Gendered Sources of Demoralization and Resilience among Afghan Refugees in the United States

• In Event: 119 - Regular Session. Immigration and Gender

Abstract

This paper presents findings on the sources of mental distress/demoralization among 260 Afghan refugees (and former refugees) living in Alameda County, California. Data come from the Afghan Community Health Survey conducted in 2007-08. Using OLS regression we assess the relative influence of pre-migration, external displacement, and resettlement stressors on Talbieh Brief Distress Inventory scores. Controlling for pre-migration and external displacement stressors, resettlement stressors substantially influence levels of distress. Significant resettlement stressors include perceived discrimination, family roles and ties, extended family ties, employment and quality of employment, dissonant acculturation, and gender ideology. Many resettlement stressors related to acculturation and social support are highly gendered. Dissonant acculturation is positively associated with demoralization for men, but is only weakly and non-significantly associated for women. Enacting family roles is a source of resilience for women, but not for men. Maintaining extended family ties reduces demoralization for women, but increases it for men. Women who have a traditional gender ideology have lower levels of demoralization, but a traditional gender ideology increases demoralization among men. Drawing from Thoits (1991) and Rumbaut and Portes (2001) we hypothesize that divergent sources of distress for men and women reflect structured opportunities to enact relevant gender role identities and the gendered shape that dissonant acculturation has taken in this Afghan community.

Authors

• Carl W. Stempel, California State University-East Bay

• Nilofar Sami, University of California-Berkeley

• Patrick Marius Koga, University of California-Davis