¶ … Adjustment for Iraqi and Cuban Refugees Theoretical framework of theory of work adjustment finds that Iraqi and Cuban immigrants require developing person-work environment co-responsiveness. This is through continuous adjustment, develop their identities that relate with their work environment, and through a slow and gradual process. The theory identifies the work environment requires specifics from migrant workers, and migrant workers need requirements from the work environment. Lastly, is the matching of work requirements and individual capability, work needs and individual skills, work values and personal abilities. This is because the theory recognizes Iraqi and Cuban immigrants have poor work environment relations and adjustment problems. These arise from prejudices, assumptions, and preconceived notions against western culture, live in their traditional collectivist and group-oriented culture, which are detrimental to the development of their careers and work experiences.

Theory of Work Adjustment for Iraqi and Cuban Refugees

This study creates a theoretical formula for Iraqi and Cuban refugees in the U.S., using the theory of work adjustment. This population is selected for it faces various employment and career issues and problems arising from emotional state, cultural, socio-economic status, and language background. Apart from stressors from their countries of origin like war and persecution, these immigrants face stressors from the challenges and procedures of migration status in the U.S. The main challenge facing this group of immigrants is intolerance and discrimination from their attempts to adjust to mainstream American culture and workplace environments. In addition, they suffer from mental and emotional symptoms like feeling on edge, restlessness, worries and fears, and anger (Bemak et al., 2003). For example, Iraqi immigrants suffer from cultural shock as they face a western culture different from their Islamic customs and beliefs. They are susceptible to nervousness, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and depression. This is heightened by stereotypes following September 11 attacks, as many employers are apprehensive to give them jobs. Most immigrants' especially Iraqi immigrants are highly qualified with education and professional qualifications in medicine, engineering, and architecture. Unfortunately, while they may have had successful lives in their countries of origins these qualifications are not recognized in the U.S.

Cuban and Iraqis face challenges like inability to speak English, discrimination from employers, designation to part-time and seasonal employment, long training sessions, which does lead to employment, and if it does, they are paid minimal as compared to American citizens. The main challenges in settling in a work environment are post-immigration stressors like language barriers, acculturation, prejudice, and a decline in social status (Hardin et al., 2001). These along with a lack of cultural understanding are the causes of deteriorating mental health and career problems among Cuban and Iraqi immigrants. Moreover, they suffer from prejudices, assumptions, and preconceived notions against western culture, live in their traditional collectivist and group-oriented culture, which are detrimental to the development of their careers and work experiences.

Theory of Work Adjustment

The theory of work adjustment is used in this theoretical model for it offers a mold for conceptualizing interactions between individual and work environments. The theory is based on four psychological concepts including reinforcement value, ability, person-environment correspondence, and satisfaction (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2012). It is on these four principles that this theoretical formulation constructs and analyzes Iraqi and Cuban immigrant's workplace experiences.

The first principle is the person-environment correspondence, which relates the fit of the environment with a person as well as the interaction or co-responsiveness of the person with the environment (McMahon & Patton, 2006). The analysis finds that Iraqi and Cuban immigrants are not able to develop their careers and professions, and are facing various challenges working in the U.S. from a poor relationship with their work environments. Cuban and Iraqi immigrants are not able to continually adjust thereby have poor relationships with their work environments leading to high turnover rates. This implies that a career counselor and...

The challenge is Cuban and Iraqi's have strong cultural identities, collectiveness, and socialism, which are unlike western culture independence, individuality, and capitalism. As a career counselor there is need to assist Iraqi and Cuban immigrants develop their identities that relate with their work environment (McMahon & Patton, 2006). There is a need for these immigrants to learn how to adjust their attitudes, norms, and beliefs (Bemak, Chung, & Pederson, 2003), to align with mainstream American culture for a healthier work environment relationship. This approach chooses the theory of work adjustment since it emphasizes career counseling to encourage adjustment in individuals over time. Therefore, adjusting to the work environment and workplace culture is not instantaneous but a slow and gradual process.
In addition, the theory of work adjustment in the principle of person-environment correspondence recognizes that the relationship between individuals and work environment is two-way (McMahon & Patton, 2006). This implies that the work environment requires specifics from a worker, and the worker needs requirements from the work environment. In this aspect, career counseling will assist Iraqi and Cuban immigrants recognize that their work environments require certain needs from them. These include meeting of organizational objectives, fitting into organizational culture and structure, adherence of code of ethics, and meeting performance requirements. On the other hand, career counseling with assist immigrants learn how to require needs from their work environments. This is in light of the fact that career counseling cannot counsel the work environment. Therefore, Iraqi and Cuban immigrants are assisted in deriving requirements like good working conditions and money from the work, while the work derives certain work skills. This exchange of needs is referred to as correspondence in theory of work adjustment, and is achievable through career counseling. This is through assisting immigrants learn how to identify, acquire, and utilize workplace reinfocers like benefits and salaries from the work environment. It also aims at assisting them in developing skills of identifying and requiring needs from the work environment like equal employment opportunity and cultural and language tolerance. Therefore, the goal in this theoretical framework is to assist Iraqi and Cuban immigrants identify and enjoy reinforcers like achievement, co-workers, job security, advancement, social status, social service, and variety from employment. In the process, as the immigrant enjoys satisfaction from the work environment, the U.S. work environment will enjoy satisfactoriness. This is further supported by the fact that theory of work adjust will require career counseling to focus on creating correspondence and satisfaction, and realizing that dissatisfaction drives behavior adjustment.

The theory of work adjustment as applied to Iraqi and Cuban immigrant's career problems requires career counseling to focus on several constructs. These are matching work requirements and individual capability, work needs and individual skills, work values and personal abilities. In this theory, career counseling will focus on assisting Iraqi and Cuban immigrants assess their work skills and match them to work needs (McMahon & Patton, 2006). This is especially necessary given that many of the educated and professional immigrants have had successful careers in their countries of origin, with the same qualifications being unrecognized in America. The goal of career counseling is to encourage immigrants realize they have a range of skills and abilities that present them with the potential to acquire new skills required by a task or by an occupation or job. The objective is to assist immigrants describe needs and skills as their surface traits, and their values and abilities as their source traits. In this manner, the immigrant does not focus on acquired skills from their professional and educational background, but on their inner abilities and values. Abilities and values are those source traits that will offer the Iraqi and Cuban immigrant structure in their personality. These source traits remain stable over a long period, while surface traits vary with situations. Immigrants that learn to elicit their source traits will gain recognition from work environments and employers rather than…