins, Al-Hindi, Moss & Kern, 2006).

In order to understand the intersection of gender and the ethnic enclave on immigrants’ cultural adaptation process, this research raises three specific questions:

1) How does gender play a role in encountering and adopting new socio-cultural values?

2) How does the existence of an established ethnic enclave and living among people with similar ethnic backgrounds in a host society affect the acculturation process and the psychological aspects of it?

1.2. Significance of the study

This research will be beneficial in both broad and narrow senses. In the broader context, it will expand acculturation theory and inform the important roles of ethnic enclaves and gender in researching the post-migration experience. In addition, it contributes to academic debates on the mental health of displaced people. Future policy-making institutions and organizations that study immigration and health outcomes will benefit from the knowledge of potential risks to the personal and social lives of marginalized and displaced individuals. Specifically, the current political climate in a host society¾debates on gender inequality, the Muslim travel ban and

Islamophobia¾can change ones’ self-perception and self-esteem. I aim to discover how Iranian female immigrants see themselves in a society, as a minority, not only based on their gender, but also on their religion, values and cultural background. The political situation in the United States has changed at a rapid pace in recent years, and Americans’ overall perception of Iran and

Iranians is at a critical juncture. This research will open up new avenues in acculturation and psychological acculturation studies by taking into the consideration the fluid political climate.

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1. Acculturation and cultural adaptation

The term acculturation is concerned with “culture,” which is a difficult concept to define

(Kroeber & Kluckhohn, 1952; Olmedo, 1979). Acculturation stems from cultural changes involving learning, developing and adjusting to a new culture that is different from one’s original cultural background. The history of acculturation stretches back to the 19th and 20th centuries.

Redfield, Linton and Herskovits (1936) initially proposed the concept of acculturation. They defined it as a “collection of various cultures when groups of individuals with different cultures and values come into continuous firsthand contact with each other that result in future changes in either or both groups of individuals.” The key part of the definition is continuous, first-hand contact resulting in a long-term coexistence with individuals with different cultural backgrounds.

However, the definition began to shift as it got more attention among social scientists. The Social

Science Research Council (1954) revised the concept of acculturation. They defined it as a complete "change" and "adaptation" to one's tradition and cultural orientation in the process of adopting new values as a result of exposure to a new cultural setting.

Since a majority of social scientists were actively involved in studying acculturation, they voiced their disagreement with the traditional viewpoint. From a cultural studies standpoint, acculturation is not a linear process. Its bipolar context deliberates the ethno-cultural background of the individuals and the cultural context of the receiving society, and it can be experienced differently, or not fully, if the elements of the dominant or host culture have not quite been adopted (Miyares, 1997; Kaplan & Chacko, 2015). It might take several generations to totally

5 adopt the contributing values and become completely acculturated. In this case, "assimilation" takes place (Gordon, 1964; Suarez-Orozco, 2001; Trimble, 2003). Berry (1997) defined assimilation as one of the four approaches an individual uses to cope with acculturation. Based on his definition, assimilation has two situations: First, a person decides to completely ignore their original cultural background and identity and shape a new identity based on the dominant culture of the host society. Second, the host society expects foreigners to change their culture and values completely and wholly adopt the lifestyle of the larger national community.

Based on the narratives mentioned above and the uncertainty in defining the acculturation concept, researchers have developed a cohesive explanation. First, Kim (2002) described the concept of acculturation as an adopted concept to clarify the vagueness in studies that deal with

“those phenomena which result when groups of individuals have different cultures and come into the first-hand contact with subsequent changes in the original pattern of either of both groups.”

Second, Celenk and Van de Vijer (2011) see the definition of acculturation as “the process of cultural change that occurs when individuals from different cultural backgrounds come into prolonged, continuous, first-hand contact with each other.”

Berry’s (2003) theory on acculturation distinguishes the two scales of individual-level and group-level as a result of the “continuous first-hand contact.” The individual-level refers to values, attitudes, beliefs, and identification; the group level refers to broader social and cultural systems (Berry, 2003). There are two constructs here. First, individuals differ in the way they experience cultural change and the context in which they interact with external culture, even for those who live in the same acculturative domain. Second, individuals’ interactions and behaviors vary in various cultural contexts. The term “psychological acculturation” addresses the behavioral changes an individual undergoes as a result of being in contact with other cultures or

6 participating in the acculturation that one's cultural or ethnic group is experiencing. Coping with cultural changes for immigrants can lead to acceptance of new cultural values and ease the psychological difficulties (Berry, 2003). Kim’s studies (2002) offered more in-depth analysis of the individual level in acculturation process; individuals who have had a primary socialization in their original culture and find themselves in an unfamiliar cultural environment fell more dependent on the host environment for meeting personal and social needs, and more engaged in first-hand contact and communication with that environment (Gudykunst & Mody, 2002; Kim,

2002).

The term acculturation sometimes is being used synonymously with cultural adaptation, although Berry and Sabatier (2011) considered cultural adaption as one of the consequences of acculturation. Figure 1 shows the distinction between concepts that are interchangeably being used with acculturation. This figure helps to clarify the focus of this study and the connection between each term. In a different research, Kim (2006) explained the cross-cultural adaptation as a continues interaction and involvement with a host cultural environment, which is mostly used in studying children immigrants. In other words, it occurs during the process of childhood enculturation into a developed feeling of membership in a given cultural community (Kim,

2006). When individuals enter an unfamiliar culture, they undergo some degree of cultural learning, for instance, food habits and festival celebrations. In some cases, this process of enculturation may deviate the everyday practices of newcomers from their original culture (Kim,

2006).

Figure 1 shows, the concepts of deculturation, acculturation, and assimilation are categorized into cross-cultural adaptation. Deculturation (or unlearning) is a result of minimal interaction between the residents of an ethnic community with those outside the community.

7 What makes assimilation different from deculturation, is the fact that if an immigrant individual accepts the mainstream’s cultural norms and change his/her lifestyle only based on the host society is considered assimilation. Therefore, assimilation is the highest degree of deculturation and acculturation among immigrants in a host society (Figure 1; Kim 2001). However, it is crucial to point out that the level of adaptation varies among individuals, which may cause stress and anxiety in facing and forming new cultural habits (Kim, 2001).

Figure 2.1: Relationship among terms associated with cross-cultural adaptation

After defining the process of acculturation and understanding the overall viewpoint, the next step is explaining the concept of acculturation strategies. In order to exhibit everyday interaction and intercultural encounters, it is crucial to explain the distinction between attitude and behavior (Berry, 1997). There is a body of literature in social psychology discipline in defining and distinguishing the difference between these two concepts. But, attitude is what one believes in inside and prefer to follow or seek. However, the behavior is what one exhibits and shows by interaction with people in a society (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1977). Behavior can be in contrast with attitude. People have this ability to change their behavior in different social settings or situations, but changing attitudes (such as norms, values, and beliefs) takes a long time to 8 change or adjust. Nonetheless, researchers found a positive correlation between acculturation, behavior, and attitude (Snyder & Tanke, 1976; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1977).

2.2. Acculturation strategies

In early studies on acculturation, Padilla (1980) emphasized that “the individual’s experiences to role conflicts, interpersonal relationships, and adaptation strategies are essential in our understanding of acculturative change” (p. 2). Therefore, understanding the acculturation process in a strategic and meaningful way plays a vital role in uncovering how individuals building "home" or finding a "refuge" in an unfamiliar environment. The research of Berry

(1997) and Nishida (2005) are the two most prominent theories in studying the ways in which newcomers choose to interact with an unfamiliar host society.

2.2.1. Berry’s model

The acculturation strategies theory states that the level of acculturation for an individual in the host society's cultural environment depends on the ability of the person to cope effectively with stresses that are correlated with the cultural adaptation process (Sam, 2006). Based on

Berry’s acculturation model, the levels of acculturation takes place in the four interrelated ways: integration, separation, marginalization, and assimilation (Berry, 1970; Sam & Berry, 2010). As mentioned before, assimilation to the dominant culture happens when individuals do not want to maintain their own cultural identity or heritage culture and are willing to change their previous cultural perception completely based on the host or dominant culture. As a result, they seek daily interactions with people from a host culture and avoid any connections with any situations that connect them to their cultural background. On the contrary, when individuals are fully willing to maintain their original cultural identity or heritage and being reluctant to accept or understand a host society’s culture, separation results. Furthermore, in some cases, individuals have an

9 interest in maintaining their own cultural identity, but at the same time, accept the culture of the community into which they have migrated. In this situation, integration happens. Finally, individuals occasionally do not put enough effort into maintaining their original cultural identity, yet on the other hand, are not interested in interacting with others from different cultural backgrounds. Consequently, they find themselves in an isolated environment by rejecting both cultures. In this case, marginalization occurs.

In the group-level of acculturation, there are also four ways that acculturation occurs between two culturally different groups: multi-culturalism, melting pot, segregation, and exclusion. The "multi-culturalism" happens when there is a balance between the non-dominant and dominant groups in adopting and adapting to each other's cultural values. Obviously, in a multicultural society, there is a low level of prejudice, discrimination, and a strong level of attachment to the larger community by individuals and groups (Berry & Kalin, 1995). Once assimilation is sought by the dominant group or larger society, it may be defined as a "melting pot." On the other hand, when separation and disengagement are enforced from individuals of the non-dominant group by the dominant group, "segregation" takes place in a larger society.

Finally, "exclusion" in the larger community is a result of marginalization imposed by the dominant group. Prior studies in acculturation and its various scales show that the acculturation process is not a uniform procedure with a predetermined outcome. On the contrary, it may be varied in the contextual factors that a larger society offers to its individuals and groups, or vice versa.

2.2.2. Nishida’s cultural schema theory

Cultural differences among individuals are manifested by both verbal and nonverbal behavior, for instance, gestures, directness, accent, language, eye contact, facial expressions, and

10 touch. As a result, difficulties may emerge when individuals from culturally different backgrounds come into first-hand contact who are governed by different cultural rules (Liu,

Volcic & Gallois, 2011). Berry’s research has been an important asset in advancing acculturation studies. However, his acculturation strategy model is lacking to explain how integration happens when immigrants maintain their own cultural identity while embracing the culture of a host community (Benet-Martinez & Haritatos, 2005).

Nishida (2005) proposed the culture schema theory to fill the gap in Berry’s acculturation strategies model and to understand better how immigrants acquire a sense of “proper” and

“improper” interaction and socialization after migrating to a new society. She defined culture schema theory as an accumulation of one’s prior knowledge or experiences that are formed over the years of living in a home country. As a result, this is being used to guide one’s behavior to interact within familiar social situations (Nishida, 2005). In other words, when a person enters a cultural environment that is familiar to him/her, this stockpile of existing information of appropriate behavior or accepted norms is recovered. As a result, this existed information helps a person to represent knowledge about events, objects, customs, and situations. This pre- acquainted knowledge and experience are called cultural schema (Cohen, Kiss, & Le Voi, 1993;

Nishida, 2005).

On the other hand, when individuals enter an environment that is culturally and socially unfamiliar, they may face uncertainty, anxiety and stress due to the lack of cultural understanding of the new situation. To fill this gap, immigrants go through the “self-regulation stage” to solve cultural ambiguities and merge their home cultural schemas with the new environment. In this stage, immigrants attempt to re-organize their home cultural schema to adapt to a new host society’s cultural norms and stay active in social interactions (Liu, Gallois, &

11 Volcic, 2011; Nishida, 2005). The theory for the cultural schema is classified into eight varieties that individuals use one or multiple of these factors to generate social interactions. Nishida

(2005) called the eight factors' primary social interaction schemas (PSI schemas). These eight schemas including 1) Fact-and-concept schemas, 2) Person schemas, 3) Self-schemas, 4) Role schemas, 5) Context schemas, 6) Procedure schemas, 7) Strategy schemas, and 8) Emotion schemas. All these factors are connected and work together to generate one’s behavior and interaction within a social context. However, when an individual immigrates to a new and culturally unfamiliar society, one or simultaneously multiple of these cultural schemas change based on a host cultural values, and a new set of PSI will shape in the host-cultural environment

(Nishida, 2005).

2.3. Acculturation and psychological level

There is not enough solid foundation on the link between acculturation and the overall mental and physical health among immigrants in a host society. The previous research on the duration of time in the U.S has produced inconstant findings regarding the link between acculturation and mental health outcomes. Consequently, some studies linked acculturation to positive, negative, or even neutral psychological impact on immigrants (Koneru et al., 2007).

One of the factors is the age of an individual at the time of moving to the U.S. For instance, immigrating after the age of 13 is usually associated with lower changes in mood and anxiety in comparison to the U.S. born individuals (Alergria et al., 2008; Breslau, Borges, Hagar, Tancredi,

& Gilman, 2009). Being fully acculturated and culturally adapted to a host society’s cultural norm have been connected to an increase in stress (Buddington, 2002), depression, anxiety and substance abuse (Cuellar et al., 2004; Ramos, 2005; Gfroere & Tan, 2003). On the other hand, this similar level of cultural acceptance and acculturation has also been associated with a

12 decrease in mental health and psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety and stress

(Jang el al., 2005; Lee et al., 2004).

The low level of acculturation and less tendency to cultural adaptation demonstrate a similar challenge regarding the increase in stress and depression (Foss, 2001), on the other hand the research of Thomas and Suris (2004) supported the opposite outcome which is the lower level of anxiety and depression among individuals who have less tendency to adapt a host society’s cultural and social norms and values. Some of the traditional studies on the acculturative process indicate positive changes in individuals’ quality of life due to their participation in community activities and, consequently, people’s strengthened sense of community and social engagement (O’Donnell, Tharp, & Wilson, 1993; Sonn, 2002).

From the traditional viewpoint, the research of Chance (1965) characterized acculturation as being full of negative, disruptive, and stressful events that have an adverse impact on a person's psychological well-being. He titled this change as "acculturation disorganization."

Building on Chance's research on the adverse effects of acculturation on one's psychological, mental health, Berry (1991) developed a definition and proposed it as a two-level phenomenon including "the individual and the group.” He named the individual process of adaption

“psychological acculturation.” Psychological acculturation refers to the changes that individuals experience as a result of being in contact with other cultures, such as changes in identity, behavior, attitudes, and values. The second level of acculturation occurs at the group level. It includes the changes in the social, political, or economic base of a group's organization. It should be noted that to understand acculturation; one is required to study changes occurring at both levels as well as the relationship between these two levels (Berry, 1991).

13 Berry (2006), in his research on stress perspectives in acculturation, emphasized two theoretical frameworks on how groups and individuals manage the process of acculturation. The first one is the "stress, coping and adaptation," and the second one is the "cultural learning" perspective (Berry, 2006). However, these two perspectives are distinct in two types of changes, including changes in cultural and psychological processes that take place easily and without any consequences through a process of cultural learning and adaptation. Another one is the set of changes that generate stress and anxiety for the group and individual. Additionally, cultural learning and adaptation may involve more psychological conflicts, where, for instance, there are opposing values and principles held by members of both dominant and non-dominant groups. In order to reconcile the problematic aspect of acculturation, Berry proposed the concept of

“acculturative stress” (1970).

It has been noted in the literature that the distance or cultural gap between the two cultures influences the psychological impacts negatively. In other words, it increases stress among acculturative individuals (Ward, 2001; Benet-Martinez, 2012). Acculturative stress is a result of reactions that are rooted in intercultural contact and are found to result in a high level of depression, anxiety, and stress. These reactions are linked to the experience of cultural loss and hesitation regarding the ways in which one should get involved as a new member of a host society (Oberg, 1960; Ward, Bochner & Furnham, 2001). For individuals who are new to the host society's culture, facing stress and anxiety in daily interactions is a first signal of the necessity of coping with the new cultural environment in order to achieve long-term adaptation

(Demes & Geeraert, 2015). Most studies on acculturation and acculturative stress speak of negative mental health outcomes, with only a handful of studies evaluating the positive outcomes of this process, such as an increase in life satisfaction. It has been studied that participating in

14 community activities and having general social supports play a critical role in decreasing the risk of psychological symptoms over time (Sirin et al., 2013).

The research of Lobo (2015) indicated the ways in which immigrants may face social anxiety in public spaces. Based on her research, the skin-coloring and facial characteristics make the immigrants¾especially those who are from Central America, Africa, the Middle East, and

Asia¾more visible and vulnerable to encounter and experience racism and discrimination. This race and power relation will consequently create a feeling of discomfort, fear, and frustration among newcomers and migrants (Lobo, 2015; Hashemi et al., 2019). Previous research showed that the acculturative stress has been directly associated with a higher level of depression among

Asian, Arab, Pakistani and Mexican immigrants in the U.S (Cho & Haslam, 2010; Mui & Kang,

2006; Xu & Chi, 2012; Abdulrahim & Baker, 2009; Jibeen & Khalid, 2011; Crockett et al.,

2007; Hovey, 2000; Mejía & McCarthy, 2010; Mena, Padilla, & Maldonado, 1987).

Besides race or facial characteristics of the immigrants, the research Zhang, Druijren &

Strijker (2018) asserted that the ethnic-religious identity of immigrants is an essential factor in the acculturation process in adopting new cultural values and feeling of belonging to a host community. In other words, it can cause either isolation or integration from the host society. The interaction between the predominant religion in a host society and the ethnic group's religion influences how much immigrants engage with non-immigrants (Zhang, Druijren, & Strijker,

2018). Studies demonstrated overwhelming stress among Muslim Iranian-Americans as they submerged themselves in the culture of the U.S., due to pre-existing stereotypes of Muslims. On the other hand, Jewish Iranian-Americans had a relatively easy time in adapting to American culture and participating in American community activities and events (Bozorgmehr, 1992;

Kelley, 1993; Saghafi, Asamen, & Rowe, 2012). Consequently, these differences lead to 15 dissimilar experiences among them after settling in a new community (Curran & Saguy, 2001;

Tausova et al., 2019).

It is crucial to point out that psychological well-being during the post-migration experience can be influenced by environmental changes and personality factors, as well. Yoon,

Lee and Goh’s (2008) study on Korean immigrants’ acculturation process noted that the substantial impact of environmental changes, which resulted in a 45% impact on individuals' mental health. The authors concluded their studies by highlighting the complication in finding a robust indirect or direct association between acculturation and its psychological effect on immigrants in a host society (Yoon, Lee, & Goh, 2008).

2.4. Factors affecting the degree of acculturation

There is a vast spectrum between how either an individual or a group go through the acculturation process and face unfamiliar cultural norms (Nauck, 2008). The cultural adaptation and acculturation process happens in different ways, even among individuals who have the same cultural origin and moved to an equal host society. Previous studies showed that the various factors affecting the experience of acculturation, such as motivation for migrating, individual factors, cultural factors and factors related to the migrant experience (Arends-Tóth, & Van de

Vijver, 2006; Berry, 1997, 2001; Ozgur, & Van de Vijver, 2011). There is a substantial difference between voluntary and involuntary migration that make a crucial impact on immigrants’ psychological well-being. Individuals who go through the forced migration tend to struggle more with settling in to the new environment because of the trauma they have experienced due to involuntary leaving their homeland and forced to resettlement (Keller, 1975).

Berry (1997), in his research on acculturation and the factors influencing this process, suggested

16 a number of individual factors, including age, gender, education, socioeconomic status, cultural distance and personal characteristics on an individual.

One of the factors that are negatively associated with the acculturation process is the age of an immigrant (Berry, 2001, 1997). Previous studies show that the cultural acceptance and integration is smoother among younger adults compared to older parents who join their resettled family (Beiser et al., 1988; Faragallah, Schumm, & Webb, 1997; Tran, 1989). However, there are some challenges for both younger and older adults migrating to a new society. In some cases, adolescents may feel culturally alienated from their parents’ cultural values and experience some degree of pressure and anxiety in making a balance between the host and original cultural beliefs

(Sam, 2006; Tran, 1993). On the other hand, the pressure for adjusting to different social norms, getting familiar with new moral codes and values and learning a new language can lead to stress among older adults Organista, Organista, & Kurasaki, 2003).

Previous research has shown a positive association in the level of education and socioeconomic status with the acculturation process among newcomers (Beiser et al., 1988;

Berry 1997). Berry (1997) has categorized this relationship into three categories: 1) the level of education can lead to the higher socioeconomic status and support network, 2) education is a personal support system itself in improving problem-solving skills and possibly positively affecting cultural adaption, 3) education may familiarize an individual to a host society’s cultural features before migrating. In other words, it is like a pre-acculturation process during education to learn about the language, history, norms and values of other societies and cultures. Studies conducted on Bosnian refugees and Albanian immigrants living in the United States found a close link between the level of education and the choice of separation from the host society.

Those members who were educated and had a previous basic understanding of the language,

17 cultural practices and lifestyle were likely used integrative strategies to adjust to a new life in the

U.S (Dow & Woolley, 2011; Colic-Peisker & Walker, 2003).

The dissimilarity between two cultures¾in in terms of language, religion, political system and ethnic values¾can create a distance between cultures and indicate the need for learning new cultural values. Although, when this gap between the two cultures are large, it may cause a negative attitude and create a more significant cultural conflict among individuals; as a result, it leads to a more inadequate experience in acculturation and unpleasant cultural adaptation (Berry, 1997). Previous studies among Chinese immigrants in Montreal, Canada and

Arab Muslims in France indicate this conflict in a cultural distance (Croucher, 2008; Croucher,

2009a, 2009b). The studies show that ethnic minorities would react to this cultural distance by isolating themselves and their community from the dominant ethnic group. Consequently, they may experience less motivation to become more socially engaged and may internally feel oppressed to linguistically, religiously, politically and culturally adapt to a dominant society

(Croucher, 2006).

In addition to age, education, socioeconomic status and cultural distance, the two factors of ethnic enclave and gender play a more significant role in the ways in which individuals go through the acculturation process and face new cultural values in a host society. Since the main focus of this research is on the two factors of gender and the existence of the ethnic enclave, the following sections have delved more in-depth in understanding their relationship with the acculturation process.

2.5. Connecting gender to acculturation process

The research on migration and gender roles mostly developed around the fundamental questions of: how do male immigrants differ from female immigrants? How is their decision- 18 making process distinct? How do their reasons for migrating vary? And are the consequences of migration different among men and women? The literature mainly indicates the differences in motives and reasons among men and women to migrate. Consequently, these differences lead to dissimilar experiences among them after settling in a new community (Curran & Saguy, 2001).

Statistics imply a noticeable influence on the quality of life for immigrant women from two different perspectives. First, this situation gives them opportunities to focus on their family and seek a better experience in a new community, as well as to have a new support system to improve not only their personal lives but all the members of the family. On the other hand, the distress and difficulties they may face as a woman in a host culture¾especially for those who are not from Western nations¾will lead them to encounter various emotional challenges in order to be successful and adjust themselves or adopt a new community's norms and values (Pedraza,

1991; Anderson, 1987; The US Fact Sheet of Migration, 2012).

Many women, especially those from non-Western societies, usually lack the language and skills necessary to secure well-paying, prestigious jobs and it may contribute to a drastic shift in women's lifestyle and life satisfaction. Previous research has also posited that women's distress and emotional difficulties in migration reinforce the distress in their everyday lives and make it hard for them to motivate themselves to adapt to the new lifestyle in a Western nation

(Ng & Ramirez, 1981). The research of Anderson (1987) has supported the notion that women immigrants undergo more hardship and distress than men. One of the reasons supporting this claim is the dependency of women on men to migrate, which limits their activities and roles in society. In addition, it impacts their private lives and induces more stress and lower self-esteem among them (Pedraza, 1991). Although, in evaluating the gender role in migration and consequences of acculturation on psychological health, there is subtle point that a limited number 19 of researchers pay attention to, which is the freedom; breaking the traditional roles and patterns of dependence and declaring a new-found freedom in both their private and public role in a host society.

Diner (1983), in his research on Irish women immigrants, looked at freedom as a quite beneficial experience for women. They see migration as a more successful experience or opportunity comparing to their homeland. Usually, women find their ambition and passion after migration when they face more freedom in a host society. They became educated earlier and with more passion, and for the most part, they "Americanized" more easily and in a more thoughtful way. In support of this claim, Foner (1985) evaluated the ways in which Jamaican women experience freedom comparing to men in London. She argued that usually, women see it as a positive event in their lives to break traditional rules and old patterns.

However, this positive experience of having more freedom can change based on the past events of immigrants' lives in their homeland. Patricia (1984), in studying immigrants, noted that when women were initially working in the household and decided to work outside the home after migrating to the U.S., they would transform into active members of society. Therefore, in some cases, their self-esteem becomes stronger and their capacity to participate as an equal in household decision making becomes enhanced. However, based on the research of Anderson (1987), this positive post-migration outcome varies based on factors such as language proficiency, age, education, marital status, and socioeconomic status.

Another study on Iranian-American women’s acculturation process, Rashidian (2013), discussed that for many Iranian women who are adopting the host society's cultural values, the stress and fear do not come from marginalization from their social, ethnic community. However, it emerges from their perception of self. In many Muslim societies, women are used to displaying

20 the cultural values of a society, for example, in terms of forced hijab or being Khanoum (a lady) in public, which can be internalized in women’s minds. This could lead them to self-monitor when they left the physical boundaries of their home culture (Rashidian et al., 2013). Living with this mindset and migrating to a new society that does not dictate how to behave can create the internal self-doubt, stress, and tensions in perceiving themselves as a new member of society.

2.6. Connecting ethnic enclaves and ethnic identity to acculturation process

A majority of the research on acculturation usually does not consider the role of “ethnic enclaves” in the processes of psychological acculturation and adapting to a host culture. An ethnic enclave is where the culture is familiar for the immigrant. It creates space for a safe community or haven that reduces the initial stressors¾or cultural shock¾of the immigrants in the host society. It gives immigrants greater control in adopting a new culture and incorporates them into their culture. As a result, the ethnic enclave marginalizes them and places them into a separate community that has a different dominant culture than the host community.

The ethnic concentration of immigrants or clustering of culturally similar people can either positively or negatively influence their identity formation and adjustment as a new member in the host society. On the positive note, it advances social capital, provides the familiarity with shared cultural values¾such as in language, food and customs¾as well as benefits the shared knowledge regarding the opportunities or way of life among members

(Kaplan, 2018). However, this concentration may create a lack of access to larger society's resources, which leads to economic deprivation or violence and disharmony as a result of being self-segregated (Kaplan, 2018). Miller and Birman’s (2010) research looked at the link between neighborhood, community, and acculturation among former Soviet immigrant women in the

United States. Their findings showed the key role of the ethnic enclave in the process of 21 acculturation and adaptation experiences: the less diverse community led to a lower American behavioral acculturation (Americanization). In their words, "both American identity and behavior were positively associated with diverse immigrant concentration."

“Alienation” is also directly related to the experience of acculturation and the demographic characteristics of an ethnic community. Its level varies by the immigrants’ age,

English language proficiency, time in the United States, and neighborhood cultural diversity

(Birman et al., 2010). The literature shows when people migrate in older ages, they exhibit less of a tendency to learn the host country's language; consequently, they feel less connected to the host society or isolated. This phenomenon can also change based on the geographic boundaries of the neighborhood. In other words, the accessibility and opportunities they have within or outside of their community to cultural activities, mainstream culture, and chances to interact with more members of the dominant society will make them feel a better fit for a bicultural environment (Miller et al., 2010).

Physical segregation and alienation from the rest of society prompt negative consequences for immigrants in changing their lives and the process of adopting new values; these conditions include having limited access to health and educational services, and urban public services. These lead to limited employment opportunities, uncertain socioeconomic status, and, consequently, serious health problems (Williams, 2001). On this matter, immigrants' speed and their degree of adjustment and acculturation also rely upon the geographic context in which they live.

During the nineteenth century, the two cities of New York and Los Angeles were on top of the list of migrant destinations to the United States. New York today is a product of immigration. It still is highly populated by significant groups of immigrants with distinct areas of

22 urban development¾for instance, Italian Bensonhurst in Brooklyn or Chinatown, Los Angeles was settled primarily by second and third-generation Americans. Back in 1990, Long Beach in

Los Angeles County was home to eight immigrant ethnic communities. The number is still growing and spreading to suburbs and giving birth to even more ethnic neighborhoods (Logan,

Zhang, & Alba, 2002).

“Diversity” makes a community grow faster, creates more ethnic employment opportunities, and connects the members to a larger society. Today, some ethnic neighborhoods have an international reputation and they shaped their own identity despite the identity of the city itself. For example, specific districts of Los Angeles, “are so heavily identified with Armenians that when prospective emigrants in Armenia or Iran are asked about their destination, they may answer ‘Hollywood’ or ‘Glendale,’ respectively instead of America” (Bozorgmehr & Sabagh,

1991). The geographic concentration allows immigrants to maintain their original cultural values and at the same time, reside in a new society while adjusting themselves to new norms and values. However, Funkhouser’s (2000) research indicated that, as integration and acculturation increase, the tendency to stay within an ethnic concentration decreases. They feel the need to get more engaged with the host society and expand their networks and skills outside of the primary enclave (Funkhouser, 2000).

One of the factors that make the immigrants question their belonging and ethnic identity stems from the acculturation¾which is primarily influenced by changes in individuals’ values and beliefs after migration to a new society (Schwartz, Montogomery, & Briones, 2006). The level of established ethnic identity is higher among the immigrants who belong to a minority ethnic group in comparison to members of the ethnic majority (Gong, 2007; Hsiao & Witting,

2009; Chao & Otsuki-Clutter, 2011). The research of Berry, Phinney and Sam (2006) indicated 23 that growing up in a host society after migrating in younger ages, complicate the process of identity formation (Berry, Phinney, & Sam, 2006). Additional research findings suggested that the correlation between acculturation and ethnic identity may result differently among different populations under various circumstances. The tendency in cultural ordination and forming the ethnic identity is primarily influenced by the environment, more precisely by the ethnic diversity within a host society and public policies affecting their interaction and cultural integration

(Vedder, Sam, & Liebkind, 2007).

A positive and established sense of ethnic identity among new immigrants can also act as a form of the moderator to decrease acculturative stress and depression (Iturbide et al., 2009).

However, there is still a gap in the literature in showing the ways an integrated bicultural identity may correlate positively with acculturative stress and fostering psychological well-being.

According to the research of Ponterotto et al. (2007), individuals who have a diverse cultural background and coming from a multicultural society, are more flexible and active in approaching unfamiliar social situations and less emotionally struggle going through the post migration’s stress and anxiety. It is essential to mention that one of the most vital parts of the ethnic identity formation is the ways in which the worldview has been shaped and passed from one generation to another (Arnett, 2003). For younger adults living within a culturally diverse social context, the development of multicultural identity occurs through the interaction between family traditions and socialization with peers (Arnett, 2003).

CHAPTER THREE

IRANIAN IMMIGRANTS AND DIASPORA IN THE U.S.

3.1. History of Iranian diaspora

The first wave of Iranian immigration to the United States dates back between 1842 and

1903 with only 130 Iranians known (Bozorgmehr & Douglas, 2011). Before the first major wave of Iranian immigration to the U.S. in 1950, the number was significantly low that the United states’ immigration statistics did not record a separate category for Iranian-born individuals

(Bozorgmehr & Douglas, 2011). Between 1950 and mid 1970s, while Iran was benefiting from the oil revenues and economic and military support from the United States, the country went through a reform in order to modernize industry, production and administration (Bozorgmehr &

Douglas, 2011). The demand for achieving higher levels of academic education began to increase and many young people started to seek education outside of Iran due to training purposes. In the meantime, American universities started to offer exchange student with Iranian institutions. Consequently, the number of Iranian visitors and students increased considerably.

By 1979, before the Islamic Revolution, a total number of 51,310 Iranian students were studying in the U.S (Hakimzadeh, 2006; Modarres, 1998). As a result, it created a cultural foundation, economic basis and social network for the larger scale of migration from Iran to the U.S in the following years.

The second wave of migration and growth of Iranian diaspora dates back after the Islamic

Revolution in 1979 and the subsequent eight-year War with Iraq (1980-1988). During this time, a large number of Iranians have spread around various continents. There is no accurate number of

Iranians living outside of Iran which is due to inconsistency in census counts over years and

25 undocumented asylum-seekers waiting for their status to be determined. However, based on the estimates of scholars over years of working on the population of Iranians in the global diaspora, their number exceeds over four million (Vahabi, 2012; Malek, 2019). North America and Europe are the two most popular destination among Iranian immigrants. In 2015, the US Census

Bureau’s American Community Survey estimated the Iranian-American population is around

500,000, however based on other figures and studies, the population exceeds 1 million in the U.S

(Bozorgmehr, 2011). Canada after the United States is the home to a sizable Iranian population.

Based on the 2016 census data, 210,405 Iranian origin individuals spread around the country.

Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden respectively reside 148,750 (in 2011), 84,735 (in

2011) and 77,386 (in 2018) Iranian-born residents (Statistics Canada Catalogue; Sadeghi, 2015;

Malek, 2019).

The wave of migration during the 1980s was different from those that had gone years earlier. This group was no longer primarily comprised of skilled professionals or students seeking training; most planned to return to Iran. Most were religious and ethnic minorities or families associated with the Shah regime. For instance, members of the military, government and religious minority groups such as Jews, Christians, Baha’is and Sunni Muslims formed the largest among diaspora living in exile (Mobasher, 2013). Based on the research of Bozorgmehr and Sabagh (1998) this wave of immigrants were also more economically diverse, and majority came from lower educational background comparing to other immigrants at that time (except for

Cuban and Vietnamese immigrants). Their survey demonstrated that the Iranians who moved to the U.S, especially in Los Angeles, CA after the 1979 Islamic revolution, classified themselves as immigrants (57 percent), on the other hand those who arrived after the revolution identify themselves as political refugees who live in exile (43 percent).

26 One of the events in 1980 that significantly impacted Iranian immigration to the United

States was the hostage crisis. The occupation of American Embassy in Tehran created a considerable anti-Iranian backlash across the United Sates and resulted in the extreme political tension between the two governments (Mobasher, 2016). During this 444 days that 52 American were held in Embassy, many Americans protestors burned an Iranian flag and carries signs saying, “Deport Iranians,” “Send in Marines,” “Death to Khomeini,” “Bomb Iran” and “Go

Home Dumb Iranian.” During this time, the hate crime, discrimination and prejudice against

Iranians increased dramatically, especially on college campuses and universities.

For instance, in Greenville, SC, Iranian students were voted to be barred from classes and

State universities such as Louisiana and New Mexica refused to enroll Iranian students (Rubin,

1980). And Mississippi passed a law to double the tuition for Iranian students (Rubin, 1980).

News media, television and local radio programs openly expressed anger and hostility toward

Iranian and encouraging them to boycott Iranian-owned businesses. 20,000 and 30,000 people signed a petition called; “Iranian Eviction Petition” for deportation of Iranian students and

Iranian military personnel and end the financial aid for Iranian students (Houston Post, 1979). By

President Jimmy Carter’s order, on November 1979, Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued new regulations that giving all the Iranian in the U.S. a month to report their location and visa status (Mobasher, 2016). All the students were interviewed individually by Immigration and

Naturalization Service (INS) officer and were asked to provide documents on their school location. After the first round of interviews with INS authorities, some students with visa violations face deportation and the United States government revoked the visas of all non- immigrants and suspended issuing new visas to Iranian citizens (Ansari, 1988). During this

27 period, 56,700 Iranian students deported and some of them applied for the political asylum visa and stayed in the U.S (Mobasher, 2006).

Prior to the hostage in 1979, during the Pahlavi regime, Iran and the United States had a close economic, political and cultural tie. Iran was viewed as one of the closest U.S allies in the

Middle East region under the Shah’s power (Mobasher, 2016). The hostage crisis during the

Islamic Revolution, painted a new negative and hostile image of not only Iran and Iranians, but also Islam and Muslims in general. For example, according to a Gallup Poll in 1976 (2 years prior to the Islamic Revolution) 37 percent of Americans gave Iran a low rating, however a decade after the Islamic Revolution, a new poll showed that the 91 percent of Americans consider Iran and Iranians an enemy and unfriendly country (Gallup, 1989; Gallup, 1979). In a different poll, when the participants were asked to say the first word comes to their mind when they think about hostage and the events after the Islamic Revolution, words like Khomeini, oil, anger, trouble, troublesome country and the Shah were mentioned (Gerges, 1997).

Moreover, the news media and the way they would represent the Middle East region was biased and hostile. Edward Said’s book (1979) “the Iran story” spoke about the orientalist perspective toward the Iranian people, culture, region and values and the ways and which the continuous TV news channels misrepresentation, adds up to the negative public perception.

Based on the research of Ahmed and Matthes (2016) after September 11, Muslims have been treated as outsiders who are a threat to national culture (Ahmed & Matthes, 2016; Hussain, 2007;

Ciftci, 2012; Wike & Grim, 2010). The two events of the Gulf war and Gaza war in 1991 in the

American news media continued the misrepresentation of Muslims and people from the Middle

East region by demonstrating them and their culture as hostile, threatening and inferior

(Marzano, 2011; Muscati, 2002). As a result, this trend significantly created an Islamophobic

28 culture not only among Americans but it was also observed in Europe as well (Ogan, et al.,

2013).

After the hostage, another event that affected the Iranian immigration to the U.S. and created a wave of discrimination against Iranians was the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, even though Iranians did not play any parts in the terrorist attacks. In 2002, president George

Bush called Iran, Iraq and Korea as part of the “axis of evil” and emphasized on the countries’ history in supporting terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction. Soon after his speech, the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act of 2002 was established (Bakalian &

Bozorgmehr, 2009). The section 306 of this new law forbids issuing the non-immigrants visas to individuals who were a citizen of a country that considered a “state sponsor of terrorism” by the

U.S. Department of State. As a result, the number of immigrants and refugees during this time decreased dramatically and only 2,971 refugees admitted to the U.S. in 2002 (Bakalian &

Bozorgmehr, 2009).

Based on The Pew Research Center (2006) five years after the September 11 attack, the result of a public poll showed that 27 percent of Americans considered Iran the greatest danger to the country and China (20 percent), Iraq (17 percent), North Korea (11 percent) and Al Qaeda (4 percent) following that (The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 2006). During this time, many Iranians experienced a deportation, harassment in public or at the airports and unequal treatment at work or universities (Payvand’s Iran news, 2003). According to the

Executive Director of The National Iranian Americans (NIAC) in 2004, her office in Washington

DC received at least five cases of harassments and discrimination against Iranians a day. With an increase in treating Iranians unequally and continues abuse and harassment toward their nationality and religion, the U.S. Representative Marty Meehan sponsored the U.S. House

29 Resolution 367, condemning any discrimination against Iranian Americans (Pacific News

Service, 2004). Due to continues misrepresentation of Iranians and mistreatment of Iranian

Americans, the large organized protests took place in Los Angeles in order to condemn such treatments. According to CNN, approximately 2000 Iranians actively participated in this protest by carrying signs saying “Detain terrorists, not innocent immigrants’ and “What is next?

Concentration camps?” and continued peacefully outside of the federal building.

What makes the hostage crisis considerably different from the September 11 attack was the gap between Iranian-American generations. During the hostage crisis, the first-generation of

Iranian-Americans submitted to the sanctions and all the restriction followed the crisis that directly affected their lives in the U.S. However, the young second generation of Iranian-

Americans during the September 11, 2001 attack, openly opposed the immigration sanctions and actively condemned the harassments and prejudices that targeted Muslim groups and Iranians

(Mobasher, 2016). Although, all the sanctions on Iran and Iranians remained in place and unchallenged for years. Based on the Mobasher (2016) they are several justifications that made the Iranians during the hostage crisis submissive toward anti-Iranian waves and harassments; 1) the sharp division between Iranians was influenced by the recent political events in Iran during the Revolution that created a united voice among them both inside and outside of Iran. 2)

Majority of the people who were living in the U.S during the hostage crisis were immigrants or students with a temporary student visa, which lend them no power to defend their rights like

Iranian American citizens. 3) also, this group of Iranians did not have enough knowledge on the political and social structure of the host culture. As a result, silence and submission was the safest spot for them. 4) On top of the political situation, many Iranians were still facing stressful

30 cultural adjustment to the host culture and finding their social status in a new society (Mobasher,

2016).

Since 2001 various political and social organizations have been established to defend and inform the Iranian immigrants their rights in a society. Some examples of these non-profit organizations around the U.S including Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC),

Iranian American Bar Association (IABA), National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and

Persian Watch Center. The second generation of Iranian Americans are mostly the founders of these non-profit organizations. On the other hand, it was a wave that encouraged the work of scholars in geographic scholarship to pay more in-depth attention to the work on Muslim immigrants who are from the Middle East region, especially from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. As well as including the work of Muslim scholars and their perspective to a larger academic research and scholarship (Ahmed & Matthes, 2016).

The U.S. is no longer a leading country to resettle the refugees and immigrants in the world. This decline in admitting the refugees and immigrants to the U.S coincides with the highest number of refugees worldwide since World War II (Pew Research Center, 2019). The

U.S president every fall sets a maximum number of refugees allowed to enter the country, for instance in 2017 (between Oct 2016 to Sept 2017) approximately 53,700 refugees entered the

U.S. Although, since the election of Donald Trump this number dropped at 22,500 in 2018,

30,000 in 2019 and based on new passed policies, recently Trump has set a ceiling of 18,000 refugees for 2020. The most recent political event that directly affected Iranians’ immigration to the U.S. is the “Muslim ban” or “Travel ban” soon after the election of Donald Trump in 2016.

In other words, this executive order affects both immigrants and non-immigrants entering the

U.S. and cuts the refugee and immigration admissions from the six countries of Syria, Iran,

31 Venezuela, Yemen, Libya and Somalia (Schmidt, 2019; PAAIA, 2018; Rose-Redwood & Rose-

Redwood, 2017). Since 2016, the number of refugee and asylum seekers decreased from 110,000 to 30,000 (DOS-PRM, 2019), which is considered the lowest ceiling for admitting immigrants since 1980 (ibid.).

International students are one of the first groups that they life in the U.S. is being directly affected by the “Travel ban” (Rose-Redwood & Rose-Redwood, 2017). Based on the data from

Institute of International Education in 2019, during 2018-2019 the total number of international students studying in the American institutions were 1,095,299 which constitute about 5.5 percent of higher education population. China and India represent the largest share of international students in the U.S. Among the countries that are impacted by the recent travel ban, only Iran was among the top 13 places of origin for international students in the U.S which over 12,142

Iranian students enrolled across the U.S (Institute of International Education, 2019). The recent impact of travel ban on the international students’ enrollment is not clear, but the emotional distress and fear especially among Muslim students is critical. The fear and concern that if they leave the U.S. to attend a conference and do fieldwork in another country, they will not be able to re-enter the U.S (Chrincile of Higher Education, 2017). On the other hand, due to the harsh sanctions against Iranians, transferring money from or to the U.S is restricted. In some cases, most of the U.S banks do not allow Iranians who are not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to open a bank account (Koirala & Eshghavi, 2017). As a result, many international students from

Iran feel “trapped” in the U.S. and considering withdrawing from school, due to limitation with traveling abroad either for the family visit or conducting research (Blumenstyk, Najabadi &

Brown, 2017).

32 Iranian citizens both inside of Iran and in the U.S. are the first victims of this long hostility and opposition between the two governments. This conflict led not only to social, economic and political injustice, but also threaten the basic human rights and lack of liberty among Iranian immigrants (Blumenstyk, Najabadi & Brown, 2017). The biased portrayal of immigrants from the Middle Eastern region, especially Iran, alongside of the harsh U.S policies against Iranians have led them to experience marginalization in the U.S. As a result, this “forced” marginalization adversely influenced their ability to feel belong to the American culture and experience the feeling of membership in the country (Mahdavi, 2006). Middle Eastern immigrants and Iranians are historically considered White in terms of racial classification, however the ways and which they are being treated in the U.S. does not correspond with their racial classification (Maghbouleh, 2014; Tehranian, 2008). Since the hostage crisis and the

Islamic Revolution in 1979 the Iranian immigrants’ lives are constantly being stigmatized and marginalized due to their nationality and the Iranian origin (Sadeghi, 2016).

Previously researchers indicated that the experience of trauma and psychological challenges is higher among the first-generation of Iranian immigrants and refugees in the U.S. comparing to the second-generation and more recent immigrants (Sangalang & Vang, 2016).

According to the research of Tummala-Nara (2007) the previous political events such as

September 11 and hostage crisis created obstacles for this population to fully adjust and adopt a host society’s culture, on top on constant discrimination and public harassments toward their nationality and religion. As a result, based on Darnell (2002), they maintained their cultural ties, traditions, cultural values and language and have a harder and more stressful time experiencing the acculturation process. The research of Hormozi, Miller and Banford (2018) indicated that among the recent first-generation Iranian refugees in Los Angeles, the recent political events

33 after 2016 created a negative image of Iranian immigrants. As a result, it influences their mental and emotional well-being and their effort to understand a new culture.

The research of Paige et al. (2015) discussed the ways in which the gender and religious affiliation of Iranian-American men and women affect the harassments they face in public. Based on Paige et al. (2015) findings, Muslim men are the victim of more prejudices and stereotypes than Muslim women. Although, both groups constantly tackle with the stereotypes that targets their identity and being. Muslim Iranian-American women are being perceived as quiet, covered, sexually conservative and oppressed and Muslim men are ant-west, suspicious and good at bargaining. The factors of skin color and Iranian accent showed a correlation with how they are being perceived in American society; those who had a lighter skin tone faced less direct prejudices than darker skin individuals. To general public, a Muslim woman with a lighter skin tone would appear more European and will place them in an “assimilated” group of immigrants.

On the other hand, those with an Iranian accent were experienced more prejudices in public. The fact that someone’s social experience and perception is tied to factors such as skin color, accent, gender and religious affiliation create a feeling of alienation and marginalization (Paige, Hatfield

& Liang, 2015).

3.2. Iranian ethnic enclave in Los Angeles, CA

The largest concentration of Iranian in the U.S and outside of Iran is located in Sothern

California. Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian ethnic enclave, specifically in Beverly

Hills (Los Angeles County) and Irvine (Orange County) have the largest Iranian community

(Paige, 2014). Based on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reports on immigration

(1960-2012) approximately 500,000 Iranian Americans live in the U.S. and approximately

450,000 Iranian immigrants were admitted to U.S. from 1979 to 2012 (though based on the U.S.

34 Census and the Department of Homeland Security, it is unclear how many of them are females).

As it was mentioned earlier, the main reason for this extreme sudden migration from Iran was the

Islamic Revolution of 1979, resulting in the fear of harassment among religious minorities, especially Jews. The Islamic government authorities practiced anti-Semitism and forced many

Jewish families to leave their homeland. It was recorded that the number of Jewish families in

Iran prior to the Islamic Revolution was about 80,000. However, this population has since shrunk to between 5,000 and 8,000 families (Melamed, 2019; Mitchell, 1990). According to the activists and the Iranian American Jewish Foundation (IAJF) approximately 40,000 Jewish Iranian-

Americans live in Los Angeles, and mostly concentrated in Beverly Hills (Melamed, 2019; Geis,

2007).

Over the past four decades (since 1979) after the second wave of Iranian migration to the

U.S., Los Angeles allowed Iranian diaspora to rebuild their community outside of Iran, by bringing their customs, rituals, traditions, foods and cultural values (Rahimi, 2019). Due to this high concentration, many restaurants, stores and services are concentrated mostly on a two-mile stretch of Westwood Boulevard where is also home to Persian Square (Rahimi, 2019). Also,

Iranians in Los Angeles has named the city Tehrangeles which is the combination of Iran’s capital, Tehran with Los Angeles. What gives Tehrangeles a strong sense of belonging is the fact that regardless of one’s age and language proficiency, one would be able to interact with people in native language, find Persian restaurant, music stores, markets and services. In some cases, find a job in a local shop. Majority of this established community in the Westwood Boulevard were created for Iranian diaspora who flew the Revolution and escape the Islamic government’s restrictions and persecutions (Bozorgmenhr, 2018).

35 This concentration of Iranians in Southern California has brought the Iranian community a political power; the Iranian mayor of Beverly hills, Jamshid (Jimmy) Delshad took over the office two terms during 2007-2008 and 2010-2011 (Paige, 2014). The diversity of the region has been brought up by various academic and news media outlets. For instance, The Los Angeles

Times described Southern California as a center of diversity and where different cultures and communities come together and create one large community with members from different ethnic and racial groups. Los Angeles and Orange Country are also extensively diverse in terms of political viewpoint among Iranians. According to the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian

Americans (2008) about one out of eight Iranian immigrants in the U.S identify as Republican; one out of two classify as Democrat, and one of four identify as independent. In terms of the geographic region, Orange County tends to lean more toward the conservative beliefs, on the other hand, Los Angeles County, over the past decades, has been a home to the largest democratic party in Southern California.

Iranian-Americans in Southern California, specifically in Los Angeles County have diverse religious backgrounds and may represent different belief systems from one another. This population may identify as Shi’a, Sunni and Sufi branches of Islam, Baha’i, Christians, Jews,

Mandeans, Yarsanis or Zoroastrians. However, some are atheists regardless of their religious background (Paige, Hatfield & Liang, 2015). Based on the Ghavami and Peplau (2013) research on undergraduate Iranian-American students in Southern California University, majority of the participants (both men and women) have experience stereotypes and the way they are being viewed; such as being anti-west, suspicious, quiet and conservative, as well as women being oppressed, covered and family oriented with many children (Ghavami & Peplau, 2013). As a result, it biased perspectives places them in a position to be alienated from the mainstream

36 culture and experience post-traumatic stress and anxiety facing hate crimes and public disapproval (Clay, 2011; Britto, 2008). According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report in 2016, anti-Muslim and hate crime against Middle Eastern increased dramatically and exceed 2001 level. In 2001, after the September 11 attack, they were 93 cases of assault against

Muslims reported to the FBI, however in 2016 the reported cases reached 127 and marked the highest number since 2000 until 2016.

3.3. Iranian ethnic enclave in Northeast Ohio

Following California the metropolitan areas of New York/New Jersey/Connecticut and

Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia have the next largest concentrations of both foreign-born and native-born Iranians. Based on the research of Bozorgmehr and Ketcham (2018) each of the mentioned regions contains between 7.9% and 11.7% of the Iranian population. The distribution of Iranian immigrants does not follow a precise pattern. For instance, comparing to other popular destinations, Northeast Ohio is not usually a destination for many Iranian immigrants.

A majority of the Iranian-born population in Northeast Ohio settled in this area for educational purposes, at institutions such as Cleveland State University, Kent State University,

University of Akron and Case Western Reserve University. This population is fairly mobile.

After graduating and searching for careers, they usually move to other states within the country or, in some cases, back in Iran. The recent Executive order in 2017 designed to ban entry to the

U.S. from the countries of Iran, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Venezuela, Yemen and North Korea, negatively affected the population of international students around the U.S. The Travel ban was accompanied by economic sanctions and totally halted the direct transfer of money from or to

Iran. According to the Open Doors: Reports on International Education Exchange (Figure 5),

37 the number of Iranian students enrolling American universities has declined since 2017. The following figure shows the enrollment trend of Iranian students in the U.S. since 1997/98 until

2018/19. Based on this report, the recent admission dropped about 5 percentage since 2017/18 academic year.

Figure 3.1: Reports on International Educational Exchange is a comprehensive information resource on international students (source: Open Doors, 2019)

There is a lack of updated data and reliable resources on the population and distribution of Iranian immigrants in Northeast Ohio and the Cleveland area. Although, based on the City

Data in 2011, approximately 11,000 Iranian Americans were distributed around the Cleveland area. In the immediate suburbs of Cleveland there are considerable numbers of Iranian residents, such as Pepper Pike with 6,040, Mayfield Heights with 3,423 and Hunting Valley with 735 residents (City Data 2011). On national Persian events such as Nowruz (Persian New Year) and

Yalda Night, Iranians from different neighborhoods and cities in Ohio get together to celebrate their culture and traditions in the larger cities of Cleveland and Columbus. However, there are no specific neighborhoods or areas (like Westwood, CA) that are widely known as Iranian enclaves

38 in Ohio, spaces to construct their own unique community outside of these calendrical events or cultural celebrations.

CHAPTER FOUR

RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE

4.1. Collecting data

A qualitative approach called collective biography was chosen to explore the role of gender and ethnic enclave in the ways in which Iranian female immigrants psychologically react to cultural adaptation and identity adjustment. This approach was originally developed by feminist sociologist Frigga Haug and her colleagues in Germany during 1980s. The aim of this approach is to collect individuals’ embedded experiences and recall the subjected memories

(Davies & Gannon, 2006). Through recalling memories and experiences, researchers are able to uncover the effects of systematic and structural inequality; it allows them to understand wider social forces and power relations that play a role in shaping and constructing subjective viewpoints (Hawkins, et al., 2016). Collective biography is concerned with studying the ways in which individuals construct themselves in relation to others (Haug et al. 1999, p. 52). The predominant types of collective biography and life writing are autobiography and autoethnography. They are powerful tools that uncover hidden and embedded layers of individual experiences by focusing fully on a single subject (Moss, 2013). Using individuals’ personal stories as a main source of knowledge production creates an accurate depiction of dense networks of relations through which subjects form. In other words, this method draws on individuals’ reflections of their own experiences and focuses on how significant memories constitute identities and how individuals construct themselves in relation to the world (Hawkins et al., 2006; Haug et al., 1999).

40 In collective biography, a researcher generates data by recording a set of memories from the interviews with individuals as well as their own observation from interacting with subjects.

The number of shared stories and memories may vary, although at least four people need to be involved (Hawkins, et al., 2016). It is necessary to make an effort to help the subjects recall the sensation, feelings and details of being in that situation, in order to record a thick description of a memory. This mode of data collection probes the affective experiences of females in various places and contributes to an understanding of feelings of displacement: socially, culturally and institutionally (Hawkins et al., 2006; Haug et al., 1999). Conducting individual interviews – even simply spending time with them – permitted me to uncover the motivations behind their post- immigration experiences and better comprehend the psychological aspect of displacement

(Valentine, 1997).

4.2. Interviews

I conducted the interviews as an Iranian female who speaks both Farsi (Persian) and

English fluently, which facilitated strong levels of trust between the interviewee and myself. The interviews were collected from the total of seventeen Iranian-American women at mutually convenient locations in the city of Los Angeles, CA and Cleveland, OH. Each meeting, depending on the depth of shared stories, took from an hour to four hours. In order to capture the participants’ feelings and emotions in recalling immigration memories and the accompanying emotions, some interviews needed to be conducted for a second time. Table 4.1 shows the interview questions that were critical in eliciting thick descriptions of the migration experience.

The interviews started with the question of “looking back at your life events, migrating from Iran to the U.S and your life in both Iran and in the U.S., how do you perceive and describe yourself as an Iranian-American woman?” 41

Table 4.1. Interview questions

Interview Questions

1 How do you describe your migration experience?

2 What challenges and hardships did you face after migration?

What did contribute more to your challenges? (i.e., children, marital status, family support, language 3 barriers, employment issues, gender and cultural differences) How did you cope with your situation? Did you seek any support system? (e.g., ethnic community 4 and family member) Do you have any personal negative experience in encountering the American culture? (e.g., 5 discrimination and insult) How does your gender, as a female immigrant, contribute to your cultural orientation in the U.S? 6 (Does it make the adaptation easier or more challenging for you?)

7 Do you feel you belong to America and American/Western culture?

8 Have you ever regretted migrating to the U.S?

9 How would you describe your current social environment?

10 How do you feel about expressing your cultural background and values in public?

In your work place, have you felt your coworkers treat you differently because of immigration status 11 or cultural background?

12 Have you lied in interacting with people about your nationality or cultural background?

13 How often do you participate Persian in cultural events?

14 Do you think it is important to preserve national identity and Iranian/Persian cultural characteristics?

15 Is it important for you to establish and maintain relationship with citizens of Iranian origin?

42 Pseudonyms were given to all the participants. Each interview was audio recorded for later in-depth analysis and both Farsi and English were used to narrate stories. However, all the participants had an opportunity to refuse recording while sharing their personal stories and had a chance to withdraw from participating in the research. A few women were interviewed two times in order to get to the saturation point where no new data was produced (Guest, et. at., 2006). In order to keep confidentiality, I was the only person who had access to the recorded tapes for transcribing the interviews. Table 4.2 lists the participants’ demographic information in both case studies (participants 1-8 live in Los Angeles and 8-17 in Cleveland area).

All the women migrated to the U.S. after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and had experience the initial cultural understanding and various stages of acculturation. Those in Los

Angeles area were more established and diverse in terms of religious practices than ones in

Cleveland area. Two of the participants in Los Angeles identified as Jewish and non in Cleveland area. The majority of these women in Cleveland area were formerly visiting international students and relocated to Ohio over time, due to employment opportunities.

4.3. Interview analysis

Acculturation is a broad term; breaking it down into individual components that directly affect this process helped to improve the analysis’s accuracy and transparency. The two steps of transcription, coding and interpretation were the main post-interview process in analyzing the gathered data (Hay, 2005; Rose, 2016). The two main themes of gender and ethnic community in acculturation process were used to categorize and classify interviews in two broad themes. Each theme had sub-themes that helped to improve the analysis accuracy. For example, the sub- themes below gender included: marital status, reasons to migrate, occupation (socioeconomic status), age and education. The sub-themes for ethnic enclave are: religion, length of migration

43 and existence of family members or relatives. However, here is an overlap between some of the

sub-themes, for example the age of the participants and their level of education can be included

in both themes’ analysis. In order to deeply capture the participants’ embodied experiences and

transfer the emotions of the individuals, the quotes and statements directly used from the in-

depth interviews and analysis followed by analysis of each quote. Analyzing the gathered data in

Cleveland area differed slightly from Los Angeles interviews. As someone who has been living

in Northeast Ohio, there is an added dialogue between the researcher and the participants’ shared

emotions on living abroad away from immediate families. The dialogue mainly stemmed from

the similarities and differences in our experiences living in this current political climate both in

the U.S. and Iran, being women of color and the connection to the greater Iranian community.

Table 4.2. Participants information

Marital Migration College English Pseudonyms Age Religion SES Employment status year degree Fluency

1 Bahar 35 Married 2008 M MC Y Designer 10 Dental office 2 Farnoosh 37 Divorced 2007 M LMC Y 8 manager 3 Maryam 54 Divorced 1988 J LMC N Hairstylist 7 Sales 4 Lili 48 Divorced 1997 M MC N 8 associate Sales 5 Shabnam 55 Divorced 1989 J MC N 5 associate 6 Buda 55 Single 1979 M MC Y Baker 10

1995-2000 2013-2014 7 Goli 34 Single M LMC Y Banker 10 2015- present

8 Shahrzad 35 Single 2015 M LMC Y Unemployed 7

44 Table 4.2. Participants information (continued)

9 Elena 30 Single 2013 M LMC Y Student 9

10 Saba 36 Married 2014 M MC Y Data Analyst 8-9

11 Mahya 29 Single 2012 M MC Y Architect 10

12 Shima 30 Married 2013 M MC Y Designer 9

13 Sevda 34 Married 2016 M LMC Y Student 6

14 Tara 41 Married 2013 M MC Y Translator 10 Electrical 15 Pegah 29 Married 2013 M MC Y 7-8 Engineer 16 Maral 38 Married 2006 M UMC Y Doctor 10 College 17 Melika 35 Single 2009 M UMC Y 9-10 Professor

Notes: UMC = upper-middle class; MC= middle class; LMC= lower-middle class; M= Muslim; J= Jewish; The participants’ self-evaluated English fluency= scale from 1 (less fluent) to 10 (fluent); Y= Yes; N= No.

4.4. Limitations and strengths

Conducting the study in Southern California provided access to a large number of Iranian

immigrants, although I still faced a number of limitations. While explaining in detail the study’s

purpose to interviewees and asking them whether they are interested in participating, some were

extremely suspicious of how this information would be utilized. Many asked me if I had any

connections to the Iranian government or if I was relaying my collected data to the current

regime. In some cases, even in the middle the interview, they would pause and voice similar

concerns. Both in Cleveland and Los Angeles many participants refused to be interviewed

entirely, or to answer only some of the questions probing into the reasons behind their migration

and political views. While assuring the participants that all the information will be confidential, I

also made sure they read and signed the consent letter. 45 Another challenge was finding a recent reliable resource on the population and an accurate view of the distribution of Iranians both in Los Angeles and Cleveland. The most recent census data I was able to find was from 2012. In the Cleveland area this issue of finding a recently established Iranian community was especially challenging. As a result, the participants are less diverse, in terms of class, religion and reasons for migration, than those living in Los

Angeles.

The Southern California region is described as a “melting pot” and the region predominantly supports the Democratic Party in elections. The interviews in Los Angeles were conducted following the executive order known as the “Muslim ban” or “Travel ban. Some of the interviewees’ responses were affected by the administration’s actions and policies. Those whose families and relatives were affected by the new immigration ban, showed more frustration and anger. They would explain how the travel ban infringes on their freedom and brings great anxiety and stress. In some cases, the rage and frustration expressed about politics overshadowed discussions meant to be focused specifically on acculturation and psychological challenges.

The number of LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers from Iran has been increasing over the past years. Homosexual and transgender individuals face considerable amount of limitations and social humiliation in their society, especially in finding employment and a supportive health care system. They are alienated not only from the mainstream culture and society, but also within their family group. As a result, they find shelter in countries where they can freely express their sexual orientation and gender identity. However, their acculturation and psychological stress has not been studied widely; the majority of the research on cultural adaptation and acculturative stress is on heterosexual males or females. None of the participants in this research identified as

LGBTQ and interview questions mostly centered on their class, gender and ethnicity.

46 Considering the sexual identities of the individuals might have affected the research direction and outcome.

On a positive note, my familiarity with Farsi and mainstream Iranian cultural and religious values helped the interviews to be smooth and straightforward. It gave me a chance to conduct a number of the interviews in Farsi¾depending on the person’s choice¾and to generally communicate with ease. Although, being from the same culture and country (as an

Iranian woman) I also faced challenges. For instance, I had to detach myself from the topic and the responses. In some situations, I felt sympathetic with numbers of shared stories that also reflected my own experience in going through the acculturation process. In order to build a trust bond with the participants, I shared my journey in migrating to the U.S. and the ups and downs of adopting the host society’s culture. As a researcher, coming from the same background also eliminated the gap between the research and the researcher herself. I was able to share the original idea of this research and how it is rooted in my personal journey in the U.S. as a Muslim

Iranian woman.

Another strength of this research was the method chosen for collecting data. Collecting individuals’ stories and avoiding structured interviews allowed me to capture the feeling of displacement and emotions attached to the experience of living in exile. In some cases, by simply spending time and witnessing individuals in different contexts¾for instance, meeting the individuals both at their workplaces and at neutral locations during leisure time¾I was able to build a trust bond and observe their social interaction with their surroundings, not only with me.

4.5. Ethical considerations

In order to protect interviewees from any adverse consequences and keep their personal information confidential, the research is going to use pseudonyms when mentioning individuals’ 47 responses or quoting the significant part of their interview. Extreme care will be taken to make sure all their personal data will not be available to anyone except the researcher (Black, 2002).

The process of data collection and finding people to interview are completely voluntarily, and there will be no force employed when asking individuals to participate in the research. In recording their interviews, the researcher will first ask their permission as to whether she feels comfortable being recorded; if not, taking notes will be the only way to record the interview information. In addition, the data collection does not include taking pictures or videos of participants. However, some pictures of places where Iranian immigrants interact more might be taken, only to record for the purposes of geographical evidence.

CHAPTER FIVE

LOS ANGELES, CA

5.1. Narratives

5.1.1. Leaving behind life in Iran

All the eight women living in Los Angeles metropolitan area came from upper middle- class or wealthy families in Iran, albeit with different religious backgrounds and beliefs.

Downsizing from the higher class to a lower class after leaving Iran and immigrating to Los

Angeles was the first immediate lifestyle change they experienced. Not being able to speak

English fluently, unfamiliarity with the urban environment and cultural norms left them feeling overwhelmed at the beginning. Some participants got fired from their jobs or school due to lack of fluency in English or discriminated at work because of their nationality or religion. The stress and anxiety combined with low self-confidence, as a newcomer, encouraged them to think of solutions to facilitate their adaptation.

Some of these women looked for shelter in marriages in order to have a support system in their social and living environments. They wanted to be seen and valued as they were experiencing division from the host society. For example, Maryam and Shabnam who are from conservative Jewish families fled Iran when they were in their twenties due to religious restrictions after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. For them, marrying a Jewish man from the same culture and religion became a priority, after a year living in the U.S. They both saw marriage and having a man’s support as a key to achieve all their hopes and dreams in life.

However, as they shared their stories, the struggles and challenges of surviving as an Iranian-

American woman haunted them even in private life.

49 Maryam married an Iranian Jewish man who came to the U.S a few years before her migration. In her husband’s eye, she was expected to behave and communicate with others as a proper Iranian lady (Khanoum): the same person a conservative and traditional society in Iran expected her to be; following the man’s dictates and will. She was not allowed to have non-

Iranian friends. Her husband never supported her to work or allowed her to continue her higher education. Her only role was being a mother at home or a housemaid, as she described. For example, for Shabnam’s husband, who was from a Jewish family liker her, it was important to maintain the cultural identity within the family’s structure. He never let their children date or marry a non-Iranian person or let Shabnam work for American companies. They only watched

Farsi speaking TV channels at home and listened only to Persian songs. As both Maryam and

Shabnam portrayed themselves, they only found their true self, identity and freedom when they got divorced after over 20 years of marriage.

… after my divorce, I found myself acting and behaving like a man who had to work

multiple part-time jobs in order to pay the rent and support my children… He left us

alone without any support… However, the freedom I experienced and the control I

had over my mind, my decisions and my actions was worth all the challenges...

(Maryam – age 54, divorced)

During the past twenty years, women like Shabnam and Maryam never completely felt a transition or adaptation from traditional Iranian culture to the Western/American culture due to not only physical, but emotional limitations that their marriage brought them; the decision in marriage that they hoped would bring them closer to the larger community but left them disappointed. Although now they believe that in order to be member of a host society and come out of the self-isolation, it is important to learn not only about American culture, but all the

50 cultural values that surround them. For instance, Maryam (age 54, divorced) talked about her new friend who is Hispanic and how comfortable she feels interacting with her. She expressed that she is her first non-Iranian friend since her divorce. Knowing that she is also an immigrant and non-native English speaker connect her to the larger community out of her circle and enhances her self-confidence in communicating with non-Iranians.

Other participants, Bahar and Farnoosh both came to the U.S. directly because of marriage. Bahar met her husband online, who is Hispanic-American. They decided to get married shortly after they met online and start their new journey in Los Angeles. “…I was nobody when I came here. I left behind all I had in Iran… my family, my friends and my job.”

This statement is the first sentence Bahar shared with me in her interview when she was asked about her initial self-perception as a young woman in the U.S. Bahar, like all the other participants, mentioned the struggles and challenges behind learning the new language and being able to comfortably communicate, not only with her husband but with other people in her work environment. As she explained, she found her self-confidence bond to her English fluency and not being able to expressed her true self to a larger community. Consequently, this brought her stress, anxiety along with self-doubt. She continued “… I felt defenseless at first when I came here… didn’t know how to express my feelings and emotions…” (Bahar – age 37, married).

For Farnoosh, who had an arranged marriage with her husband who was already a U.S citizen, coming to the new society and not knowing the common culture and language was an internal self-oppression. “… because I wasn’t fluent enough in English, I let my husband to make decisions for my future in what is good for our life together… I left my self-confidence in

Iran…” (Farnoosh – age 37, divorced). She would constantly question her acts and behavior unintentionally and compare herself, her English fluency and familiarity with Wester culture

51 with her relatives who were born and raised in California. Dealing with a pressure of self-doubt and distancing herself from her inner or true identity left her in an ambiguous place in life. Her mental health challenges and depression started when she realized she only wanted to isolate herself from everyone even her husband. “… I felt distanced not only from my own personality and who I was back in Iran, but with my husband and his family…” as she explained later.

All the participants except Goli, who migrated to the U.S. in 2015 through the U.S. Green

Card Lottery, made it very clear that now at this point in their lives they do not want to go back to Iran. However, the challenges and struggles during the first few years, such as learning a new language, lack of familiarity with the host society’s cultural norms and fear in the absence of social support led them to doubt their migration decision and feel disconnected with the new society. At some level, this feeling of hesitation and uncertainty motivated them to search for a balance in their personal and social lifestyle. In other words, they realized that staying marginalized did not satisfy their emotional needs. In the end, Goli choice a different path than the other women.

5.1.2. Searching for a balance in the U.S: Adapting to American culture

While exploring and discovering a new life in a new society, all the women began to observe and compare themselves with other people around them, such as their colleagues at work or friends and family. They had to decide whether they wanted to accept the differences or live in self-isolation away from social norms and pressures to adapt. It was the stage for them to decide what cultural values as an Iranian-American woman they want to keep and, at the same time, adapt from the host society’s cultural values. In other words, coming up with a first step in presenting themselves as an “insider” in a new society. Four out of eight women decided to attend college and earn degrees from American universities. Shahrzad had already a master’s

52 degree from Iran when she migrated to Los Angeles on her own without having any relatives in the United States. However, she was not able to find a full-time job with her degree from an

Iranian institution. In order to find a solution and shape her new life, she attended an Art school in Los Angeles to follow her passion and become an artist.

… I did not have any friends at school… my Art professor made fun of my accent in

front of everyone in class. [tearful] … I felt empty inside and could not believe how

easy someone could take all of my self-confidence in less than a minute… I quit

school after this incident and never tried again… (Shahrzad – age 35, single)

In my interview with her, I noticed her body language changed when she started to share more about her personal feelings. She started looking down and visibly hiding her tears from me.

Shahrzad was not the only participant who addressed the connection between mental health challenges and the process of adjusting to new cultural values. She spoke about how much her accent and lack of fluency in English reminded her that she is an outsider. Participants mentioned their confusion in finding their personal identity had been supplemented with a new label:

Iranian-American woman. This label contains multiple meanings within itself; one might be perceived as an enemy or anti-American. In other words, the battle that all these women were facing was to prove themselves of worth in their adopted home and identify a balance beyond labels and stereotypes that had been affecting their lives negatively. It was a battle on more than one front: many expressed the additional stress of proving themselves thoroughly Iranian in the eyes of their ethnic community.

Lili owed her balance to her family’s support and Iranian community in Los Angeles.

“…my relatives here have a local business and they gave me a job as soon as I arrived. My only struggle was learning a new language…” For many participants like Lili, having a social support

53 and participating in Iranian community activities is the reason that keeps them in this city. “I feel at home in LA” (Buda – age 57, single). All the participants in the research, from the most acculturated ones to the ones who are still trying to adjust, are still connected to Iranian community events and people. One of the interview questions was “have you ever lied about your nationality?” All the participants’ answers were negative. They immediately expressed how proud they are of their culture and heritage. “… even though I hated my life in Iran and living in

Iran, but I love being Iranian. Iran’s government doesn’t define and represent the true cultural values. That’s why I hate Iran [government and political system]” (Farnoosh – age 37, divorced).

What all these women were trying to express, not only to me but to all the non-Iranians, was that the theocracy in Iran does not represent dominant and popular lifestyle and beliefs in the country.

To them, answering negative to that question was an act of resistance to embedded stereotypes that surround them in Western societies.

For Farnoosh, Bahar and Goli, the balance was struck when they started feeling comfortable and confident in their fluency in English. Soon after arriving, they applied for work and started to build their futures and participate more in social activities. However, this was also followed by challenges that negatively affected their self-confidence. In multiple situations they were victims of discrimination and prejudice due to their nationality and lack of familiarity with the work environment.

… my first year here in Los Angeles, I found a part-time job at the hair solon. But

my boss never shared any tips with me and she kept it all… I couldn’t defend myself

because I didn’t know how or what to say. So, I just decided to quit the job and focus

more on my language skills… (Bahar – age 35, married)

54 Stories like the Bahar’s (above paragraph) portray the negative effects on the mental health of an individual. On a positive note, this experience led them to invest more time in enhancing their language skills. On the other hand, the scar of being discriminated stayed with them for a long period of time and unintentionally detached them from the larger community.

Religion was also an important factor for women in finding stability in their lives. The interview analysis emerged that when the women were being asked about their beliefs and religion background, if they were Jewish, they would immediately¾with a sense of pride¾say

Jewish. The two of the women expressed that they some of their immediate relatives moved to

Israel and they regularly stay connected to the community. However, if they were from a Muslim family, they would say Muslim, but clarify themselves by saying “Spiritualist” or explain what

Islam means to them. For many Jewish participants religion was an aspect in making them to feel closer to the American culture and create a closer tie with non-Iranians especially Jewish people in general. In other words, their emotional tie goes beyond a nationality and intersect with a similar religious and belief system. On the other hand, for Muslims, this small shift to “Spiritual” made them feel more connected with the host society and lessened the burden of “Muslim immigrants’ stereotypes” in perceiving them as a threat or danger for a host society. As it was mentioned in chapter three, the Muslim Iranian-American have been facing harsh social and political discriminations since the hostage crisis in 1979 in Tehran.

5.1.3. Cultivating and abandoning the cultural pieces

Cultivating and abandoning the different cultural pieces, both from Iranian and American culture, helped women adjust themselves to Los Angeles. This successful adjustment contributed to their level of self-confidence and accelerated the level of trust in their capacities and abilities 55 as a woman. The transition from an Iranian woman to Iranian-American woman was the most challenging journey for the participants. Most of the women found themselves free from the limitations that cultural boundaries have made for them. These changes facilitated the learning process, which included the desire to abandon their comfort zone and feel the need to enhance their English skills and participate as an active member in the host society.

For many participants, abandoning the comfort zone meant breaking the gender role stereotypes that they grew up believing. This process required the critical insight into the traditional belief of treating women as members of a society which includes being subordinate to her husband’s will, remaining a virgin until marriage, and following parents’ commands in making decisions.

… I met my husband online who is American and we got married when I was 21…

at 22, I came to Los Angeles to live with my husband… my dad never agreed with

my marriage and did not talk to me for 9 years… he always wanted me to stay in

Iran and marry a man who he thinks is a better fit for me… (Bahar – age 36, married)

… when I first came to Los Angeles, I only dated Iranian-American men… they

always treated me as Iranian men back in Iran do… expected me to not change my

beliefs and listen to what they dictate me… I will never want to date or marry an

Iranian-American man again… Now I just want to explore the American culture by

trying to date non-Iranian guys … (Goli – age 34, single)

The new unexpected result emerged from the interview analysis. Regardless of women’s age, religion and marital status, they all showed the desire and openness in adapting a host society’s cultural values and adjusting themselves. They approached the cultural learning as a threshold into a happier life and a better mental health. None of the women intentionally or on

56 purpose moved away from a larger community, although what marginalized them was the ways in which they were being treated by host society’s citizens. Being constantly pointed out and noticed due to their race, accent and nationality had emotionally marginalized them from the rest of the American culture and society.

… when I think about my future life in the U.S., I imagine myself in a different city

other than Los Angeles… I am willing to try to live somewhere else outside of

California to truly understand and adopt the culture… I am a different person now

after living here for over 10 years… (Farnoosh – age 37, divorced)

… I always appreciate being close to so many Iranian people in Los Angeles… I am

very thankful of the social support from my community. But at the same time, living

in Los Angeles never let me to truly experience and understand the American

culture… I can see myself living in a different state in a few years… (Shahrzad – age

35, single)

It is clear from the responses that living in Los Angeles and being close to the Iranian community helped many of the participants reduce feelings of loneliness and homesickness, regardless of participating in Iranian social and cultural events. In other words, they felt secure just knowing that they have access to Iranian cultural practices – restaurants, shops, festivals and more – anytime they felt the need. However, after a few years they entered a stage in the migration experience marked by a readiness to re-learn and adjust to new cultural values and embrace the differences or similarities between the two cultures. For younger women like

Farnoosh (age 37), Bahar (age 35), Shahrzad (age 34) and Goli (age 34), using English terms to express their emotions and feelings were more common than other participants. None of the participants wear the hijab, or head scarf, in public and their religious beliefs tend to be an

57 amalgamation of different religious values with Islam, Christianity and a general, humanistic spirituality. The two following statements are from Farnoosh, who expressed the most how expanding her religious beliefs and finding God in a different setting other than Islam gave her a motivation and self-confidence to interact with local non-Iranian communities. Farnoosh expresses the real need to attach herself to an established spiritual community in order to cement her role in her blended community.

… my first few years here in Los Angeles, I spent a lot of time attending church

services and going to prayer times… but I come from a Muslim family. To me, God

is the same in all the religions and you can find it anywhere you want: a mosque, a

church or a synagogue… (Farnoosh – age 37, divorced)

… I went through a depression phase two or three years after migration. The church

services and having the community to share beliefs and positive energy was the only

thing that helped me to fight against depression and find myself again. My husband

didn’t understand my needs and feelings. Only my church community saved me…

(Farnoosh – age 37, divorced)

5.2. Summary of key findings

The goal of this research was to bring to the fore the importance of women’s stories and narratives in the context of a clash between Iranian and American cultures. The two factors of gender and ethnic enclavization were used in order to uncover the everyday realities behind the acculturation process and migration experience. The intersection of gender, ethnic enclave and acculturation processes opened an avenue through which to appreciate each migration story and their unique features. However, what unified them was the similar struggles and psychological challenges all these women faced. What this research would like to highlight is the importance of

58 placing interviewees’ subjective viewpoints in the center of analysis, comprising gender binaries both in Eastern and Western cultures. An acculturated person’s background, the level of connection and emotional bond with the original home country, marital status and religion are the factors that showed more connection to acculturation process, greater than the length of stay in the United States.

This study showed, the Jewish women automatically felt more connected to the new host society’s culture. Their ethno-religious identity placed them in a position to experience fewer anti-migration discriminations in comparison to Muslim women. On the other hand, for Muslim women altering the name of “Islam” to “Spiritualist” gave them assurance that they could safely share their ethnic and cultural values with members of the host society. This switch in naming their ethno-religious identity provided them a haven to avoid any possible harassment and becoming the victim of discrimination.

There is great spectrum extant in the level of integration among female immigrants.

These differences were varied based on the two factors of age and marital status. Integration and accepting the cultural differences in a host society was smoother among younger adults who married or dated a non-Iranian man. Growing up and spending most of their adult life in the

United States, as well as being involved in both the Iranian and American communities have helped these women to feel more connected to the host society’s social and cultural values. On the other hand, for women like Shabnam and Maryam, whose previous marriages prevented them from contact with non-Iranians, integration is a challenging social experience. This forced isolation from a host society has negatively impacted their feeling of membership and confidence in engaging with a new cultural environment.

59 Among participants, the fear of being marginalized or separated was not mainly due to the host society’s culture. But this marginalization essentially emanated from one’s self- perception among other Iranian peers in the host culture. As it mentioned earlier in the paper, it is rooted in the existence of traditional cultural expectations in perceiving the role of a woman in a society. This research argues that the acculturation process is more complex than it is perceived for Iranian women which makes it a longer process due to the coherent Iranian ethnic community in Los Angeles. The conflicting tendencies of representing Iranian women as members of a separate community and, at the same time, adjusting to the new culture, make acculturation an overwhelming process and creates this clash and resulting psychological stress for women.

However, the factor of marital status makes a difference in a way women are being perceived in the Iranian community. The interview analysis showed, single or divorced women face more judgments in acting “too Western” in a way they dress-up or speak. On the other hand, being married immunized them from traditional expectations as a member of an ethnic community.

The Iranian women’s cultural narratives captured the multidimensionality of the acculturation process and psychological reactions of individuals in each step. It must be noted that when Bahar (age 35, married) said “I was nobody when I came here,” to some extent correlates with other women’s experiences. Many immigrants left Iran during the time of the

Islamic Revolution due to various reasons, such as not having a freedom to practice their religion freely or publicly being harassed because of their political views. Therefore, these people left behind the sense of pride and national identity in Iran. These dramatic, in some cases, forced changes made it more challenging to relocate that abandoned identity and develop in a different country. The role that the ethnic enclave plays in smoothing the psychological aspect of

60 acculturation, to some extent is dynamic depending on the marital status, gender, religion and the age of an individual.

Figure 5.1: Factors affecting the acculturation process in Los Angeles, CA

CHAPTER SIX

CLEVELAND AREA, OH

6.1. Narratives

6.1.1. Reasons behind migration and life in the U.S.

All ten women living in Northeast Ohio moved to the U.S. voluntarily after 2005 in order to continue their education at the graduate level. They all have a college degree working either as a graduate assistant (those who are still a student) at their universities or found full-time employment after graduation. This voluntary migration was not fully detached from the current social and political climate in Iran; factors included the high rate of unemployment, the absence of political freedom, price inflation and the lack of balance between the number of educated individuals and the job opportunities. These are some of the motives that turned their voluntary migration into a socially-motivated displacement.

When eliciting their stories and experiences of living in the U.S., their responses share a unique pattern, which stems from a difficulty in being apart from their immediate family, relatives and close friends back in their hometowns. Some of the participants moved to the U.S. on a student Visa (F-1) and decided to stay after graduating. This type of Visa comes in two forms; multiple entry and single. For some of the participants like Saba, Maryam, Mahya and

Elena who did not get a chance to go back to Iran to visit their family since they moved, the single-entry Visa provided the first challenge of living abroad.

Significantly, the election of Donald Trump in 2016 increased political tensions between the two countries. In January 2017, the newly imposed sanctions and travel restrictions 62 (commonly known as the “travel ban”) targeted Iranian citizens. Many families and individuals were left isolated in the U.S. and apart from their families in Iran. “My biggest source of stress and anxiety was being away from my family… it’s heartbreaking that you won’t be able to make new memories with them… it’s like living in total ignorance…” (Pegah – age 29, married).

Other participants shared the hardship Pegah faced. For instance, Maral (age 38- married) talked about how she found herself completely without emotional support, feeling quite helpless. She told me about how she dealt with depression. “After coming here not only I lost my family, but I lost myself too… I did not know who I am anymore… the hardest part was not being able to tell my parents about this. I did not want them to be worried about me. I always acted like everything is perfect” (Maral – age 38, married).

All the women in this research expressed their frustration with the political tensions between Iran and the U.S. and the ways in which it has affected their emotional and mental wellbeing. Five out of nine of the women faced harassment and microaggressions in public, not always because of their Iranian nationality specifically, but more often due to the fact that they are immigrants or look different from an “American woman.” For instance, when I asked Sevda

(age 34, married) whether she has experienced any mistreatment encountering American culture as an Iranian woman, her answer was negative. Although continuing her answer, she mentioned

“… but most of the time when I express that I miss my family, have been told at least you are safe here. This causes me that I stop express my feelings, because I think they have no idea about the situation in my country. They think I am refugee, who scape a War or something inhumane, not a simple immigrant.” The following are two examples of these encounters that intersect with

Sevda’s experience; first Tara’s story (age 41, married) and second Saba’s (age 36, married) incident with his male neighbor. 63 “…in an airport parking lot, we were told by an African American attendant that we

could park in a specific spot behind the fence, but the police officer approached us and

started snapping at us while saying "in this country you have to park in assigned places

not anywhere you like." When I said that African American guy told us, so he could calm

down a little but kept preaching us for a while…”

“about 2 or 3 years ago I was in the laundry room in my apartment and one of my

neighbors approached me and started a casual conversation. When he noticed my accent,

he asked about my nationality. When I said ‘Iranian,’ he changed completely and raised

his voice while he was using swear words telling me to get out of his country… ‘Iranians

are terrorists’… I was so scared and couldn’t say anything to defend myself…”

The interview with Saba (age 36, married) took the longest among other participants. She talked about her emotions related to being displaced and having less control over life events.

When first she moved to Northeast Ohio for education purposes, being a graduate student required her to treat everything in her life temporarily. “One of my biggest struggles was feeling that everything in my life is always short-term… I felt like I have no home, neither Ohio nor

Tehran. This feeling turned me into a wanderer.” For other participants¾Pegah, Shima and

Maral¾marriage and finding their significant other provided a measure of closure. “Since I got married, I feel like I want to start my own family… Now I feel that my family in Iran is not the only family I have…” (Saba – age 36, married). “Every time I feel homesick and frustrated of being away from my family, I think about my husband. The love between us is my home now…”

(Maral- age 38, married).

64 Except Saba and Sevda, none of the subjects regrets migrating to the U.S. When I asked

Maral (age 38, married) to explain the reasons behind her decision to stay in the U.S. while facing all the challenges and hardships that she expressed in her interview, she said: “I know life here is not easy, but I am sure moving back to Iran and living in this current economic crisis [in

Iran], won’t be easier… My main difficulty here is being away from my loved ones, but living in

Iran has its own social, political and economic struggles…”

Cultural differences, the language barrier and financial struggles are also some of the factors that affect the participants’ self-perceptions, cultural adaptation, integration and everyday experiences of life in the U.S. A pattern emerged from the analysis that in some cases, the participants blamed themselves for difficulties interacting with non-Iranians and facing harassment. In other words, they adjusted some of these negative interactions by telling themselves That happened only because I was not familiar enough with the culture. Maybe it comes from my lack of familiarity with Americans. This pattern is clear in Pegah (age 29, married) and Shima’s (age 28- married) stories when they explained:

“…I was involved in a violent situation with my roommate [who was American]. I was

threatened to be beaten by her and her friends. My roommate was loud and very

outspoken and because I wasn't as familiar as I needed to be with culture and because of

the language barrier, I wasn't able to defend myself. But I don't think it had anything to

do with my nationality…” (Shima – age 28, married).

“Sometimes I feel alienated at work. I am the only person of color and the only female

immigrant in the company. They always made me feel welcomed, but I can’t call them

my friends. We barely have anything in common. I kind of understand where they are

65 coming from. All they know about Iran and the Middle East comes from the media and

news. I sometimes do not blame them for having these biases and keeping their distance

with me…” (Pegah- age 29, married).

6.1.2. How do you describe your experience so far?

Moving to an unfamiliar society presents its own challenges. In the previous section, the participants have shared the reasons and motives behind their immigration. They all had a story to share about various hardships they have faced over time. This part of the analysis depicts the ways in which they found a reliable coping mechanism while undergoing the integration and adaptation process. Besides separation from family and the concomitant difficulties, the analysis illustrated a pattern of hardships stemming from a lack of familiarity with the host society’s cultural norms. Consequently, experiencing a lack of connection and relevance to a new culture, they found themselves isolated, or even alienated, from the rest of a community. Two scenarios occur during this stage; either 1) keep separated and continue the same behavior, or 2) start familiarizing oneself with the host society’s cultural norms and challenge one’s own comfort zone.

Three out of nine of the women framed their experiences going to therapy as a way of coping. Pegah (age 29, married) shared how she met with an Iranian therapist and how helpful it was for her at a critical stage in her life. Especially important was talking with someone who already knew Farsi and had a history navigating American and Iranian cultural spheres. Another participant, Saba (age 36, married), spoke on her lack of a support system in the U.S. Therapy meetings helped her to regain self-confidence and begin absorbing the host society’s cultural

66 norm. She shared stories of therapy appointments during which she worked through each step of dating Iranian or non-Iranian men.

“Since I started dating my current husband a few years ago, who is American, I shared

with my therapist every step of our relationship. I wanted to have some other person’s

opinion who is also American. She thought me about the dating culture in the U.S. and

gave me very good advice that helped me a lot along the way more than anyone…” (Saba

– age 36, married).

On the other hand, as Maral (age 38, married) explained, meeting with a therapist is not always helpful, due to the different cultural backgrounds and language barriers. She explained

“…. I have always struggled with my mental health problems and adjusting to this new life in the

U.S., I knew going to a therapy would be helpful, but I was very shy of my English and my accent… On the other hand, I did not have enough money to pay for an Iranian therapist who had a private business. I waited for years until I felt like I can express my emotions clearly with a therapist at my university health center…” Sevda (age 34, married) who recently migrated to the

U.S. with her husband, and recently became a mother, stated that performing cultural adaptation on top of the already strenuous work of her PhD research feels like an overwhelming task. She rated her English language fluency at 6 out of 10. When I asked her about how she copes with all of the changes in her life, she answered “I don’t ask anyone for help or share my emotions with my advisor… I am focusing on my studies to distract myself from all these…” (Sevda – age 34, married).

Besides going to therapy and talking to advisors to cope with and adjust to a new social environment, five of the participants – Saba (age 36, married), Shima (age 29, married), Mahya

67 (age 29, single), Melika (age 35, single) and Elena (age 30, single) – recounted how being involved in local events and working on their language skills helped them improve their feelings of belonging and membership. “I slowly worked on myself, shared my concerns with my husband, and tried to learn the culture…” (Shima – age 29, married). “Since I started working as a volunteer for the American Red Cross, I found myself more attached. To the community”

(Saba – age 36, married). Also, Mahya (age 29, single) talked about how much she has learned since moving to the U.S. and how all the past pleasant or unpleasant events in her life have made her a person she is today. For Mahya, the main challenge of living in an unfamiliar environment was the formidable language barrier, in addition to separation from her family. However, after living in the U.S. for seven years and getting to know the culture and language, she feels confidence coping with her problems and challenges along the way. “I tried to adapt to the new environment, culture and language by participating in different events and socializing with as many people as possible. The more people I met, the more I learned and the more I understood that the existing differences are not really scary and do not block human communication”

(Mahya – age 29, single).

When I asked the participants whether their gender might have affected their migration journey and cultural adaptation, their responses were negative. The pattern that emerged was characterized by an intersection of their pre-migration life in Iran and the motives behind their relocation. In their responses, four out of nine women compared their past life back in Iran with what they currently have here in the U.S. For instance, Pegah (29, married) explained “it’s not easy being a young woman in Iran… You have no social and political support system, no freedom and independence to make decisions. I couldn’t tolerate this anymore.” Sevda (age 34, married) found a cultural adaptation less challenging in comparison to what she faced back in her 68 homeland: “I think it makes the adaption easier. Because the government in Iran is more patriarchal. So, as a female I feel less challenging to be myself here…” (Sevda – age 34, married). For Tara (Age 41, married) the aspect of women and gender affecting the acculturation process stemmed from contrasting social and cultural expectations for women in Iran and the

U.S.

“It made adaptation very more challenging because of the individualistic culture that I

have come from had different viewpoints on women and I am here because I did not

believe in many of the chauvinistic ones. So, getting to know this big difference and

function under this new ceiling floor was a big challenge” (Tara – age 41, married).

Some of the participants talked about their freedom of choice and freely expressing their personal identity in the U.S. versus what they had faced in Iran. This proved a complicated issue.

Pegah (age 29, married) and Maral (age 38, married) testified to the embedded barriers against women’s free expression of gender identity back in Iran. At the same time, exposure to

American cultural norms discouraged them from openly expressing their cultural identity. They felt safer to hide in plain sight, to shelter themselves from prejudices and misconceptions toward

Iranians and the Middle Easterners in the U.S.

6.1.3. Do you feel like you belong here?

This section of analysis centers on two arguments. The first part focuses on the participants’ current feeling of belonging after living and adapting to the host society’s culture and customs. The second half emphasizes on the individuals’ opinions of the importance of preserving national identity and Iranian cultural characteristics.

69 When they were asked Do you feel you belong to America and American or Western culture? their responses surprisingly followed a similar pattern: they neither felt a part of, nor totally alienated from, the U.S. after years of living here. As Maral (age 38, married) expressed it

“Sadly, even after living here for 14 years, I still feel the void and gap in where the home is. It’s a bittersweet feeling: When I am here, I miss Iran and my hometown. When I am in Iran, I miss my home in Ohio. I still don’t know where I belong.” The interview analysis displayed the three main interrelated factors that resulted in this mixed-belonging among the participants: 1) the current anti-Iranian political climate in the U.S., 2) The embedded institutional and individual racism, stereotypes and biases toward Iranians and Middle Easterners in Western societies, and

3) having their family and relatives still back in Iran. For instance, Melika (age 35, single), who has been living in the U.S. for over eleven years, expressed her confusion as follows:

“…I feel like I know the culture and practices enough to call myself ‘integrated,’ and I

want this place to be my home. But I’ve never got the impression from [American]

people that I am accepted here… I am constantly being treated like a foreigner… this

makes me feel less belonged and integrated, in spite of my own perception…”

Sometimes the alienation felt by subjects was brought to the fore in the context of pop culture, or even banal conversations. When Pegah (age 29, married) was out at a happy hour with colleagues, the TV show The Office came up. After some of her coworkers quoted lines from the program, she was assured, “Oh, you’ve probably never heard of it, it’s such an American thing.”

Pegah had to explain she had seen the entire series. Similarly, Melika (age 35, single) found herself texting her physical therapist during the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020. The professional used the phrase “better safe than sorry,” then explaining further “It’s a slang phrase we have in

70 America.” Melika was taken aback by this. “Obviously, after years of living here I knew what she meant.” She confided that she had experienced many moments like these, in which a common turn of phrase had been pedantically explained to her.

Threats of potential war between Iran and the U.S. in early 2020 often were at the forefront of the interviews. Tara (age 41, married) expressed her emotions as “… when there is a tension between Iran and US, I don't feel like to express my cultural background and values in public. It is a heart feeling to lay low to stay safe.” Shima (age 29, married) and Maral (age 38, married) found themselves acting as ad hoc spokeswomen for Iran, following the assassination of

Iranian general Qassem Soleimani by the U.S. armed forces. Shima fielded questions from coworkers about her family back in Iran and the general political situation. The normally apolitical Shima was faced with a constant Q and A – not entirely hostile, but unremitting nonetheless – which gave her the feeling of being singled out at work. “Considering the current political situation,” she said, “I don't feel safe as an immigrant, especially from Iran. There is still a lot to learn from the American culture and not knowing it makes it feel less like I belong.”

Yet there was a striking contrast between anecdotal evidence and the overall attitudes presented by the women interviewed. While many focused on uncomfortable interactions with neighbors and colleagues in the particular, emphasis was also placed on a generally atmosphere in their host country. When asked, “How would you describe your current social environment?”

Shima (age 29, married) responded “Fun, respectful, dynamic…” Pegah (age 29, married) told me “I feel very welcomed since I started working here. I am the only woman of color in the firm, but they are very warm to me.” At the end, ambivalence characterized most of the interviews.

While the women had experienced significant financial hardship and emotional turmoil, they

71 recognized a certain decent, imperfect human quality in their neighbors. They found themselves subjects even in their daily lives, subjects that garnered hostility and curiosity. They were accommodated as immigrants and mystified as foreigners. As Pegah (age 29, married) put it,

“Many of my colleagues have never left the U.S., much less Ohio. I’m not surprised that they don’t know how to treat an outsider. I guess, it’s not their fault, they grew up this way. In

California, you go to school with immigrants.”

My goal was to wrap up each interview by investigating the participants’ opinions of the importance of preserving national identity and Iranian cultural characteristics. Specifically, I asked them about how often they participate in Persian cultural events as well as the importance of maintaining a relationship with citizens of Iranian origin. Saba (age 36, married), Pegah (age

29, married) and Maral (age 38, married) emphasized the diversity within the Iranian diaspora community, and their difficulty finding a partner with a similar mindset or value set as them.

Saba (age 36, married) told me an unpleasant story of being involved in the Iranian community that led her to keep a distance. She said, “Iranian people think if you are a young Iranian woman, they can make decisions for you and control your each step.” She continued “one time I was out with an Iranian couple and it was during an election time in Iran. Soon after we started talking, we found out we have different political and cultural opinions. After going back and forth for hours and arguing, we all left the restaurant frustrated. That was the last time I saw them.”

Maral (age 38, married) and Saba (age 35, married) both mentioned the backlashes they felt after marrying a non-Iranian man. Saba was asked about her husband’s religion, whether he is Muslim or not and was encouraged to convert him to Islam. From her view, “some people let themselves to break morality’s barriers and get involved in your personal life. This happens only

72 because they are from the same country and they think you are a ‘naïve’ woman who needs constant guidance.” Maral (age 38, married) was also judged by some of her friends as “too

American now, after marrying an American man.” Saba’s and Maral’s hesitance to involve themselves in the Iranian community’s events and cultural gatherings stems from the judgements and discomfort they were subjected to over time.

In my interview with Melika (age 35, single) she felt more comfortable conducting the interview in English. She expressed frustration with being judged and teased by her Iranian friends or coworkers that she is being “fake or not herself anymore.” She continued “I have been living here for over ten years and never went back to Iran since then. Over years, automatically my brain switches to English talking to people instead of Farsi. This makes people to think that I am showing off my good fluency or language skills, which is totally wrong.” Melika’s hijab positioned her to be perceived differently from her Iranian peers—assuming that she is connected to the Islamic regime in Iran. After eight years of living in the U.S., incidents of public harassment led her to take off her head scarf. This decision positioned her in an uncomfortable situation. She felt caught between two opposite currents, labeled and judged but never receiving support.

The experiences of Melika (age 35, single), Saba (age 36, married) and Maral (age 38, married) uncover the intersectional nature of each individuals’ journey. Iranian womanhood does not follow a similar pattern among all the women; each person’s experiences follow a unique journey. For instance, Tara (age 41, married), Shima (age 29, married), Mahya (age 29, single) and Elena (age 30, single) expressed their positive view of being members of the Iranian community and participating in cultural events. Tara and Shima expressed their thoughts as

73 follows: “Any time there is an event that I can make it to, I do” (Tara - age 41, married). “I very often participate in cultural events like Nowruz and Yalda, going to Iranian concerts, hang out with Iranian friends.” (Shima – age 29, married). Especially among those who are married and have children, being part of an Iranian community plays an important role in introducing Persian cultural practices to their children. “Participating in cultural events like Norouz and Yalda Night, going to Iranian concerts, hanging out with Iranian friends is very important, especially it is my priority in raising my kid to get to know the culture and language” (Tara- age 41, married).

It is crucial to note again that due to the relatively small number of Iranians in Northeast

Ohio, community events are naturally limited; not being involved in community activities does not necessarily imply a lack of interest in practicing one’s cultural traditions. Maral (age 38, married) mentioned in her interview that in order to introduce Persian cultural practices to her

American husband, she made a point of traveling to Pittsburgh to participate in Iranian

Community events there.

6.2. Summary of key findings

Collective biography and storytelling were the primary sources of data collection. All the women in this research shared how they have gone through the acculturation process. In other words, explaining how much they have changed since migrating to the U.S. as well as the factors that affected their cultural adaptation, especially in Northeast Ohio. One factor that connects all these women is a similar reason behind their migration, which is due to educational purposes. All the participants identified as Muslim, although with a various range from actively practicing to abandoning the traditional Islamic beliefs. The analysis revealed that the national identity¾being an Iranian¾brought them more emotional and social challenges than their religion. Except,

74 Melika (age 35, single), who used to wear hijab until 2018, expressed her frustration with facing public harassment and biases being a Muslim woman. Besides the cultural differences and language barriers, the current political climate in the U.S. and the recent tensions between the

Iranian regime and the U.S. government added a heavy burden to freely express their national identity. Consequently, it has been damaging individuals’ feeling of belonging, self-confidence and create an impression that they are not welcome in the host society.

The strong family tie is embedded in Iranian culture and tradition. One of the factors that expanded a gap between Iranian immigrants and their cultural adaptation in the U.S. is the travel ban executive order; knowing that they will not be able to travel anytime back to their hometown or bring their families to the U.S. has created a feeling of alienation and frustration among them.

As a result, it negatively affected these immigrants' overall mental health and well-being. For instance, self-isolation and feeling trapped and not appreciate for who they are as an individual in a host society. Meeting with a mental health counselor, improving language skills and participating in social events are some of the coping mechanisms that helped them over time. No one among the participants acknowledged the feeling of belonging to American society and culture. Melika (age 35, single) expressed she wants to make America her forever home. But the way that people treat her differently because of her nationality, cultural background, skin color and English accent adds more distance between her desire and public action.

This research acquired gender and ethnic enclave as the two lenses to evaluate individuals’ acculturation process and psychological well-being in a host society. These women who migrated to the U.S. were in search for freedom to express themselves; the freedom that was missing in their homeland. After moving to the U.S., they found their personal autonomy. But, at

75 the same time, it was replaced with embedded racism, biases and orientalist perspective in a host society that is targeting the Middle Easterns and Iranians. This orientalist public perceptions deeply simplified their existence and limited their freedom to express their subjective being.

Pegah (age 29, married), Saba (age 35, married), Sevda (age 34, married) and Maral (age 38, married) specifically talked about their experiences in answering and encountering microaggressions that were frame as people’s thoughtfulness. For instance, Sevda shared, “most of the time when I express that I miss my family, I have been told, ‘at least you are safe here.’

This causes me that I stop express my feeling…” This simple comment seems thoughtful, but it projected a biased perspective that she was not safe in Iran and now she is safe in the U.S. has a countereffect on individuals’ cultural adaptation.

There is no homogenous Iranian ethnic enclave in Ohio¾unlike Los Angeles, CA. The handful of Iranian organizations in the Cleveland area are relatively successful in bringing

Iranians together during Nowruz (Persian New Year) and Yalda Night. Although, due to dissimilarities on religious values and political climate both in Iran and the U.S., the number of active members in these communities is limited. For all the participants in this research, it is essential to preserve and practice the Iranian cultural traditions and customs. As some of the women in this research mentioned, their first few years of migrating to the U.S., the Iranian community helped them to adjust and find themselves. Although, what they meant by an Iranian community was not a larger non-profit Persian organization; simply by bringing some Iranian students and friends together, they created their small community. As a result, having this support system,¾even small¾have created a source of reliance and trust for Iranian female

76 immigrants to deviate from being alienated and improve their overall well-being and psychological health living in a host society.

Figure 6.1: Factors affecting the acculturation process in Cleveland, OH

CHAPTER SEVEN

CONCLUSION AND FINAL DISCUSSION

7.1. Key findings

This qualitative study was conducted in order to investigate Iranian female immigrants’ acculturation in the U.S. This research sought the perspectives of immigrants to share their initial process of acculturation, particularly from those who migrated¾either voluntary or forced¾ after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The two cities of Los Angeles, CA, and Cleveland, OH, were selected as case studies to understand the possible influence of existing ethnic enclaves and the role of the participants’ gender in the process of acculturation in a host society. In order to better understand the complexity of acculturation and its psychological impact, two dimensions are presented for navigating the whole picture of the experiences among the participants. The two dimensions are: 1) examining the acculturation process and acculturative stress from a gender perspective; 2) investigating the role of the established ethnic enclave in the psychological process of acculturation.

Simply put, the foundational studies have established the definition of acculturation as two groups of individuals from different cultures coming into constant contact with each other, resulting in changes to their original cultural pattern (e.g. Redfield et al., 1936; Kim, 2001). The current study, by supporting previous findings, enhances the extant literature in clarifying and understanding Iranian female immigrants’ experiences in the new cultural environment, focusing especially on the current political tensions between the Iranian and American governments. The

78 overall findings from this research illustrate the range of cultural changes and psychological challenges faced by the participants. The following section highlights and summarizes the various conditions and dimensions stemming from the participants’ cultural adjustment process in greater detail.

7.2. Dimension 1: Gender, acculturation process and acculturative stress

The role of gender norms may not independently generate stress among the female immigrants; but when it intersects with other factors it affects the individuals’ acculturation process and psychological wellbeing in a host society. Acculturative stress was identified in a number of factors in this research, including English language fluency, employment, marital status and political climate. Surprisingly, the age of the participants was found to be a less significant contributor in comparison with acculturative stress and gender role. At the same time, those who were younger generally exhibited better skills in English language fluency during the interview than older adults. This stressor, English language fluency, was one of the first identified. During the interviews, the participants particularly expressed their lack of self- confidence in interacting with their host society’s citizens, especially during the first years following migration. Inadequate language skills significantly amplified the internal stress of these individuals. They found that an inability to express their inner selves and emotions, difficulty making friends and finding employment all stemmed from unfamiliarity with the language, and heightened the participants’ external pressure. Nine out of seventeen of the participants expressed that their lack of English fluency forced them to quit their jobs. Internally, they discovered a growing, indirect anxiety; they perceived that their intelligence was conflated by their English-language skills. As a result, some of the women experienced a period of

79 detachment during their first years of immigration, marked by alienation and a lack of social support from their host communities.

Employment and establishing a stable income was identified as a second stressor among the participants. Some of the women moved to the U.S. after finishing their higher education in

Iran. Twelve out of seventeen of the participants expressed that not holding a degree from an

American institution was the main reason that their skills were overlooked while hunting for a stable job. As a result, they were forced to either get another degree (with its concomitant expense of time and money) or to accept jobs that were not in line with their education and expectations. Downsizing from a higher-middle class socioeconomic position in Iran to a relatively lower-middle class in the U.S. impacted their self-confidence and mental health with bringing anxiety to their everyday decision making. For some of the participants, coming from a country with a dramatically different religious atmosphere, as well as foreign cultural values and language skills, placed them in a vulnerable position. They felt marginalized from the host society’s accepted norms and routines. It was in the workplace where they felt the cultural distance the most. Five of the women interviewed testified to the feeling of constant anxiety when they were the only person of color speaking English with an accent at work. Four of the participants shared feelings of frustration when their clients would assume they have less expertise and knowledge comparing to native-born employees.

The third major identified stressor is the current political climate in the U.S., the result of the long-lasting acrimony between the two nations. This stretches all the way back from the hostage crisis in 1979 to the administrations evolving “travel bans” and increasing economic sanctions targeting Iranians after the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and most recently (in early 2020) the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian major general. The participants

80 expressed the feeling of being “unwelcome” and “marginalized” from the rest of society; they felt intentionally subjected to political censure due to matters beyond their personal control.

Some of the women shared their fears of being discriminated against and targeted on social media. Their anxieties were political in nature, due to the ways in which the Trump administration fueled discrimination against Muslims and Middle Easterners. Nine of the women spoke to the direct experience of discrimination due to their national identity and religious values. For example, Goli and Melika expressed their feelings of discomfort upon finding themselves engaged in tense political discussions with coworkers. In her story, Maral disclosed that she finally felt it necessary to abandon her hijab after being targeted in public constantly during the 2016 election and the subsequent tensions between the Iranian and American governments. She expressed that she often did not feel safe walking around in public; she discarded her hijab in order to lessen the inner stress and anxiety.

The fourth identified stressor originated in family support and marital status. This study did not find a direct correlation between being a single woman and experiencing more hardship and stress. However, six out of seventeen of the participants expressed that being married helped them to build a social support system and that they felt less emotionally distanced from their family back in Iran. Those who were married to non-Iranian men felt more attached and adjusted to American culture, while still retaining the ability to express their Iranian cultural values. For all of these women, teaching their children about Iranian heritage, language and culture was a priority. Repeatedly during the interviews the participants mentioned that besides the language barrier and financial situation, separation from their family contributed the most to feelings of homesickness and depression; being able to share cultural values with family – even the simple act of chatting in their mother tongue – reduced the stress that accompanied their cultural

81 adaptation. Some of the women in this research admitted regrets over migrating to the U.S.

Again, the 2017 travel ban was a factor, as it limited the number of Iranian citizens able to acquire a visa to visit their families. Four of the participants (Shahrzad, Farnoosh, Bahar, and

Goli) went back temporarily to their hometowns in Iran in order to renew their family bonds and refresh their emotional support.

At the end, an individual’s personality traits and cultural experiences play a significant role in how they proceed through the acculturation process and process acculturative stress. The subjects’ different personality traits were found to correspond to differing outcomes. For instance, interviewees who presented themselves as naturally curious felt empowered to explore different cultural values, being active and outgoing and not shy or embarrassed about making misspeaking or making mistakes. As some of the participants described, trying to be outgoing was challenging at first, but it helped them to overcome the stress and difficulties that comes with migrating to a new society. Four of the women in this research have experience living outside of Iran before coming to the U.S. For them, their personality traits combined with previous experiences of living outside of their own culture, providing them with an openness that allowed them to experience unpredictable social situations and consequently endure less self- doubt and emotional hardship. Personal traits can either create resistance or willingness to connect a host society’s cultural norms.

7.3. Dimension 2: Ethnic enclave, acculturation and acculturative stress

The existence of the established ethnic enclave in a host society can both help and hinder individuals undergoing the acculturation process and its related psychological difficulties.

Factors such as age, English language fluency, religious, political view and size of the community may bring Iranians together or diverge them. This study uncovered that the older

82 adults tending to be less fluent in English and mothers whose children are born in the U.S. are more involved in the ethnic community’s activities and events. For instance, in the Westwood area of Los Angeles, where Iranian shops and businesses are concentrated, English fluency is not necessary. One can easily interact with people and read public signs that are mostly in Farsi. This atmosphere brings people together by fostering a feeling of belonging and reducing feelings of isolation or alienation from the host society.

When the ethnic enclave is large, the number of institutions, holy places, events and activities are more available. This gives people opportunities to pursue their individual interests and choose activities in which they are willing to participate. As some of the participants emphasized, one of the main issues with small Iranian communities, like in the Cleveland area, is the lack of diversity among members. For instance, five out of nine of the women in Northeast

Ohio shared feelings of isolation and a sense of being out of place even within the Iranian community and while participating in cultural and social events. This feeling stemmed from dissimilarities in political views, religious identity, gender, class and marital status. In this case, individuals tend to either conform to the expectations of their small community and keep participating culturally, or they deviate and experience separation. Some of the participants, by forming small groups with a handful of family or friends, managed to create a private haven to freely express themselves, away from the larger community. Merging the two case studies does not fully reveal the direct causal relationship between the size of the community and its effect on acculturative stress. In other words, if a person feels connected to a community whether small or large, it positively helps the psychological well-being. However, a larger ethnic community gives an individual more possibilities to navigate the social context on the whole.

83 Iranian immigrants who moved to the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s¾the period of transition from the Shah’s regime to the Islamic Republic¾were mostly non-Muslims or associated with the pre-revolutionary societal structure. They came together and created a small homeland for themselves within American society¾for instance, Westwood in Los Angeles,

CA. The gap that exists between the recent and earlier generations is rooted in their respective push and pull factors: first, the immigrants who were forced to leave their homeland due to lack of freedom in practicing their religion; versus those who voluntarily left the country in the late

2000s, many of whom migrated for educational opportunities. Sharing a common cultural background and birthplace does not necessarily create a sense of community among members and bring them together harmoniously; in some cases, those who moved to the U.S. in recent years feel disconnected from the older and more established members. For instance, Buda, who migrated to Los Angeles in 1979 and has not returned to Iran since, explained that she does not know any Iranian besides her “old friends” who immigrated around the same time. She continued by stating she feels a lack of connection because of the generational gap and lack of familiarity with current pop culture in Iran. The existence of this gap might negatively contribute to the new immigrants’ acculturative stress and hamper feelings of belonging and membership in the ethnic enclave.

One important pattern that emerged from the interviews was the role of participants’ involvement in communities outside the Iranian ethnic enclave. Eight out of seventeen of the participants mentioned that they could not find a shelter in the ethnic community, and consequently they felt the need to get involved in local community initiatives, such as volunteering for the Red Cross, participation in local churches, sport clubs and other organizations. These actions helped them feel more connected to the host society. Saba, Bahar, 84 Maral and Sharhzad talked about the emotional challenges they had to overcome in emerging from their comfort zone. They notably expressed their stress and low self-confidence in interacting with the host population at the beginning. A number of these women experienced a backlash from their Iranian peers who expressed that they were becoming “too American” when they limited their participation in traditionally Iranian cultural practices. They explained how over the years of getting to know the host society and regaining their self-confidence, they struck a balance between their ethnic and local community.

7.4. Final thoughts

This research has shown that understanding the connection between immigrants’ acculturation processes and psychological well-being is quite complex. While individuals encounter many distressing problems in coping with a new cultural climate, they may also develop solutions to adjust. Acculturation is not a static notion. Identifying and understanding the variables helps to analyze the situation clearly. By bringing the voices of Iranian women to the forefront, my research sought to depict the uncertainty of immigrants’ post-migration lives and the stress following this experience. Given the uncertain and antagonistic geo-political relations between Iran and the U.S., Iranian immigrants are prime targets for stereotyping. This matter affects Iranians’ abilities to experience belonging and membership, but it is not solitary.

Intersecting factors of gender and religion compound the issue of nationality, often with the effect of disrupting the process of integration and contributing to stressors following migration.

The inclusion and recognition of racialized bodies, the effort to uncover the underpinnings of their marginality, is of critical importance. This research aimed to play a part in this effort.

In presenting the research findings, one can assume that increasing the number of participants, in both case studies, may result in a different outcome. I would argue that the

85 foundation of the research findings will be the same, but more factors will be added into the final argument. For instance, a factor such as sexual orientation was never brought up in any of the interviews, since the participants addressed cultural adaptation specifically.

At the end, by conducting this research as an Iranian female scholar who is also an immigrant, I learnt a critical lesson. What is missing in most literature is the connection between the researcher and the research topic itself. A majority of the references to the acculturation process among female immigrants in this very dissertation is written by men. Likewise, most of the acculturation research that has found purchase in academic circles is written by scholars outside the communities studied.

Conducting this type of research is difficult. I bring my own knowledge and expertise as a geographer. I also confess that, in spite of adherence to the rigorous standards of our profession, it is not an easy task to build an absolute firewall between my worldview and my writing. All scholars inhabit this ambiguity and each must determine the best way forward. I am convinced that collecting biography as a qualitative method is essential in capturing the essence of our subjects, the human beings who comprise this research and allow scholarship across all disciplines to flourish.

86 REFERENCES Abdulrahim, S. & Baker, W. (2009). Differences in self-rated health by immigrant status and language preference among Arab Americans in the Detroit metropolitan area. Social Science and Medicine. 68 (12), 2097-2103. Abouguendia, M., & Noels, K. (2001). General and acculturation-related daily hassles and psychological adjustment in first- and second-generation south Asian immigrants to Canada. International Journal of Psychology, 36 (3), 163-173. Ahmed, S. & Matthes, J. (2016). Media representation of Muslims and Islam from 2000 to 2015: a meta-analysis. International Communication Gazette. 79 (3), 219-244. Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1977). Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and review of empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 84 (5), 888-918. Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1977). Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and review of empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 84 (5), 888–918. Alegria, M., Canino, G., Shrout, P. E., Woo, M., Duan, N., Vila, D., ... & Meng, X.-L. (2008). Prevalence of mental illness in immigrant and non- immigrant U.S. Latino groups. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165 (3), 359–369. Anderson, J. M. (1987). Migration and health: perspectives on immigrant women. Sociology of Health and Illness, 9 (4), 410-438. Ansari, A. (1988). Iranian Immigrants in the United States: A Case Study of Dual Marginality. New York: Associated Faculty Press Arends-Tóth, J. & van de Vijver, F. J. R. (2006). Assessment of psychological acculturation. In D. L. Sam and J. W. Berry, eds. The Cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 142-160. Arnett Jensen, L. (2003). Coming of age in a multicultural world: globalization and adolescent cultural identity formation. Applied Developmental Science, 7(3), 189- 196. Bakalian, A. & Bozorgmehr, M. (2009). Backlash 9/11: Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans Respond. Berkeley: University of California Press. Beiser, M., Barwick, C., Berry, J.W., da Costa, G., Fantino, A., Ganesan, S., Lee, C., Milne, W., Naidoo, J., Prince, R., Tousignant, M., & Vela, E. (1988). Mental health issues affecting immigrants and refugees. Ottawa: Health and Welfare Canada.

87 Benet-Martinez, V. (2012). Multiculturalism: cultural, social and personality processes. In K. Deaux and M. Snyder, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Personality and Social Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 623-648. Benet-Martínez, V., & Haritatos, J. (2005). Bicultural identity integration (BII): Components and psychosocial antecedents. Journal of Personality, 73(4), 1015-1050. Berry, J. (1991). Understanding and Managing Multiculturalism: Some Possible Implications of Research in Canada. Psychology and Developing Societies, 3(1), 17-49. Berry, J. W. (2003). Conceptual approaches to acculturation. In K. M. Chun, P. Balls Organista, and G. Marín, eds. Acculturation: Advances in theory, measurement, and applied research. Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association, 17-37. Berry, J. W. (2006). Stress perspectives on acculturation. In D. L. Sam, & J. W. Berry (Eds.), The cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology (pp. 43-57). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. Berry, J. W., & Sabatier, C. (2011). Variations in the assessment of acculturation attitudes: Their relationships with psychological wellbeing. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(5), 658–669. Berry, J. W., Phinney, J. S., Sam, D. L., & Vedder, P. (2006). Immigrant youth: Acculturation, identity and adaptation. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 55, 303–332. Berry, W, J. (1970). Marginality, stress and ethnic identification in an acculturated aboriginal community. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology, 1(3), 239-252. Berry, W. J. (1991). Understanding and Managing Multiculturalism: Some Possible Implications of Research in Canada. Psychology and Developing Societies, 3(1), 17-49. Berry, W. J., Kalin, R. (1995). Multicultural and Ethnic Attitudes in Canada: An Overview of the 1991 National Survey. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 27(3), 301-320. Berry, W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. International Association of Applied Psychology, 46(1), 5-34. Bhugra, D. (2003). Migration and depression. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 108 (4), 67-72. Birman, D., Trickett, E., & Buchanan, R. M. (2005). A tale of two cities: Replication of a study on the acculturation and adaptation of immigrant adolescents from the former Soviet

88 Union in a different community context. American Journal of Community Psychology, 35, 83–101. Blumenstyk, G., Najmabadi, S., & Brown, S. (2017). Court rebukes Trump’s travel ban, and harm to universities plays a key role. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.chronicle.com/article/Court-Rebukes- Trump-s-Travel/239173 Bozorgmehr, M. (1997). Internal Ethnicity: Iranians in Los Angeles. Sociological Perspectives, 40(3), 387- 408. Bozorgmehr, M., & Ketcham, E. (2018). Adult children of professional and entrepreneurial immigrants: second-generation Iranians in the United States. In Mobasher, M. M. (Eds.), The Iranian Diaspora: challenges, negotiations, and transformations (pp. 25-49). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. Bozorgmehr, M., & Sabagh, G. (1991). Iranian Exiles and Immigration in Los Angeles. In A. Fathi, eds. Iranian Refugees and Exiles since Khomeini. Costa Mesa, CA, US: Mazda Publisher, 121-144. Bozorgmehr, M. & Douglas, D. (2011) ‘Success(ion):Second Generation Iranian Americans’, Iranian Studies, 44 (1), 3-24. Breslau, J., Borges, G., Hagar, Y., Tancredi, D. J., & Gilman, S. (2009). Immigration to the USA and risk for mood and anxiety disorders: Variation by origin and age at immigration. Psychological Medicine, 39(7), 1117-1127. Britto, P. R. (2008). Who am I? Ethnic identity formation of Arab Muslim children in contemporary U.S. society. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47 (8), 853-857. Buddington, S. A. (2002). Acculturation, psychological adjustment (stress, depression, self- esteem) and the academic achievement of Jamaican immigrant college students. International Social Work, 45 (4), 447–464. Celenk, O., & Vijver, F. J. (2011). Assessment of Acculturation: Issues and Overview of Measures. Psychology and Culture, 8 (1), 3-16. Chao, R. K., & Otsuki-Clutter, M. (2011). Racial and Ethnic Differences: sociological and contextual explanations. Journal of Research on Adolescence. 1(1), 47-60. Cho, Y. & Haslam, N. (2010). Suicidal ideation and distress among immigrant adolescents: the

89 role of acculturation, life stress, and social support. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39 (4), 370-9. Ciftci, S (2012) Islamophobia and threat perceptions: Explaining anti-Muslim sentiment in the West. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 32(3): 293–309. City Data. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.city-data.com/top2/h83.html Clay, R. A. (2011). Muslims in America, post 9/11. Monitor on Psychology, 42(8), 72. Cohen, G., Kiss, G., & Le Voi, M. E. (1993). Memory: Current issues (2nd ed.). Buckingham, England; Philadelphia: Open University Press. Colic-Peisker, V., & Walker, I. (2003). Human capital, acculturation and social identity: Bosnian refugees in Australia. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 13(5), 337- 360. Crockett, L. J., Iturbide, M. I., Torres Stone, R. A., McGinley, M., Raffaelli, M., & Carlo, G. (2007). Acculturative stress, social support, and coping: Relations to psychological adjustment among Mexican American college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13(4), 347–355. Croucher, S. M. (2006). The impact of external pressures on an ethnic community: The case of Montréal's quartier chinois and Muslim-French immigrants. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 35(3), 235-252. Croucher, S. M. (2008). An analysis of Montreal's quartier chinois and sense of self: Une loi peut faire mal au dragon, mais la loi ne peut pas tuer le dragon. Chinese Journal of Communication, 1, 213-223. Croucher, S. M. (2009a). French-Muslim reactions to the law banning religious symbols in schools: A mixed methods analysis. Journal of International & Intercultural Communication, 2(1), 1-15. Croucher, S. M. (2009b). How limiting linguistic freedoms influences the cultural adaptation process: An analysis of the French Muslim population. Communication Quarterly, 57(3), 302-318. Cuellar, I., Bastida, E., & Braccio, S. M. (2004). Residency in the United States, subjective well- being, and depression in an older Mexican-Origin sample. Journal of Aging and Health, 16 4), 447–466.

90 Curran, S. R., & Saguy, A. C. (2001). Migration and Cultural Change: A Role for Gender and Social Networks? Journal of International Women's Studies, 2 (3), 54- 77. Davies, B. and Gannon, S. (2006). The practices of collective biography. In: Davies, B. and Gannon, S. (eds) Doing collective biography. London: Open University Press, pp.1–15. Demes K. A., & Geeraet, N. (2015). The highs and lows of a cultural transition: a longitudinal analysis of sojourner stress and adaptation in 50 countries. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(2), 316-337. Diner, H. R. (1983). Erin's daughters in America: Irish immigrant women in the nineteenth century. Johns Hopkins University Press. Dow, H. D., & Woolley, S. R. (2011). Mental health perceptions and coping strategies of Albanian immigrants and their families. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 37(1), 95- 108. Draguns, J., & Tanaka-Matsumi, J. (2003). Assessment of psychopathology across and within cultures: Issues and findings. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 755–776. ed.). London: Sage. Faragallah, M. H., Schumm, W. R., & Webb, F. J. (1997). Acculturation of Arab-American immigrants: An exploratory study. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 28(3), 182– 203. Foner, N. (1978). Jamaica farewell: Jamaican migrants in London. London. Funkhouser, E. (2000). Changes in the geographic concentration and location of residence of immigrants. International Migration Review, 34 (2), 489–510. Geis, S. (2007). Iran Native Becomes Mayor of Beverly Hills. Retrieved 5 September 2019, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2007/03/31/AR2007033100969.html George, M. S., Parra-Carddona, R., & Vidot, C. D. (2017). Cultural Adaptation of Preventive Interventions in Hispanic Youth. In S. J. Schwartz and J. Ugner, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Acculturation and Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 393-419. Gerges, A. F. (1997) Islam and Muslims in the Mind of America: Influences on the Making of U. S. Policy. Journal of Palestine Studies 1 January 1997; 26(2): 68–80. Ghavami, N., & Peplau, L. A. (2013). An Intersectional Analysis of Gender and Ethnic

91 Stereotypes: Testing Three Hypotheses. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 37(1), 113– 127. Gonick, M., Walsh, S. and Brown, M. (2011). Collective biography and the question of difference. Qualitative Inquiry 17(8), 741–749. Gordon, M. M., (1964). Assimilation in American life: The role of race, religion, and national origins. New York: Oxford University Press. Hakimzadeh, S. (2006). Iran: a vast diaspora abroad and millions of refugees at home. Migration Policy Institute, http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/iran-vast-diaspora-abroad-and- millions-refugees-home. Hashemi, N., Marzban, M., Sebar, B., & Harris, N. (2019). Acculturation and psychological well-being among Middle Eastern migrants in Australia: The mediating role of social support and perceived discrimination. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 72, 45-60. Haug, F. (1999). Female Sexualization: A Collective Work of Memory. Translated from German by E. Carter. New York: Verso. Hawkins, R., Al-Hindi, K. F., Moss, P., & Kern, L. (2016). Practicing Collective Biography. Geography Compass, 10 (4), 165-178. Hay, I. (2010). Qualitative research methods in human geography. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Hormozi, T., Miller, M. M., & Banford, A. (2018). First-generation Iranian refugees’ acculturation in the United States: a focus on resilience. Faculty Publications. 40, 276- 283. Hovey, J. D. (2000). Acculturative stress, depression, and suicidal ideation among Cen- tral American immigrants. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 30(2), 125-139. Hsiao, J., & Wittig, M. (2008). Acculturation Among Three Racial/Ethnic Groups of Host and Immigrant Adolescents. American Journal of Community Psychology, 42(3-4),286- 297. Hussain, AJ (2007) The media’s role in a clash of misconceptions: The case of the Danish Muhammad cartoons. The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics. 12(4), 112– 130. Iturbide, M. I., Raffaelli, M., & Carlo, G. (2009). Protective effects of ethnic identity on Mexican

92 American college students’ psychological well-being. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 31(4), 536–552. Jang, Y., Kim, G., & Chiriboga, D. (2005). Acculturation and manifestation of depressive symptoms among Korean-American older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 9(6), 500–507. Jibeen, T. (2011). Moderators of acculturative stress in Pakistani immigrants: The role of personal and social resources, Corrigendum. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(6), 890. Kaplan, H. D. (2018). Navigating Ethnicity: Segregation, Placemaking, and Difference. New York: Rowman and Littlefield. Kaplan, H. D., & Chacko, E. (2015). Placing immigrant identities. Journal of Cultural Geography, 32(1), 129-138. Kelley, R. (1993). Irangeles: Iranians in Los Angeles. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Kim, K. S. B. & Omizo, M. M. (2006). Behavioral acculturation and enculturation and psychological functioning among Asian American college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. 12(2), 245-258. Kim, Y. Y. (2001). Becoming intercultural : An integrative theory of communication and cross- cultural adaptation. Thousand Oaks Calif: Sage Publications. Kim, Y. Y. (2002). Adapting to an unfamiliar culture- an interdisciplinary overview. In W. B. Gudykunst, & B. Mody (Eds.), Handbook of international and intercultural communication (2nd ed., pp. 259-273). Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications. Koirala, S. & Eshghavi, M. (2017) Intersectionality in the Iranian Refugee Community in the United States, Peace Review, 29(1), 85-89. Koirala, S. & Eshghavi, M. (2017). Intersectionality in the Iranian Refugee Community in the in the Political and Social Context of the United States of America (Doctoral Dissertation). Honolulu: University of Hawaii at Manoa. Koneru, V., Weisman, A., Flynn, P., & Betancourt, H. (2007). Acculturation and mental health: current findings and recommendations for future research. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 12(2), 76-96. Kroeber, A. L., & Kluckhohn, C. (1952). Culture: a critical review of concepts and

93 definitions. Papers. Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University, 47(1), viii, 223. Lee, H. Y., Moon, A., & Knight, B. G. (2004). Depression among elderly Korean immigrants: Exploring socio-cultural factors. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 13(4), 1–26. Lee, J. S., Koeske, G. F., & Sales, E. (2004). Social support buffering of acculturative stress: A study of mental health symptoms among Korean international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 28(5), 399–414. Liu, Shuang, Volcic, Zala and Gallois, Cindy (2011). Introducing intercultural communication: Global cultures and contexts. London, England, U.K.: Sage. Lobo, M. (2015). Gestures of judgement and welcome in public spaces: hypervisible migrant newcomers in Darwin, Australia. Journal of Cultural Geography, 32(1), 54-67. Logan, J. R., Zhang, W., & Alba, R. D. (2002). Immigrant Enclaves and Ethnic Communities in New York and Los Angeles. American Sociological Review,67(2), 299-322. Maghbouleh, N. (2014). Emerging scholarship: Neda Maghbouleh on ‘The Limits of Whiteness, Iranian- Americans and the Everyday Politics of Race’. Ajam Media Collective, http://ajammc.com/2014/08/19/ neda-maghbouleh-on-the-limits-of-whiteness/ Mahdavi, S. (2006). Held hostage: identity citizenship of Iranian Americans. Texas Journal on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, 1(2), 211-244. Malek, A. (2019). Paradoxes of dual nationality: geopolitical constraints on multiple citizenship in the Iranian diaspora. The Middle East Journal, 73(4), 531-554. Marzano, A (2011) Reading the Israeli Palestinian conflict through an Islamophobic prism: The Italian press and the Gaza war. Journal of Arab and Muslim Media Research. 4(1), 63– 78. Mejía, O. L., & McCarthy, C. J. (2010). Acculturative stress, depression, and anxiety in migrant farmwork college students of Mexican heritage. International Journal of Stress Management, 17(1), 1–20. Melamed, K. (2019). 40 years after Iranian Revolution, LA’s Persian Jews are still feeling the pain. Retrieved 5 September 2019, from https://www.timesofisrael.com/40-years-after- iranian-revolution-las-persian-jews-are-still-feeling-the-pain/

94 Mena, F. J., Padilla, A. M., & Maldonado, M. (1987). Acculturative Stress and Specific Coping Strategies among Immigrant and Later Generation College Students. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 9(2), 207–225. Miller, A. M., Birman, D., Zenk, S., Wang, E., Sorokin, O., & Connor, J. (2010). Neighborhood immigrant concentration, acculturation, and cultural alienation in former soviet immigrant women. Journal of Community Psychology, 37 =(1), 88-105. Mitchell, J. (1990). Iranian Jews Find a Beverly Hills Refuge: Immigrants: Khomeini's revolution drove 40,000 of them into exile. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm- 1990-02-13-me-543-story.html Miyares, I. M. (1997). Changing perceptions of space and place as measures of Hmong acculturation. The Professional Geographer, 49(2), 214–224. Mobasher, M. (2006). Cultural Trauma and Ethnic Identity Formation Among Iranian Immigrants in the United States. American Behavioral Scientist, 50(1), 100-117. Mobasher, M. (2012). Iranians in Texas: migration, politics, and ethnic identity. Texas: University of Texas Press. Mobasher, M. M. (2018). Introduction. In Mobasher, M. M. (Eds.), The Iranian Diaspora: challenges, negotiations, and transformations (pp. 1-24). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. Modarres, A. (1998). Settlement Patterns of Iranians in the United States. Iranian Studies. 31(1), 131–49. Mostofi, N. (2003). Who we are: the perplexity of Iranian-American identity. The Sociological Quarterly, 44 (4), 681-703. Mui, C. A. & Kang, S. (2006). Acculturation Stress and Depression among Asian Immigrant Elders, Social Work, 51(3), 243–255. Muscati, S. A. (2002). Arab/Muslim ‘Otherness’: The role of racial constructions in the Gulf War and the continuing crisis with Iraq. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 22(1), 131– 148. Nauck, B. (2008). Acculturation. In Van de Vijver, D.A. van Hemert, & Y.H. Poortinga (Ed.), Multilevel analysis of individuals and cultures (pp. 379-410). NJ: Erlbaum: Mahwah.

95 Ng, R. & Ramirez, J. (1981). Immigrant Housewives in Canada. Toronto, Canada: The Women’s Center. Nishida, H. (2005). Cultural schema theory. In W. B. Gudykunst (Ed.), Theorizing about intercultural communication (pp. 401-418). Thousand Oaks (Calif.): Sage. O'Donnell, C. R., Tharp, R. G., & Wilson, K. (1993). Activity settings as the unit of analysis: A theoretical basis for community intervention and development. American Journal of Community Psychology, 21(4), 501–520. Oberg, K. (1960). Culture shock: adjustment to new cultural environments. Journal of Practical Anthropology, 7(4), 177-182. Ogan, C, Willnat, L, Pennington, R (2013) The rise of anti-Muslim prejudice: Media and Islamophobia in Europe and the United States. International Communication Gazette 76(1), 27–46. Olmedo, E. L. (1979). Acculturation: A psychometric perspective. American Psychologist, 34 (11), 1061–1070. Organista, P. B., Organista, K. C., & Kurasaki, K. (2003). The relationship between acculturation and ethnic minority health. In K. M. Chun, P. Balls Organista & G. Marín (Eds.), (pp. 139-161). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association. Ozgur, C., & Van de Vijver, F. (2011). Assessment of acculturation: Issues and overview of measures. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 8(1), 1-22. PAAIA. (October 2018). National Public Opinion Surveys of Iranian Americans. https://paaia.org/CMS/educate/resources/surveys/2018. Padilla, A. M. (1980). Acculturation: Theory, models and some new findings. Boulder, Colo: Westview Press. Paige, S. (2014). Iranian American Perceptions of Experienced Prejudice and Discrimination in United States. Peace review: A Journal of Social Justice, 29, 85-89. Paige, S., Hatfield, E., & Liang, L. (2015). Iranian-American’s perceptions of prejudice and discrimination: differences between Muslim, Jewish and non-religious Iranian-American. An International Journal on Personal Relationships, 9 (2), 236-252. Pedraza, S. (1991). Women and Migration: The Social Consequences of Gender. Annual Review of Sociology, 17 (1), 303-325.

96 Pessar, R. P. (1984). The linkage between the household and workforce of Dominican women in the U.S. International Migration Review, 18 (4), 1188-211. Phinney, J. S., Horenezyk, G., Liebkind, K., & Vedder, P. (2001). Ethnic identity, immigration, and well-being: An interactional perspective. Journal of Social Issues, 57 (3), 325-493. Ponterotto, J. G., Mendelowitz, D. E., & Collabolletta, E. A. (2008). Promoting multicultural personality development: A strengths-based, positive psychology worldview for schools. Professional School Counseling, 12(2), 93-99. Rahimi, R. (2019). Storytelling, memory, and nostalgia: the identities of Iranian revolutionary migrants and first-generation Persian-Americans. (Doctoral Dissertation). Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt University. Ramos, B. M. (2005). Acculturation and depression among Puerto Ricans in the mainland. Social Work Research, 29(2), 95–105. Rashidian, M., Hussain, R., & Minichiello, V. (2013). ‘My culture hunts me no matter where I go’: Iranian-American women discussing sexual and acculturation experiences. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 15(7), 866-877. Redfield, R., Linton, R., & Herskovits, M. J. (1936). A Memorandum for the Study of Acculturation. AM Anthropology, 38(1), 149-152. Romero, A., & Piña-Watson, B. (2017). Acculturative stress and bicultural stress: Psychological measurement and mental health. In S. J. Schwartz & J. B. Unger (Eds.), Oxford library of psychology. The Oxford handbook of acculturation and health (p. 119–133). Oxford University Press. Rose-Redwood, C., & Rose-Redwood, R. (2017). Rethinking the politics of the international student experience in the age of Trump. Journal of International Students, 7(3), I-IX. Rose, G. (2016). Visual methodologies: An introduction to researching with visual materials (4th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication. Rubin, B. (1980). Paved with good intentions: the American experience in Iran. New York: Oxford. Sadeghi, S. (2016). The burden of geopolitical stigma: Iranian immigrants and their adult children in the USA. Int. Migration and Integration, 17(4), 1109-1124. Saghafi, N., J. Asamen, D. Rowe, & R. Tehrani. (2012). The Relationship of Religious Self-

97 Identification to Cultural Adaptation Among Iranian Immigrants and First-Generation Iranians. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 43(4), 328–335. Said, E (1978) Orientalism, New York: Vintage Books. Sam, D. L. (2006). Acculturation: Conceptual background and core components. In D. L. Sam and J. W. Berry, eds. Cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 11-26. Sam, D. L., & Berry, J. W. (2010). Acculturation: when individuals and groups of different cultural backgrounds meet. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(4), 472-481. Sangalang, C. C., & Vang, C. (2017). Intergenerational Trauma in Refugee Families: A Systematic Review. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 19(3), 745- 754. Schmidt, P. (2019). An overview and critique of US immigration and asylum policies in the Trump era. Journal of Migration and Human Security. 7(3), 92-102. Schwartz, S. J., Montgomery, M. J., & Briones, E. (2006). The Role of Identity in Acculturation among Immigrant People: Theoretical Propositions, Empirical Questions, and Applied Recommendations. Human Development, 49(1), 1–30. Sirin, S, R., Gupta, T., Ryce, P., Katsiaficas, D., Suarez-Orozco, C., & Sirin, R. L. (2013). Understanding the role of social support in trajectories of mental health symptoms for immigrant adolescents. Journal of Developmental Psychology, 34(5), 199-207. Snyder, V. N. (1987). Factors Associated with Acculturative Stress and Depressive Symptomatology Among Married Mexican Immigrant Women. Psychology of Women Quarterly,11(4). Sonn C.C. (2002) Immigrant Adaptation. In: Fisher A.T., Sonn C.C., Bishop B.J. (eds) Psychological Sense of Community. The Plenum Series in Social/Clinical Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. Suarez-Orozco, C., & Suarez-Orozco, M. (2001). Children of Immigration. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Tausova, J., Bender, M., Dimitrova, R., Vijver, F. (2019). The role of perceived cultural distance, personal growth initiative language proficiencies, and tridimensional acculturation orientation for psychological adjustment among international students.

98 International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 69, 11-23. Tehranian, J. (2008). Whitewashed: America’s invisible Middle Eastern minority. New York, NY: NYU Press. Thomas, V. L. & Suris, A. (2004). Acculturation and Acculturative Stress as Predictors of Psychological Distress and Quality-of-Life Functioning in Hispanic Psychiatric Patients. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences. 26(3), 293-311. Tran, T. V. (1993). Psychological traumas and depression in a sample of Vietnamese people in the United States. Health & Social Work, 18(3), 184-194. Tummala-Narra, P. (2007). Skin color and the therapeutic relationship. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 24(2), 255–270. Vahabi, N. (2012): ATLAS de la diaspora Iranienne. Editions Karthala. Valentine, G. (1997). Tell me about...: using interviews as a research methodology. In D. Martin and R. Flowerdew, eds. Methods in human geography: A guide for students doing a research project. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis, 110-126. Ward, C. (2001). The ABCs of acculturation. In D. Matsumoto, eds. Handbook of Culture and Psychology. New York, NY, Oxford University Press, 411-455. Ward, C., Bochner, S., & Furnham, A. (2001.) The psychology of culture shock (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. Wike, R, Grim, BJ (2010) Western views toward Muslims: Evidence from a 2006 cross-national survey. International Journal of Public Opinion Research. 22(1), 4–25. Williams, L. (2010). Global marriage, cross-border marriage migration in global context. England: Palgrave Macmillan. Xu, L., & Chi, I. (2013). Acculturative stress and depressive symptoms among Asian immigrants in the United States: The roles of social support and negative interaction. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 4(3), 217–226. Yoon, E., Chang, C.-T., Kim, S., Clawson, A., Cleary, S. E., Hansen, M., Gomes, A. M. (2013). A meta-analysis of acculturation/enculturation and mental health. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(1), 15-30. Yoon, E., Lee, R.M., and Goh, M. 2008. Acculturation, social connectedness, and subjective well-being. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 14(3), 246–255.

99 Zhang, B., Druijven, P., & Strijker, D. (2018). A tale of three cities: negotiating ethnic identity and acculturation in northwest China. Journal of Cultural Geography. 35(1), 44-74.

100