Abstract
The acculturation process and psychological aspects of cultural change and adaptation have become the center of diaspora and immigration scholarship over the past decades. The goal of this piece is to amplify the voices of female immigrants who have experienced both cultural and physical separation from their home country. Specifically, assessing the ways in which the acculturation process in a host society has impacted their psychological health and well-being. The primary focus of this study is on the two factors of gender and ethnic enclave, to answer the research questions: 1) How does gender play a role in encountering and adopting new socio-cultural values? 2) How does the existence of an established ethnic enclave and living among people with similar ethnic backgrounds in a host society affect the acculturation process and the psychological aspects of it? Data was collected through an in-depth interview method called collective biography, executed with seventeen Iranian women in Los Angeles, CA and Cleveland, OH. The research findings allow for a new way to approach the acculturation studies; precisely, an evaluation of the levels of importance of factors such as gender, existence of ethnic enclave, current political climate, religion, family support and marital status. The overall findings will be beneficial in expanding acculturation theory and highlighting the important role of gender and women's issues in studying immigrants' post-migration. Future policy-making institutions and organizations that study immigration will benefit from the knowledge of potential risks to the personal and social lives of their subjects after migration.