The Role of the Family in Preventing the Transformation of Western Youngsters into Jihadi Fighters

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 157-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Barna

AbstractThe mother–child relationship is essential in the development of a healthy child, who can grow up trusting his/her own perceptions and understanding of the social environment. Teenagers naturally experience a period of transition in search of their own identity as individuals, thus being really exposed and vulnerable to being recruited by jihadists. In this particular stage of development, the teenager tries to free himself/herself from the tutorship of the family and looks to experience something new outside the family frame. One of the defining characteristics of this stage is a tendency to take things to an extreme and to see things in black and white, while emotions are experienced as very intense, overwhelming and sometimes difficult to control. Teenagers are easy to impress, convince and manipulate, especially by their social milieu outside the family of origin. In the cases when the relationship with the family of origin becomes tensed – whether the child has been neglected or spoiled during childhood, or when there are tensions between parents or the family is conflicting – the teenager looks for validation outside the family environment. Any opportunity to do something out of the ordinary and apparently easy to accomplish might seem attractive for this category of individuals, especially for those that do not enjoy family support. The illusion of becoming famous or the attraction of glamour might seem desirable at this age. This is one of the main reasons why Jihad has had such a significant impact on Western converts to Islam. Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide an analysis of the case of Boicea Luigi Constantin (Umar al Rumaani), a Romanian that adhered to the extremist ideology of the Islamic State, who does not come from a Muslim family, yet underwent a fast self-radicalization process. In order to better understand Boicea’s case, we will try to present the result of the investigation conducted on the family environment, his interests manifested at an early age, and the tragic events that contributed to his radicalization; in other words, we will try to present the general context in which self-radicalization occurred.

Author(s):  
Patricia S. Mann

Ours is a time of dramatic and confusing transformations in everyday life, many of them originating in the social enfranchisement of women that has occurred over the past twenty-five years. Sociologist Arlie Hochschild demonstrates a widespread phenomenon of work-family imbalance in our society, experienced by people in terms of a time bind, and a devaluation of familial relationships. As large numbers of women have moved into the workplace, familial relations of all sorts have been colonized by what Virginia Held critically refers to as the contractual paradigm. Even the mother/child relationship, representing for Held an alternative feminist paradigm of selfhood and agency, has been in large part "outsourced." I believe that an Arendtian conception of speech and action might enable us to assert anew the grounds for familial relations. If we require a new site upon which to address our human plurality and natality, the postpatriarchal family may provide that new site upon which individuals can freely act to recreate the fabric of human relationships. It would seem to be our moral and political responsibility as social philosophers today to speculatively contribute to the difficult yet imperative task of reconfiguring the family. In this paper, I attempt to articulate the basic assumptions from which such a reconfiguration must begin.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-58
Author(s):  
Jiří Semrád ◽  
Milan Škrabal

The paper deals with issues connected with the motivation of high school students to participate in activities aimed at professional creative activity and, in this context, issues of environmental influences, especially from school and the family. It is responding to some of the growing efforts of neoliberalism to over individualize creative expression and activities and completely ignore social influences. It also takes into account the cultural legacy of past generations and the sources of creative power that have taken root in society and from which individuals draw and process their inspiration. Presented within are the results of an empirical probe focused on the influence of the social environment on the creative activity of teenagers. The paper follows the relations to the existing body of knowledge on the relationship between social environment and creativity, with an effort to capture the social conditionality of creative performances—to capture their roots. The results of the probe have confirmed the initial hypothesis that the creative efforts of secondary school students taking part in vocational training is based on the social background of the family and school. However, the family influence on the students’ creativity is not as significant as one would expect. It is the indirect effect of the family environment that has a larger influence.


Curationis ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Botha ◽  
G. Cleaver

The mother child relationship can help or hinder the social, emotional and intellectual development of the infant. Research has shown that the interaction between mother and child can affect the child’s cognitive development. Research has shown that mothers from the lower socio-economic groups do not stimulate their babies optimally and that this may affect the children negatively. In this study 86 underprivileged mothers from two different cultural backgrounds were asked to describe the ways in which they kept their infants occupied during the first year of their infants’ lives. The differences between the two groups are discussed and recommendations are made.


1988 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 253-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malka Margalit ◽  
Amazia Weisel ◽  
Tali Heiman ◽  
Shmuel Shulman

The social skills structure of behaviorally disordered adolescents was investigated in relation to their family climate and school competence and adjustment. The sample consisted of 109 male adolescents — 53 behaviorally disordered and 56 nondisabled students. The instruments were the Hebrew adaptations of the Social Skills Checklist, the Family Environment Scale, and the Classroom Behavior Inventory. The comparison between the factorial structure of the behaviorally disordered and the nondisabled responses show that the behaviorally disordered adolescents reported a global social skills concept, whereas their controls revealed a more differential concept. A significant difference was found between the two groups' perceptions of family climate: The behaviorally disordered adolescents viewed their families as more cohesive and organized, more emphasizing of the achievements and independence of the family members, and less enabling the expression of emotions. Teachers' perceptions of their behaviorally disordered students' social skills were also compared with the behaviorally disordered adolescents' self-reports, and significant differences were found. The teachers perceived a differential structure of skills, whereas the adolescents reported a global profile of higher functioning. Aspects of classroom behavior style and family climate were the best predictors of the social skills. Intervention planning should attend to the multivariate nature of social skills.


1988 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-477
Author(s):  
CAROL E. MacKINNON

Two regression analyses were performed that tested the relationships between the amount of negative sibling interaction and the amount of positive sibling interaction and measures of relationship quality and family form. When measures of husband-wife, mother-child, and father-child relationship quality were controlled, marital status was not significantly related to either measure of sibling interactions. However, when the marital status of the parents (family form) was controlled, both the quality of husband-wife relationship and the quality of mother-child relationship were positively related to positive sibling interaction and negatively related to negative sibling interaction. Regardless of family form, the quality of other relationships in the family were important predictors of sibling interactions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno David Henriques ◽  
Regina Lunardi Rocha ◽  
Amanda Márcia dos Santos Reinaldo

ABSTRACT Drugs abuse is a complex phenomenon with many causes, and it affects children and adolescents. The objective of this research was to seek scientific evidence that contributes to the understanding of the existing relation between the use of crack and other drugs by children and adolescents and the family. The method used was the integrative review. The bases analyzed were: MEDLINE, LILACS, Cochrane, BDENF and IBECS. Descriptors: cocaine, crack, family and family relationships. Three categories were evidenced: Family environment as a protector and/or facilitator for the use of crack and other drugs by children and adolescents; Lack of knowledge and the repercussions of the use of crack and other drugs by children and adolescents in the family environment; Networks to support the family and coping with the use of crack and other drugs. The family environment has a protective function against the use of drugs, but the issue of drugs has to be faced and addressed. It is also necessary to strengthen the social networks and discuss prevention themes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azher Hameed Qamar

AbstractThe Punjabi postpartum tradition is called sawa mahina (‘five weeks’). This study investigates infant health care belief practices in rural Punjab and looks at the social significance of infant care beliefs practiced during sawa mahina. During six months of fieldwork, using participant observation and unstructured interviews as primary research methods, the study explored the prevalent postpartum tradition from a childcare perspective. A Punjabi child holds a social value regarding familial, religious, and emotional values. The five-week traditional postpartum period provides an insight into mother-child attachment, related child care belief practices, and the social construction of infancy. A child’s agency is recognised in the embodied mother-child relationship, and a child is seen in a sympathetic connection with the mother. Establishing an early foundation of ascribed identities is another important part of postpartum belief practices.


2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
András Láng

Abstract Recent research has revealed several developmental aspects of Machiavellianism. In this study, we explored the potential relationship between perceived parentification in the family of origin and Machiavellianism in adulthood. Three hundred and ninety five Hungarian adults (282 women) completed self-report measures of parentification and Machiavellianism. Results showed that emotional parentification and children’s unacknowledged efforts to contribute to the well-being of their families were associated with Machiavellianism - but only in men. Machiavellian tactics and worldview are proposed as possible coping mechanisms with the neglectful and unpredictable family environment. Gender differences in the results are explained in terms of gender role socialization and men’s and women’s different susceptibility for different forms of psychopathology.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 567
Author(s):  
Yunita Sari ◽  
Tina Afiatin ◽  
Subandi Subandi ◽  
H.W. Setiawan

Various studies related to family strength indicators have been carried out in various countries. However, research on family strength in Asia, especially in Indonesia, which has a variety of cultures is still not widely conducted. The purpose of this study was to properly explore key indicators of Sundanese family strength in Bandung City, West Java, Indonesia. This study used the qualitative approach specifically the phenomenology method. The participants were four Sundanese families in Bandung City, who identify its family members are Sundanese and are confirmed by the surrounding community as Sundanese. Data were analyzed with thematic analysis. The result uncovered five themes: 1) accommodating conflict strategy or “silih narima” 2.) positive communication 3.) the emotional intimacy 4.) knowing (philosophy of life) or “neang elmu” 5.) the social support of the family of origin. The implication of these findings is discussed.


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