| This qualitative clinical psychology dissertation examined the life journeys and immigration experiences of 9 resilient Muslim immigrant women. The primary purpose of this exploratory interview study was to obtain a greater understanding of the protective processes that foster resilience in Muslim-American immigrant women. The participants immigrated to America as adults, residing in the U.S. for between 6 and 35 years. They faced risks and challenges common to other immigrants (e.g., language difficulties), but they also struggled with unique challenges secondary to being Muslim women (e.g., dealing with stereotypes, bias and discrimination, especially post-September 11th; raising children in a minority faith; and adjusting to a non-collectivist society).; The participants emphasized the importance of spiritual, familial, gender, and individual protective processes. However, faith uniquely emerged as a broad, underlying, and central support for these women. They highlighted their positive, close, direct, and collaborative relationship with God as their most important support. Additionally, relational and collective bonds from inside and outside of the family system cultivated resilience across the lifespan. They emphasized the importance of spousal support. Their resilient stories of strength and empowerment contradicted societal stereotypes about Muslim women. All of the participants demonstrated a clear integrationist acculturation preference. Their life journeys provided support for the importance of conceptualizing resilience as a dynamic, developmental growth process embedded within overlapping contexts. This researcher offered clinical suggestions for fostering resilience development as well as recommendations for additional strength-based multicultural research. |
