Abstract
This chapter provides an introduction to the text Biopsychosocial Perspectives on Arab Americans: Culture, Development, and Health. Included in this overview are definitions of key terms such as Arab American and Middle East, within a contemporary sociopolitical context. This context provides the backdrop for the book’s rationale, given the push on national and international levels toward biopsychosocial approaches to health care for all individuals and communities. Immigration history, along with corresponding critical incidents, is reviewed, as well as resultant impacts on ethnic identity and other salient theoretical constructs relevant to the health and well-being of Arab Americans. Thematic and organizational structures within each of the three book sections as well as throughout the text are identified, and a brief description of each chapter topic is provided.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
American Psychological Association. (2002). Guidelines on multicultural education, training, research, practice, and organizational change for psychologists. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/policy/multicultural-guidelines.aspx
Arab American Institute. (2013). Issues. Retrieved from http://www.aaiusa.org/pages/issues/
Arab American National Museum. (2013). Coming to America: Gallery one permanent exhibit. Retrieved from http://arabamericanmuseum.org/Coming-to-America.id.18.htm
Chiu, C.-J., & Wray, L. A. (2010). Factors predicting glycemic control in middle-aged and older adults with type 2 diabetes. Preventing Chronic Disease, 7(1), A08. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/jan/08_0250.htm
de la Cruz, G. P., & Brittingham, A. (2003). The Arab population: 2000. Washington, DC: US Census Bureau.
Engel, G. L. (1977). The need for a new medical model: A challenge for biomedicine. Science, 196, 129–136.
Glueck, B. P. (2012). An interpretive phenomenological study of mental health counselors’ experiences in integrated primary care settings. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Counselor Education, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.
Google Maps. (2013). Map of Middle East. Retrieved from https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=map+of+middle+east&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x157ec4658142ffb7:0xa5b8320215ea72c,Middle+East&gl=us&ei=hcTtUMydEvOv0AHZtYCwAw&sqi=2&ved=0CC8Q8gEwAA
Jackson, J. S., Antonucci, T. C., & Brown, E. (2004). A cultural lens on biopsychosocial models of aging. Advances in Cell Aging and Gerontology, 15, 221–241.
Jamil, H., Nassar-McMillan, S. C., & Lambert, R. G. (2007). Immigration and attendant psychological sequalae: A comparison of three waves of Iraqi immigrants. Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77, 199–205.
Jamil, H., Nassar-McMillan, S. C., Lambert, R. G., & Hammad, A. (2007). Medical complaints of Iraqi American people before and after the 1991 Gulf War. Ethnicity & Disease, 17(Suppl. 3), S3-77–S3-78.
LaRowe, T. L., Wubben, D. P., Cronin, K. A., Vannatter, S. M., & Adams, K. (2007). Development of a culturally appropriate, home-based nutrition and physical activity curriculum for Wisconsin American Indian families. Preventing Chronic Disease, 4, 4. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2007/oct/07_0018.htm
Merrill, R. M., Aldana, S. G., Greenlaw, R. L., Diehl, H. A., Salberg, A., & Englert, H. (2008). Can newly acquired healthy behaviors persist? An analysis of health behavior decay. Preventing Chronic Disease, 5, 1. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2008/jan/07_0031.htm
Miller, B. F., Mendenhall, T. J., & Malik, A. D. (2009). Integrated primary care: An inclusive three-world view through process metrics and empirical discrimination. Journal of Clinical Psychological Medical Settings, 16, 21–30.
Nassar-McMillan, S. C. (2007). Arab American populations. In M. G. Constantine (Ed.), Clinical practice with people of color: A guide to becoming multiculturally competent (pp. 85–103). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Nassar-McMillan, S. C. (2010). Counseling Arab Americans. Belmont, CA: Brooks-Cole/Cengage.
Nassar-McMillan, S. C., Jamil, H., & Lambert, R. G. (2010). Chemical, environmental, and trauma exposures and corresponding health symptoms among Iraqi American women. Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, 15(2), 88–102.
Nasir, L. S., & Abdul-Haq, A. K. (Eds.). (2008). Caring for Arab patients: A biopsychosocial approach. Oxford, UK: Radcliffe Publishing.
Orafalea, G. (2006). The Arab Americans: A history. Ithaca, NY: Olive Branch Press.
Samhan, H. (1999). Not quite white: Race classification and the Arab American experience. In M. Suleiman (Ed.), Arabs in America: Building a new future (pp. 209–226). Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Samhan, H. H. (2014). Intra-ethnic diversity and religion. In S. C. Nassar-McMillan, K. A. Ajrouch, & J. Hakim-Larson (Eds.), Biopsychosocial perspectives on Arab Americans: Culture, development, and health. New York, NY: Springer.
Suleiman, M. (1999). Introduction: The Arab immigrant experience. In M. Suleiman (Ed.), Arabs in America: Building a new future (pp. 1–24). Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. (2012). Iraqi Refugee Processing Fact Sheet. Retrieved January 14, 2013, from http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextoid=df4c47c9de5ba110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD
United States Department of Health and Human Services. (2011, June 6). News release: New Affordable Care Act support to improve care coordination for nearly 200,000 people with Medicare. Retrieved January 4, 2013, from http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/06/20110606a.html
University of Texas Libraries. (2013). Northern Africa and the Middle East. Retrieved January 9, 2013, from http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/n_africa_mid_east_pol_95.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east.html&h=790&w=1264&sz=204&tbnid=bV-OS6jTGz5R-M:&tbnh=76&tbnw=121&zoom=1&usg=__sY8QBBSvLM5E0NExpb0Zeo-h4o0=&docid=bRIaCXk8GJ0XuM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hcTtUMydEvOv0AHZtYCwAw&sqi=2&ved=0CDwQ9QEwBA&dur=11902
WorldAtlas. (2013). Middle East Map. Retrieved January 9, 2013, from http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/me.htm
World Health Organization. (2008). Integrated health services. What and why? Technical Brief No. 1. Retrieved January 8, 2013, from http://www.who.int/healthsystems/technical_brief_final.pdf
Zogby, J. (2010). Arab voices: What they are saying to us and why it matters. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nassar-McMillan, S.C., Ajrouch, K.J., Hakim-Larson, J. (2014). Biopsychosocial Perspectives on Arab Americans: An Introduction. In: Nassar-McMillan, S., Ajrouch, K., Hakim-Larson, J. (eds) Biopsychosocial Perspectives on Arab Americans. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8238-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8238-3_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-8237-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8238-3
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)