Migration Experience, Resilience and Psychological Outcomes: An Exploratory Study of Iranian Immigrants in Australia Ashrafalsadat HOSSEINI ORCID ID: 000-0002-2749-3824 Doctor of Philosophy August 2016 Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences The University of Melbourne Submitted in total fulfillment of the degree Produced on archival quality paper Declaration This is to confirm that: The thesis consists of my original work towards the Ph.D. Due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used The thesis is less than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, figures, references and appendices. Ashrafalsadat HOSSEINI Date: 16/08/2016 I Acknowledgements Conducting a Ph.D. thesis is both rewarding and challenging. To overcome the challenges of my Ph.D. research I am grateful to God for the good health and well-being that were necessary to complete this thesis. My Ph.D. experiences strongly demonstrate the notion that learning is itself a social process rather than an individual experience. For this I am deeply grateful to Associate Professor Harry Minas, Dr Melanie Davern, Dr Ritsuko Kakuma, Professor William Evans and Professor Mehdi Ghazinour, who should all know that I am proud of being one of their students and to have the opportunity to work with them. I am extremely thankful and indebted to them for sharing their expertise, and the valuable guidance and sincere encouragement that they extended to me. I would like to say to each one of my supervisors that words cannot express my thanks for their ongoing support, mentorship, and a wonderful friendship. I also take this opportunity to express gratitude to one and all individuals who directly or indirectly have lent their hand in this venture, especially Professor Terry Nolan, Dr Mammad Aidani, Associate Professor Deborah Warr, Professor Hassan Khaleghi, Professor Bagher Sanai Zaker, Associate Professor Clare Delany, Professor David Beckett, Mr Michael Warner, Dr Lauren Ban, Dr Richard Williams and those individuals whom I have failed to mention their names. I am immensely grateful to the Iranian organisations and communities in Australia and am indebted to all my study participants, particularly the interviewees for their valuable time and their contributions. I would also like to thank a few Iranian immigrants in Australia who were unfair with me. They have given me the opportunity to be mindful of my weaknesses. No one else could help me in this manner. During the course of this research project all staff and research fellows at the Global and Cultural Mental Health Unit, Centre for Mental Health in the School of Population and Global health - particularly Rebecca Gracey, Myra Hoad, Nicky Woods, Gemma Catley, Tess Hall, and Dr Leslie Terry; Ph.D. students, Tuti, Diana, Ahmad, Asiri, Novi, and Endang; and all staff in the University of Melbourne International Student - particularly Sally Cullwick, Roger Deutscher and Diana Hemmingway were kind and supportive and I would like to thank one and all of them for their valuable resources and accessibility. I am pleased to acknowledge the Melbourne University Scholarship Office, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Iranian Ministry of Science and other organisations, such as the Melbourne II Social Equity Institute, Office of the Public Advocate (OPA), Graduate Women Victoria, Victorian Police Academy, Study Melbourne Victoria, and Diaspora Action Australia (DAA). They have provided the opportunity to gain a rich understanding of Australian culture and its multicultural society that I am glad to call the rainbow culture. During this journey I have had a number of serious health concerns requiring hospitalisation and surgery which has been managed by the University of Melbourne Health Service. For that I am extremely thankful and indebted to them, particularly Dr Shauna McGlone. I am delighted to acknowledge all Australian and Iranian friends for their kindness and care - particularly Aida, Roger and Johanna, Glen, Nicky and Denise (DAA), Sima, Trish, Scott, Javad, Emily, Sedigheh, Fred and Leonie (OPA), Lucy, and Stephen; and also my global friends Kumiko, Alice, Erminia, Christina, Ornella, Miriam, Nhan, Nikki, Vivian, Rachel, Jane, Magda, and all of my amazing friends whom I have failed to note their names. I want to say that without my endless family support it would not possible for me to arrive at this point and I cannot find enough words to say thank you to my family: my husband Arian and my daughter Ariana who facilitated and encouraged my efforts through this venture; my extended family, my siblings particularly my sisters and my niece Hooria; my lovely mother, who has planted the seeds of humanity in my heart; and finally, my father who is my model of resilience and is with me in spirit all the time. III Preface I have been interested in human behavior for as long as I can remember. In particular, I always consider how some of us can successfully cope with stress while some of us are more vulnerable to perceived stress. My childhood memories are of my country (Iran) in the unforeseen war and when people were under a lot of stress. I wondered how some people in spite of the terrible experience of war kept their sense of humour and surprisingly had a plan for their life after war and were in good mental condition whereas others lost their sense of individuality and were psychologically and physically distressed. Several years later, I was confronted with the same phenomena in my work in a psychological and counselling clinic, working with outpatients from different cultures. I met young students in university, who were living in dormitories far from their families and hometowns. I should explain that in my culture children, and especially girls, normally live with parents until they get married. Therefore, because of the challenges of the new environment and lack of family support, some of them experienced a lot stress and were experiencing psychological problems. However, I also noticed that there were a lot of students who were well established in every dimension of their life in the dormitory even though some of them had health problems, but amazingly, were in good mental condition. After coming to Australia, I had a chance to talk to some Iranian immigrants about their experience and psychological outcomes arising from living in Australia. My interest in people’s behaviour had motivated me to investigate the phenomena of resilience, which I have witnessed throughout my life. Resilience in immigrants can be seen as the reinforcement / revival of emotion, sociability and individuals liveliness that reflects integration within a new environment of networks and collaborations in an elastic way. During my Ph.D. candidature, I presented four papers at international conferences that form the basis for the results section of this thesis. Three of those papers were accepted and presented as oral presentations: at the 27th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Melbourne, Australia; the 30th International Congress of Psychology, Cape Town, South Africa; and Pathways to Resilience III: Beyond Nature vs. Nurture, Nova Scotia, Canada. One of these papers presented as a poster at the 15th International Mental Health Conference, Gold Coast, Australia. Moreover, I have presented a lecture on Resilience and Migration: Supporting Well-being for IV Asylum Seekers, which were organised by the Melbourne Social Equity Institute where I held a position for the Doctoral Academy Members in 2014. In addition, I have attended a number of courses and workshops at the University of Melbourne that were relevant to my field of study to expand my research experience. One of these courses was the Graduate Certificate for Advanced Learning and Leadership, which assisted me in forming networks with other Ph.D. students and researchers from a range of different disciplines, acquiring new insights into disciplinary research and also current and potential research interests and collaborations. This course also helped me in strengthening the outcomes of my research and, most importantly, understanding the ethical issues in my research. Moreover, my Ph.D. venture led to the creation of the Melbourne-based Iranian-Australian Mental Health Professional Network. I have contributed to several collaborative projects at the University of Melbourne and in the wider Victorian community to make the most of being an international student. One example of these projects was ‘Promoting resilience and confidence in physiotherapy students in the clinical education environment; an action research project,’ which has resulted in publications. I was also a Mentor in the Women’s Mentoring Network in the University’s Wom*n’s Department and a Student Representative on the Staff-Student Liaison Committee at the School of Population and Global Health. In addition, I hold an appointment as a Community Mental Health Visitor volunteer with the Office of the Public Advocate (OPA). Indeed, my Ph.D. journey and all of these engagements have given me a fresh perspective on where my research fits in the bigger picture and how I can apply my skills and experience to new challenges in my future research, career and my life as a whole. It has helped me to identify and acknowledge my strengths, address my weaknesses, and expand my skills. Overall these experiences have helped me to improve my self-understanding and my resilience. I can assure you that what I have learned from the Ph.D. journey was beyond my expectations. I gained so much confidence and now I feel I have not only expanded my skills but also I have reached a good understanding of immigrants’ well-being and resilience. As a result of this wonderful journey, I was the winner of the 2015 Victorian International Education Awards, International Student of the Year – Research category and a finalist in that category for the 2014 Awards; I was awarded a Graduate Women Victoria International Scholarship 2015; and was also selected among the top five Australian International Students 2015.