Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Iraqi Expatriates’ Experience of North American Media Coverage of the Iraq War

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The extensive North American (NA) media coverage of the recent conflict in Iraq invites the question of how adult Iraqi immigrants have experienced such coverage. This qualitative investigation, involving Iraqi immigrants in Vancouver, Canada, used an interpretive description method (Thorne et al., Int J Qual Methods 3(1):1–21, 2004) to analyze ten participant interviews using Miles and Huberman’s (1994) analytic framework. Eleven themes emerged that identified the participants’ perceptions of the NA media war coverage, and the initial and ongoing impact of being exposed to it. Implications for counseling are considered.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahern, J., Galea, S., Resnick, H., Kilpatrick, D., Bucuvalas, M., Gold, J., et al. (2002). Television images and psychological symptoms after the September 11 terrorists attacks. Psychiatry, 65(4), 289–300.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ali, S. R., Liu, M. W., & Humedian, M. (2004). Islam 101: Understanding the religion and therapy implications. Professional Psychology, Research and Practice, 35(6), 635–642. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.35.6.635.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arredondo, P., & Toporek, R. (2004). Multicultural counseling competencies = ethical practice. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 26(1), 44–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, C. (1992). Qualitative research: Valuable or irrelevant? Disability, Handicap & Society, 7(2), 115–124. doi:10.1080/02674649266780151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhatia, S. (2008). 9/11 and the Indian diaspora: Narratives of race, place and immigrant identity. Journal of Intercultural Studies (Melbourne, Vic.), 29(1), 21–39. doi:10.1080/07256860701759923.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bracken, P. J., Giller, J. E., & Summerfield, D. (1995). Psychological responses to war and atrocity: The limitations of current concepts. Social Science & Medicine, 40(8), 1073–1082. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(94)00181-R.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CATS Consortium. (2007). Implementing CBT for traumatized children and adolescents after September 11: Lessons learned from the child and adolescent trauma treatments and services (CATS) project. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 36(4), 581–592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chu, T. Q., Seery, M. D., Ence, W. A., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. (2006). Ethnicity and gender in the face of a terrorist attack: A national longitudinal study of immediate responses and outcomes two years after September 11. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 28(4), 291–301. doi:10.1207/s15324834basp2804_2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Council on American Islamic Relations.(2001). Civil rights report. Retrieved March 1, 2005, from http://www.CAIR-net.org/civilrights

  • Council on American Islamic Relations. (2002). The status of Muslim civil rights in the United States. Retrieved March 1, 2005, from http://www.CAIR-net.org/civilrights

  • Dimitrova, D. V., & Strömbäck, J. (2005). Mission accomplished? Framing of the Iraq war in the elite newspapers in Sweden and the United States. Gazette, 67(5), 399–417. doi:10.1177/0016549205056050.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dutta-Bergman, M. (2005). Depression and news gathering after September 11: The interplay of affect and cognition. Communication Research Reports, 22(1), 7–14. doi:10.1080/00036810500058276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farhoumand-Sims, C. (2003) Muslim women: Improving portrayals in Canadian media: Influencing media practices, building media advocacy strategies. A media project by the Afghan Women’s Organization, the Canadian Council of Muslim Women and Media Watch. Toronto, Canada.

  • Ford, C. A., Udry, J. R., Gleiter, K., & Chantala, K. (2003). Reactions of young adults to September 11, 2001. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 157(6), 572–578.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Galea, S., Ahern, J., Resnick, H., Kilpatrick, D., Bucuvalas, M., Gold, J., et al. (2002). Psychological sequelae of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. The New England Journal of Medicine, 346(13), 982–987.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Garatti, M., & Rudnitski, R. A. (2007). Adolescents’ views on war and peace in the early phases of the Iraq conflict. Adolescence, 42(167), 501–523.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, E. A., Creswell, C., & O’Connor, T. G. (2007). Posttraumatic stress symptoms in London school children following September 11, 2001: An exploratory investigation of peri-traumatic reactions and intrusive imagery. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 38(4), 474–490. doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2007.10.003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Inayat, Q. (2002). The meaning of being a Muslim: An aftermath of the twin towers episode. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 15(4), 351–358. doi:10.1080/0951507021000050203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ishiyama, I. (1995). Culturally dislocated clients: Self-validation and cultural conflict issues and counselling implications. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 29(3), 262–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishiyama, I. (2000). Toward organizational maturation: Active witnessing for prejudice reduction. A keynote speech, delivered at the Transcending Boundaries: Integrating People, Processes, Systems Conference in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, sponsored by Griffith University (Sept. 7, 2000).

  • Kinzie, D. J., Boehnlein, J. K., Riley, C., & Sparr, L. (2002). The effects of September 11 on traumatized refugees: Reactivation of posttraumatic stress disorder. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 190(7), 437–441. doi:10.1097/00005053-200207000-00003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Early steps in analysis. In M. B. Miles, & A. M. Huberman (Eds.), Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (pp. 50–89, 2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miskin, S., Rayner, L., & Lalic, M. (2003). Media under fire: Reporting conflict in Iraq. Information, Analysis and Advice for the Parliament. Information and Research Services, Current. Issues in Brief (Alan Guttmacher Institute), (21), 2002–2003.

  • Morrow, S. L. (2005). Quality and trustworthiness in qualitative research. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(2), 250–260. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.52.2.250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morse, J. M. (1991). Qualitative nursing research: A free-for-all? In J. M. Morse (Ed.), Qualitative nursing research: A contemporary dialogue (pp. 14–22). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polkinghorne, D. E. (2005). Language and meaning: Data collection in qualitative research. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(2), 137–145. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.52.2.137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pulcino, T., Galea, S., Ahern, J., Resnick, S., Foley, M., & Vlahov, D. (2003). Posttraumatic stress in women after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York. Journal of Women’s Health, 12(8), 809–820. doi:10.1089/154099903322447774.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sandelowski, M. (1996). One is the liveliest number: The case orientation of qualitative research. Research in Nursing & Health, 19(6), 525–529. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-240X(199612)19:6<525::AID-NUR8>3.0.CO;2-Q.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlenger, W. E., Caddell, J. M., Ebert, L., Jordan, K. B., Rourke, K. M., Wilson, D., et al. (2002). Psychological reactions to terrorist attacks: Findings from the national study of Americans’ reactions to September 11. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(5), 581–588. doi:10.1001/jama.288.5.581.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schuster, M. A., Stein, B. D., Jaycox, L. H., Collins, R. L., Marshall, G. N., Elliott, M. N., et al. (2001). A national survey of stress reactions after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The New England Journal of Medicine, 345(20), 1507–1512. doi:10.1056/NEJM200111153452024.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schwalbe, C. B. (2006). Remembering our shared past: Ethnicity and gender in the face of a terrorist attack: Visually framing the Iraq war on U.S. news websites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(1), 264–289. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00325.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sideris, T. (2003). War, gender and culture: Mozambican women refugees. Social Science & Medicine, 56(4), 713–724. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(02)00067-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, B., & O’Flynn, D. (2000). The use of qualitative strategies in participant and emancipatory research to evaluate disability service organizations. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 9(4), 515–526. doi:10.1080/13594320050203111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speckhard, A. (2002). Inoculating resilience to terrorism: Acute and posttraumatic stress responses in U.S. military, personnel and civilian services serving overseas after September 11th. Traumatology, 8(2), 105–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strug, D. L., Mason, S. E., & Heller, F. (2003). An exploratory study of the impact of the year of 9/11 on older Hispanic immigrants in New York City. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 42(2), 77–99. doi:10.1300/J083v42n02_06.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ter Wal, J., d’Haenens, L., & Koeman, J. (2005). (Re)presentation of ethnicity in EU and Dutch domestic news: A quantitative analysis. Media Culture & Society, 27(6), 937–950. doi:10.1177/0163443705057681.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorne, S., Con, A., McGuinness, L., McPherson, G., & Harris, S. R. (2004). Health care communication issues in multiple sclerosis: An interpretive description. Qualitative Health Research, 14(1), 5–22. doi:10.1177/1049732303259618.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thorne, S., Kirkham, S. R., & O’Flynn-Magee, K. (2004). The analytic challenge in interpretive description. Internaltional Journal of Qualitative Methods, 3(1), 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toren, P., Wolmer, L., Weizman, R., Magal-Vardi, O., & Laor, N. (2002). Retraumatization of Israeli civilians during a reactivation of the Gulf War threat. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 190(1), 43–45. doi:10.1097/00005053-200201000-00011.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van Zelst, W., de Beurs, E., & Smit, J. H. (2003). Effects of the September 11th attacks on symptoms of PTSD on community-dwelling older persons in The Netherlands. International Journal of Geriatrics Psychiatry, 18(2), 187, 190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vera, E. M., & Speight, S. L. (2003). Multicultural competence, social justice, and counseling psychology: Expanding our roles. The Counseling Psychologist, 3(3), 253–272. doi:10.1177/0011000003031003001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and Special Education, University of British Columbia, 2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Hajera Rostam

  2. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Beth E. Haverkamp

Authors
  1. Hajera Rostam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Beth E. Haverkamp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hajera Rostam.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rostam, H., Haverkamp, B.E. Iraqi Expatriates’ Experience of North American Media Coverage of the Iraq War. Int J Adv Counselling 31, 100–117 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-009-9071-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-009-9071-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation