Iraqi Refugee High School Students’ Academic Adjustment

ABSTRACT

Many Iraqi refugee students in the United States suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as acculturation stresses. These stresses often create challenges for their integration into U.S. schools. The project explored risk factors such as the length of educational gaps in transit, PTSD, and separation and marginalization acculturation, as well as protective factors such as resilience, self-esteem, and integration and assimilation. We conducted bivariate correlations and multiple regression to examine the relationship between factors and predicting school adjustment using variables among 100 Iraqi refugee high school students in the Detroit area. The results showed that the educational gaps (negatively), and assimilation and resilience (positively), are the strongest predictors for school adjustment. PTSD incurred by Iraqis as a result of events experienced before and during their migration from Iraq are related to their self-esteem and separation acculturation, while educational gaps are related to their marginalization as well as to their integration.

Acknowledgment

I would like to acknowledge the wonderful support provided by Ms. Jihan Damen and Mr. John Dignan in Detroit. I would also like to acknowledge the enthusiastic participation of all study participants, especially members of Iraqi Chaldean community. Finally, I would like to acknowledge contributions made by my colleague Dr. Bruce Collet, as well as our great graduate assistants at Bowling Green State University. Without all of your generosity, this project would not have been possible.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hyeyoung Bang

Hyeyoung Bang, PhD, is an associate professor in the School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Policy at Bowling Green State University where she teaches educational psychology and (cross-cultural) human development. Her main research focus is wisdom identity development as related to such areas as resilience, emotional development (empathy), prosocial behavior, spirituality, and religion. She also researches immigrants’ acculturation issues including Posttraumatic experience and acculturation stresses and their impact on schooling.