Intergenerational Resilience in the Context of Historical and Ongoing Trauma

Today there are about one billion migrants worldwide and about 40 million migrants in the United States. Of these migrants, 3.5 million are of Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African (Arab/MENA) descent. The Arab/MENA community in the United States has been exposed to historical, premigration, perimigration, and postmigration trauma and stress. Despite the considerable research on migrants' trauma exposure, much remains to be known about their resilience. More recently, the resilience literature has expanded beyond the micro (individual) level to explore resilience across the ecological system. Yet the chronosystem (time, intergenerational trauma, and resilience) and the process of passing on resilience within the context of oppression remain understudied. Thus, there is a need to understand intergenerational resilience, in the context of intergenerational trauma, defined as the transmission of resilience across generations for Arab/MENA communities. This study explored the lived experiences of intergenerational resilience for first- and second-generation Arab/MENA migrants (N = 19). Data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three superordinate themes emerged including maintaining culture, cultivating resilience, and outcomes of resilience. Eight subthemes emerged including collective practices, intentional teaching, observational learning, firsthand experience, opportunity, positive identity, sense of belonging, and connection from a distance. Findings add to the literature by illuminating some processes for intergenerational resilience, identifying constructs for future empirical studies (e.g., family communication, cultural maintenance), and providing direction for intervention with this population. Implications for future research and practice are provided.