Research On Iranian Canadian
We Are Listening - Shokofeh Dilmaghani
Iranians in Canada: A Statistical Analysis
Report on Multiculturalism and Iranians in the GTA and the Netherlands
Testing a Multidimensional Individual Difference Acculturation Model with Iranian Immigrants in Canada
Applied Psychology: An International Review, 52(4), 555-579
The Process of Acculturation and Basic Goals: Testing a Multidimensional Individual Difference Acculturation Model with Iranian Immigrants in Canada Saba Safdar1,*, Clarry Lay2 and Ward Struthers2 Trois des objectifs de base des immigrants dans les sociétés multiculturelles (la sauvegarde de l'heritage culturel, l'insertion dans la société d'acceuil et la préservation de la santé physique et psychologique) ont été retenus comme variables dépendantes dans l'élaboration d'un modèle portant sur les différences individuelles du processus d'acculturation. Les trois prédicteurs composites du modèle furent: 1. L'adaptation psychosociale englobant le bien-être psychologique, le compétence biculturelle et le soutien social perçu de l'outgroup; 2. Le rattachement à la famille et à la culture englobant l'allocentrisme familial, l'identité ethnique et le soutien perçu de l'ingroup; 3. L'expérience des conflits quotidiens relevant ou non de l'acculturation. On a aussi pris en considération la fonction des deux modes d'acculturation que sont la différenciation et l'assimilation. Ce sont 81 iraniennes et 85 iraniens immigrés au Canada qui ont contribuéà cette recherche; leur âge médian était de 34 ans et leur temps de séjour médian au Canada de sept ans. La validité du modèle a été mise à l'épreuve grâce au Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). L'adaptation psychosociale est en relation directe avec le comportement de l'outgroup (qui représente le contact avec la culture d'accueil) et la détresse psychosomatique. Le rattachement à la famille et à la culture est en relation directe avec le comportement de l'ingroup, et les conflits quotidiens sont reliés à la détresse psychosomatique. En outre, chacun de ces prédicteurs est associé avec chacun des deux types d'acculturation. En retour, ces modes d'acculturation prédisent les variables dépendantes comportementales. On examine enfin les retombées de ce modèle sur des recherches futures.
Three of the basic goals of immigrants in multicultural societies—maintenance of heritage culture, participation in the host society, and maintenance of psychological and physical health—were examined as outcome variables in a proposed individual difference model of the acculturation process. The three composite predictor variables in the model were psychosocial adjustment, consisting of psychological well-being, bicultural competence, and perceived outgroup social support; connectedness to family and culture, consisting of family allocentrism, ethnic identity, and perceived ingroup support; and the experience of acculturation-specific and non-specific daily hassles. The roles of separation and assimilation modes of acculturation were also examined. The research participants were 85 male and 81 female Iranian immigrants to Canada. Their median age was 34 years; their median length of residence in Canada was seven years. The viability of the model was supported through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Psychosocial adjustment was directly related to outgroup behavior (reflecting contact with the host culture) and to psychophysical distress. Connectedness to family and culture was directly related to ingroup behavior, and daily hassles were directly related to psychophysical distress. Furthermore, each of these predictor variables was associated with either or both modes of acculturation. In turn, these modes of acculturation predicted the outcome behavior variables. Implications of the model for further research are discussed.
We Are Listening - Shokofeh Dilmaghani
INTRODUCTION
Established in 1914, the Family Service Association of Toronto (FSA) is a social service agency with the mission" to strengthen individuals and families in just and supportive communities". FSA services include counseling, family life education, community development, children’s and seniors camps, and family support services to all age groups across city of Toronto.
The Community Action Unit was formed in January 1997 with the objective of promoting quality of life for selected ethno-cultural communities and pre-school children in disadvantaged families. A team of social workers was assembled to work in Iranian, Tamil, Somali, and Serbian communities. The worker from each of the communities works with a volunteer Advisory Council that oversee the planning and implementation of all the programs in their respective communities.
The Iranian Advisory Council (IAC) was established in March 1992 for the development of a domestic violence program for the Iranian community. After five years, other developmental needs of the Iranian Community were identified by the Advisory Council, hence, a community development component was added in 1997.
The Advisory Council’s role is to work cooperatively and collaboratively with the agency in order to maximize the resources required to respond to the developmental needs of the Iranian community. The Iranian Advisory Council is comprised of consumers and community members, and it is instrumental in service planning, advocacy, community development, community education/integration, and community economic development. Read More ...
Iranians in Canada: A Statistical Analysis
Vahid Garousi, MASc , PhD Candidate
Department of Systems and Computer Engineering,
Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1S 5B6
vahid@sce.carleton.ca
www.sce.carleton.ca/~vahid
Abstract
This paper presents a statistical analysis on the demographic, social educational and occupational issues of the Iranian-Canadian community. The main sources of data for the paper are the Government of Canada’s 2001 census statistics and an online webbased survey conducted by the author from the Iranian-Canadian community.
Other sources were the author’s personal experiences and findings during his study and life in Canada during the last four years and also information provided by his friends and colleagues.
Demographic features of the Iranian-Canadians such as population, gender, immigration status and period, age groups, marital status and marriage are investigated and compared to other typical Canadians. Other topics such as education, employment factors, income levels, ties with the home country (Iran), interest in and preservation of the home culture, identity in Canada, following issues related to Iran are also addressed. We also give a short discussion on the intra-social relations in the Iranian community in Canada. A brief overview on some of the related works, done specifically on the Iranians living in Canada, is also presented. The author hopes this analysis dispels the illusion held by Iranians prior to their immigration to foreign countries and Canada in particular.
He further hopes that the analysis helps the decision makers and also Iranians associations, groups and societies both in Iran and in Canada to better analyze and solve the social, cultural, and psychological issues of the Iranian-Canadian community. Read More ...
Report on Multiculturalism and Iranians in the GTA and the Netherlands
Introduction
The UN have calculated that the world now has 175 million migrants; roughly 3% of the world’s population is living outside their country of birth and the head of the UN population department, Joseph Chamie, believes migration will continue to rise during the next 50 years (Volkskrant, 30 October 2002 B). Refugees make up about 9% of migrants (UN, 2002). There are flows of migrants between most countries in the world. Sixty percent of immigrants live in the more developed regions of the world; most (56 million) live in Europe, 50 million in Asia and 41 million live in North America (ibid.). Almost 10% of the population of these regions consists of immigrants. For a long time migration went along colonial, economic and military ties, but it is diversifying more and more (Sassen, 1991).
Migration can be beneficial for the receiving countries – e.g. the countries benefit from the immigrant’s skills and labour - and for the sending countries – e.g. because the migrants send home a lot of money, which in some countries accounts for more than 10% of the GNP (UN, 2002). Migration is however not without problems. Not for the sending countries, where there is the risk of a brain drain, nor the receiving countries where there is a risk of social unrest because the host population feels threatened, nor for the migrants themselves that risk becoming marginalised in their new countries. Over the years the receiving countries have developed different ways of dealing with a diverse population; ranging from laissez-faire to forced assimilation and celebration of diversity. Some have been more successful than others. The Netherlands have been struggling to formulate a policy since the 1950’s. First for a long period ignoring the presence of immigrants, then shifting to the so-called ‘integration with maintenance of migrant’s own identity’ and recently trying harder to discipline immigrants (Burgers et all., 1996), while at the same time talking about valuing diversity.
With 18.9%, Canada ranks 14th on the UN-list of countries with the highest percentage of immigrant stock (UN, 2002) so having a good policy to deal with diversity is even more important than in the Netherlands with ‘only’ 9,6% foreign born in 2002 (CBS). Judging by these books, Canada values her diversity, i.e. sees it as a positive thing, not like the Netherlands that see immigrants mainly as a problem.
Since the instalment of the ‘Canadian Multiculturalism Act’ in 1988, Canada is the world’s first and - up till now - only officially multicultural country. Canada believes that common societal institutions need to be adjusted to this diversity, because they exhibit a ‘culture bias ’ (Kymlicka, 1998). For some years I have been following the Dutch debate on multiculturalism and integration, and the Canadian policy seemed to embody a lot of my own ideas; a successful version of the old Dutch policy of ‘integration while maintaining one’s own identity’. I was curious whether Canadian Multiculturalism is as good as authors like Kymlicka (1998) and Castells & Miller (1998) made it sound; if the policies indeed broke down many of the systemic barriers immigrants face, if discrimination was less and integration was better; If people can hold on to their cultural heritage and still be a full-fledged part of Canadian society. International comparisons are a good way of gaining more knowledge about all countries concerned; a comparison between the Netherlands and Canada does not only provide information on Canada, it can also shed more light on the Dutch situation. In the comparison it is not only the differences that matter, the similarities do too.
In July 2001 I started preparing a grant application for Canadian Studies Graduate Student Research Award by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the International Council for Canadian Studies, which I received in April 2002. Now the project is finally finished. It has become quite a large project for a Master’s thesis and still I have the feeling there is so much more to be said about the topic, but for now it has come to an end. The research consisted of two parts; a comparison of policies and the general discourse on immigration and immigrants and a survey on the objective and subjective economic integration of Iranian men in both countries supplemented with interviews with community informants. Although the research proposal was written before the September 11 attacks, they cannot be ignored in this research. They have forever changed the debates on tolerance and multiculturalism. Immigration policy and integration became matters of national security (Stoffman, 2002), fuelling the feelings of some people that immigrants are a ‘fifth colonna’ trying to take over their country. Even though the perceived consequences of September 11 are not specifically included in the survey, the topic will be included in the comparison of the public discourses in both countries.
This report is made up of six parts. In the first part the research strategy will be described. The second part concerns Canada as country of immigration. It gives a review of immigration history and the events that lead up to the founding of multicultural policy. After that the major critiques and the public discourse will be analysed. The third part concerns the Netherlands and explores its history of immigration and incorporation policies and the discourse, including the events of the rise and fall of the party of populist Pim Fortuijn. The following part explores the labour market situation, barriers and policies and other factors influencing the labour marker position of immigrants. The position of Iranians in both countries will be examined in the fifth part. It starts with a short summary of Iran’s political history, and then gives an overview of the characteristics of the Iranian community in the Greater Toronto Area and the Netherlands, including the community life and the problems with uniting Iranians. Subsequently it will present the outcome of the research in terms of labour market position and incorporation. A comparison of both countries and their policies is made in the next part. Special attention will be paid to the national identity of both countries and how this is related to their view of immigrants. After a final comparison recommendations for policy (and attitude) changes are made. Read More ...
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