Fear among the Feared: Arab Americans’ Fear of Crime in an Ethnic Enclave Community

• In Event: Threat

Abstract

While scholars have investigated the links between the minority threat perspective and the majority group’s fear of immigrants, little to no research exists on the inverse of this relationship. That is, what and who do immigrant groups – and specifically, first- and second-generation Arab Americans – fear at a time when they are perceived as one of the most threatening populations in the country? Research on fear of crime suggests that minorities have higher perceptions of risk and fear than other groups, consistent with their official victimization rates. The present study analyzes data from 66 in-depth interviews with first-generation Arab immigrant parents (N=32) and their second-generation teenage children (N=34), who reside in an ethnic enclave community in the northeastern United States. We focus on Arab Americans because they represent a religious and ethnic group that has faced intensifying fear and backlash in the U.S. following the September 11th terrorist attacks. Using today’s unique sociopolitical context as our backdrop, we examine participants’ immigration experiences and specifically how they have adjusted to the diverse American culture and their communities in the face of escalating fears about their very presence.

Authors

• Amarat Zaatut, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Shannon K. Jacobsen, Rutgers University