Psychological Stress and Immigration
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This paper is an examination of the psychological stresses caused by immigration and the resulting discrimination suffered by newcomers at the hands of the resident population. In the United States, a nation built by immigration, historical tradition has been to welcome outsiders and the diversity they bring. However, in practice, this tradition has turned into a suspicion of strangers, a dislike of alien cultures, and an open opposition to new arrivals. Current residents tend to view immigration that has already occurred as beneficial and healthy, while new additions to the population are seen as bringing economic and cultural destruction to the status quo. This is attributable in part to the human tendency to fear and oppose change and the unknown, as well as a natural preference for homogeneity. For the immigrant, arrival in a new culture demands that he or she either cling to practices from the old culture or attempt complete assimilation into the new. Both choices make huge psychological demands on the individual, subjecting him or her to what may be nearly intolerable stresses. For an individual arriving from a more "Westernized" Middle Eastern country, such as Palestine, the stresses may be subtler but are no less painful. Immigrant groups have formed to offer some solutions; nevertheless, the problems are real and persistent. America needs to find more effective ways to continue to welcome newcomers into its population.
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Americans" (O'Neill 104). On the other hand, large numbers of newcomers flooding into the existing population appeared to jeopardize the status quo, affecting employment, culture, and language in an overwhelming wave of change.
Gil Loescher and John A Scanlan note that many immigrants face discrimination because current residents fear the economic and social impact of the immigrants' arrival on the existing society (11). John Crewdson wonders "whether Americans were genuinely worried about the fragmentation of their society along ethnic lines or whether there was merely some cultural chauvinism at work" (15). Either possibility represents a significant threat to the existing situation. Even if residents believed only that a large influx of immigrants would significantly change the job market, taking even a small but measurable portion of lower level jobs away from those already residing in the country, they could be justified in fearing the arrival of immigrants in their neighborhoods. When the new arrivals also look, talk, and behave in markedly different ways, residents often become even more fearful that the mere presence of the newcomers will alter the existing society and change the ways they must live.
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2591
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)
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