Monitor on Psychology - September 2011 - (Page 75)

Positive religious coping was associated with greater posttraumatic growth, the researchers found, while negative religious coping was associated with higher levels of depression. “The positive religious coping methods can be really helpful to people dealing with stressful events in general and the 9/11 attacks in particular,” says Abu-Raiya. “Psychologists should be aware of these and try to help clients use the positive ones and avoid the negative ones.” The next generation How will the post-9/11 generation of Muslim Americans fare? It’s tough to be a young Muslim in the United States, says Selcuk R. Sirin, PhD, co-author of “Muslim-American Youth: Understanding Hyphenated Identities Through Multiple Methods” (2008) and an associate professor of applied psychology at New York University. In one of Sirin’s studies, published in 2007 in Applied Development Science (Vol. 11, No. 3), for example, 84 percent of the 12- to 18-year-old Muslim American participants revealed that they had faced at least one act of discrimination in the previous year. And yet, says Sirin, most of the young people he has studied are comfortable with what he calls their “hyphenated identities” as both Muslims and Americans. “They seem to be pretty happy sitting on the hyphen,” he says. “They don’t feel the need to pick one over the other.” Instead of using questions that force participants to choose identity A or B, Sirin’s research uses a series of questions about the degree to which participants identify with their Muslim and American identities. He also uses “identity maps” that allow participants to express their identities pictorially. Among his research participants, 61 percent have hybrid identities, 29 percent have parallel identities that they “commute” back and forth between and 11 percent have conflicted identities. That strong sense of American-ness gives young Muslims resilience, says Sirin. “They feel that they’re Americans, they have certain rights and can stand up for their rights,” he says. Young Muslim American women in particular take advantage of opportunities to educate people, says Sirin. “If you’re perceived as oppressed, uneducated and unsophisticated, people try to help you,” he explains, adding that stereotypes of Islamic terrorists mean that people don’t approach MuslimAmerican boys and men. “It seems like it opens doors.” The fact that young Muslims can experience high levels of discrimination and still identify as Americans is a uniquely American phenomenon, adds Sirin. “In Europe, Muslims are denied the possibility of becoming an integral part of the country they have settled for generations,” he says. “After two generations in Germany, Turks still don’t call themselves Germans, for example. That’s not the case in the United States.” n Rebecca A. Clay is a writer in Washington, D.C. septeMber 2011 • Monitor on psychology Professional Resources for Practice Becoming an Effective Psychotherapist Adopting a Theory of Psychotherapy That’s Right for You and Your Client Derek Truscott 2010. 240 pages. Hardcover. List: $59.95 • APA Member/Affiliate: $49.95 ISBN 978-1-4338-0473-1 • Item # 4313025 SeCond ediTion delivering What Works in Therapy The Heart and Soul of Change Edited by Barry L. Duncan, Scott D. Miller, Bruce E. Wampold, and Mark A. Hubble 2010. 455 pages. Hardcover. List: $59.95 • APA Member/Affiliate: $49.95 ISBN 978-1-4338-0709-1 • Item # 4317206 On Becoming a Better Therapist Barry L. Duncan 2010. 208 pages. Hardcover. List: $49.95 • APA Member/Affiliate: $39.95 ISBN 978-1-43380-757-2 • Item # 4317217 Pharmacotherapy for Psychologists Prescribing and Collaborating Roles Edited by Robert E. McGrath and Bret A. Moore 2010. 264 pages. Hardcover. List: $69.95 • APA Member/Affiliate: $49.95 ISBN 978-1-4338-0800-5 • Item # 4317226 FAD0042 www.apa.org/pubs/books • 800-374-2721 75 http://www.apa.org/pubs/books http://www.apa.org/pubs/books

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - September 2011

Monitor on Psychology - September 2011
Letters
President’s Column
Contents
From the CEO
Supreme Court hears psychologists on prison and video game cases
Antipsychotics are overprescribed in nursing homes
New MCAT likely to recognize the mind-body connection
A $2 million boost for military and families
In Brief
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS UPDATE
On Your Behalf
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
TIME CAPSULE
QUESTIONNAIRE
Speaking of Education
SCIENCE WATCH
An uncertain future for American workers
Advocating for psychotherapy
PRACTICE PROFILE
ETHICALLY SPEAKING
Seared in our memories
Helping kids cope in an uncertain world
APA and Nickelodeon team up
Muslims in America, post 9/11
Bin Laden’s death
‘They expect us to be there’
Answering the call of public policy
Candidates answer final questions
APA News
Division Spotlight
New leaders
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION
Disaster relief training
Honoring teaching excellence
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - September 2011