Information Science Reference Working With Muslim Clients in the Helping Professions (Advances in Religious and Cultural Studies)

Members of the Muslim community are a growing population in North America and Europe who go underserved due to challenges that they face when seeking to utilize services. In addition, providers of these services face challenges in understanding the unique needs required by communities with specific subsets of religious values. Cultural and religious beliefs, stigma, bias, and misunderstanding can all create barriers between helping professionals and their clients. It is essential to bridge the knowledge gap for these individuals in order to better and effectively serve these specific communities. Working With Muslim Clients in the Helping Professions is a research publication that focuses on helping professionals in areas such as social work, human resources, counseling, nursing, and other related areas to understand pertinent issues that may impact their success when working with Muslim clients. Highlighting topics such as migration trauma, community health, and Islamophobia, this title addresses contemporary issues that impact the full and successful utilization of human services by Muslims living in non-Muslim majority countries. It is ideal for social workers, therapists, counsellors, human resource professionals, nurses, doctors, caregivers, medical professionals, mental health practitioners, life coaches, academicians, researchers, public health educators, and students. About the Author Anisah Bagasra is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Kennesaw State University who focuses on behavioral health research within ethnic and religious minority communities, with an interest in perceptions of mental illness and their influence on help-seeking behaviors. Dr. Bagasra previously designed a psychology major for Claflin University and oversaw the creation of online degree programsMitchell Mackinem was an Associate Professor of Sociology at Wingate University. "Dr. Mack," as many students call him, came to Wingate with many years of "real world" experience. For twenty years, Dr. Mackinem worked in addictions treatment field. As an addictions counselor he worked in many settings both in the community and in correction settings. Between part-time and full-time teaching Dr. Mack has been teaching sociology courses for over 20 years. Mitchell Mackinem has published three books and several articles and book chapters. His most recent publications are a journal article with Dr. Anisah Bagasra, "Muslim American Views of Mental Health Issues: A Pilot Study" and several encyclopedia entries with Christopher B Mackinem in the Encyclopedia of Social Deviance edited by Craig J. Forsyth and Heith Copes. His research projects center on the nexus of crime, drugs, and deviance.