Stress, Acculturation, Diversity And Diversity

Latino Immigrants who have travelled from their home country often experience social isolation when they first arrive to their new home. This can cause added stress and distress in the person’s life. Housing and employment are of higher importance to attain then social support and this can lead to feelings of loneliness and stress. As providers, we should understand that the culmination of stressors associated with constantly having to adapt to unfamiliar environments, work-related stress, and lack of social and emotional support may take a psychological and physical toll on many immigrants, not just

Research indicates that immigrant groups are likely to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) at varying degrees irrespective of whether they are voluntary migrants or refugees. However, refugees are known to suffer higher rates of mental health disorders ranging from PSTD to depression (Rasmussen et al., 2012). It is also known that refugees are likely to have more pre-migration risk for trauma than voluntary immigrants. Even though most refugees flee their home countries to reduce the risk of distress, research indicates that the well-being of such immigrants deteriorates with increasing time spent in the host countries

677). However, pull factors include “better chances for social and economic advancement, religious and political freedom, and greater opportunities for fulfillment in all aspects of life” (p. 678). Immigrant children and youth are at high risk for mental health problems (Cardoso & Dettlaff, 2010)). Conditions like depression, post-traumatic stress disorders and anxiety disorders are common in immigrant children and youth living in the United States (2010).

The chronosystem according to the Ecological Systems theory refers to the environmental patterns, social and cultural forces that shape the life of a person or population over a life time. Acculturation, as defined by Smith and Guerra (2006) is “the differences and changes in values and behaviors that individuals make as they gradually adopt the cultural values of the dominant society” (283). In order to capture the complex process of acculturation and consider all dimensions of acculturation, it is important to consider the influence of the factors that have already been explored in this brief: individual variations, family dynamics, parental and environmental factors; in addition to acculturative stress, adaptation process and generational status (Smokowski et al., 2014) which will be further explored. Although research has reflected inconsistent findings regarding impact of acculturation on mental health issues for Latinos’, when considered in the context described above, acculturation has been found to impact Latinos. Acculturative stress has resulted in negative mental health outcomes, specifically anxiety and depression, for Latinos’ especially when an individual’s culture and dominant culture conflict. (Hovey, 2000; Katagadda & Tidwell, 1998, Stein et al., 2012) Due to the individual adjustment process each family member goes through when

Due to socioeconomic, cultural, and, after the past few election cycles in the United States, political adversity that immigrants have to endure, it is not surprising that some immigrant populations, namely the working poor, manifest various mental health issues at higher rates than the rest of the population. According to much research, "evidence is overwhelming that certain immigrant groups. . . suffer a greater incidence of schizophrenia" also noting that the "risk increases with length of residence in the host country and the risk is even more severe in the second generation" (Whitley 1073). There are a number of pre-migratory, post-migratory factors that also include factors associated with the process of migration that most likely increase the incidence of mental health issues in immigrants, namely persecution, poverty, violence, famine, drought and other traumatic events that in addition to potentially arduous journeys to reach their destination and post-migratory factors included in the term "marginalization" that make it easy to see why immigrants would have a higher incidence of psychopathology like schizophrenia, developmental disorders in children, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety (Whitley 1073). Many of these issues compound after migration has taken place to manifest what has been called "social defeat." According to Whitley, "social defeat is an umbrella term that refers to various sociocultural (and economic) acute events and

They face discrimination and unfair treatment based on their lack of residency, accent, nativity status and unequal social benefits such as health care. Discrimination can affect their lifestyle negatively, keeping them from getting jobs and making their life better which in turn adds more stress. Immigrates migrating from a foreign country to make a better life but companies discriminate against them based on their immigration status “Immigration Status Discrimination occurs when an employer treats an individual differently based upon their citizenship or immigration status.” (Workplace Fairness, 2017) an example from Canadian Immigration Experience: Dreams confront Reality a participant in there study said “felt frustrated as they felt potential employers discriminated against them and that they were overlooked as candidates for more highly qualified and better paying positions.” (Khan, Watson, 2005) Due to such actions a law was created; “Immigration Reform and Control Act” a federal law that protects individuals from employment discrimination based on immigration or citizenship

According to acculturation theory (Berry et al., 1987), the psychological experience of adapting to a new culture becomes manifested as acculturative stress for children. Acculturation theory identifies how immigrant children’s mental development is hindered as a result of acculturation stress. Acculturation stress that directly results from the acculturative process can appear as mental health problems. Since culture may influence an immigrant child throughout his or her entire life, reducing acculturative stress is important for them to live in the new home country. Understanding the role of acculturation in the lives of immigrants is an essential component to understanding the overall mental health of Asian American immigrant children.

Immigrating to a new country is difficult. One of the largest groups of immigrants that migrate to the United States are the Hispanics. There are approximately 11.7 million immigrants in the United States as of January 2010, and the amount continues to increase at a rapid rate (Warren, 2013). On average there are approximately 300,000 Hispanic immigrants entering the United States each year (Warren, 2013). Hispanics come from all Latin America including Mexico, the islands of the Caribbean, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, Central and South America (Warren, 2013). The United States has represented liberty and freedom to these individuals, and they often make critical decisions and take chances in the hope of a better future. Individuals often, leave their home country in hopes of a new beginning. The aim of this paper is to provide an extensive research on the current literature on immigration and acculturation among the Hispanic population.

There are many vulnerable populations within the United States. One of the many vulnerable populations are undocumented immigrants. Undocumented immigrants also known as illegal immigrants according to Wikipedia (2016) is defined as “the migration of people across national boarders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country” (para 1). The United States of America has one of the largest population of immigrants. In this paper, I will be discussing the multiple stressors related to undocumented immigrants as well as the programs that can be used to help alleviate those stressors.

Thus, I believe that immigrant women face additional stressors and experience stressors differently than their nonimmigrant counterparts. According to Sinacore et al., (year) immigrant women in the US experience additional stressors due “ethnicity, gender… adjustment with social, economic and cultural factors” of their new country. The limitations imposed due to immigrant women’s sociopolitical status as less than to men and those women born in the US, has harrowing consequences. Thus, therapists’ use of feminist approach provides a framework in understanding the mental health concerns and the psychological oppression imposed on both gender and immigration status (Yakushko and Chronister, 2005).

In this article, it also talks about the families who have decided to try and assimilate into the dominant culture. Those who have more mental and/or physical health issues are the ones who have assimilated by forgetting their heritage and the connections that take place. In order to really understand culture we as workers need to take it upon ourselves to appreciate the connections between “ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, race, religion, geography, migration and politics and how they have together influenced families in adapting to American life” (Falicov, 1995). All of these things have an impact in some way on the assimilation of different cultures into the ‘American life.’ This article talks about how assimilating people move closer to these dominant values in two ways: 1) the longer time period they remain residents in the United States and 2) the degree of which the individuals rise in social class. It is thought that there are a few ways individuals can remain more comfortable in their ethnicity for a longer period of time, they typically remain in a neighborhood that is among their ethnicity, interact with members of their specific ‘group,’ and have religious ties to their ethnic

The United States is often called a melting pot because of the vast array of cultures that all live in the country. People have come from every corner of the world to settle in the United States. In recent years, the influx of immigration has become a contentious issue. Some people believe that the US is overpopulated and that further immigration poses a danger to the country while others contend that the US was built on immigration and that it is un-American to prohibit people from living here if they so wish. The articles "5 Myths About Immigration" and "The Challenge of Diversity" detail the different issues which are related to the immigration issue, both discuss the amount of immigration that occurs, the fear of immigrants taking jobs from American citizens, and the idea that immigrants are reluctant to assimilate into the American culture.

The article stated that in the United States, ever 1 out of 4 Mexican farmworker have been dealing with some degree of a mental health issue. Reasons being for these issues are, “separation from family, work demands, housing issues, income, language, and isolation” (Hovey & Magana, 2003). The United States agricultural business depends on male and female workers who migrate in

Much recent research investigating the impact of cultural diversity has focused on migrant populations, including the productivity, labour participation and taxation revenue benefits of immigration. But research examining the benefits of cultural diversity on business operations in more general terms has found a positive relationship between having diverse staff members and the performance of multinational corporations. Culturally diverse staff members, particularly migrant workers, may have international connections aiding the flow of labour, goods, services and knowledge between Australia and their nation of cultural heritage. Other potential benefits include lowering barriers to entry for new culturally diverse talent in an organisation

Culture is defined as a changing yet stable set of beliefs, goals, and attitudes shared by a group of people (as cited in Ravindran & Myers). It evolves as people do, and beliefs may change, however it remains consistent through time, as the world changes together. As cultures and beliefs evolve over time, so have advancements in modern medicine. Through charities like “Doctors Without Borders”, western medicine reaches new heights of accessibility, delivering emergency medical aid to people in countries affected by conflict, epidemics, or natural disasters (Keogh, 2016). Immigration has made the world more culturally diverse than it has ever been. In Canada 2011, the foreign-born population accounts for 6,775,800 people, about 20.6% of the population (“Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity in Canada”, 2016). Of these 6,775,800 people, there were more than 200 ethnic origins, with 13 different ethnic populations exceeding the one-million-mark (“Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity in Canada”, 2016). Religious identity in Canada is as diverse as its population, with millions of people identifying as Catholic, Muslim, Sikh, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jewish (“Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity in Canada”, 2016). Cultural and Religious beliefs are a part of people, and ultimately, how they choose to live their lives; whether that be something as small as not eating pork to their medical decisions. While, admittedly, cultural diversity is one of the most beautiful things