The impact of Islam and the public and political portrayals of Islam on child-rearing practices—Discursive analyses of parental accounts among Muslims living in Denmark

Abstract

With the rise of Islamist terrorist attacks in the US and Europe the impact of Islam on child-rearing practices has become a matter of public attention and debate. Within the political discourse in the Western world and in the mass media, Muslims are often being portrayed negatively. Research has documented how Muslims living in the West are adversely affected by the negative portrayals of Islam associated with the War on Terror. The aim of the present study was to explore the impact of Islam on child-rearing practices and parental identity formation among self-identified Muslims in Denmark. Using a discursive approach to analyzing interviews with parents in 29 Middle Eastern refugee families, six rhetorical strategies were identified: (1) minimizing differences, (2) highlighting compatibility, (3) emphasizing positive aspects of Islam, (4) countering common prejudice, (5) actively distancing oneself from terrorists/extremists, and (6) separating Islam as a religion from cultural traditions. It is argued that the global as well as national political discourse post 9/11 is reflected in all of the six rhetorical strategies. Whether parents position themselves as having a high or low bicultural identity or a Muslim parental identity, their positioning involves drawing on the discursive resources from the mass media, the global and national political and public discourse. Furthermore, it is argued that all rhetorical strategies can be seen as attempts to counter the hurt associated with the negative portrayal of Islam.

Refugee children’s mental health and development - A public health problem in Europe

“…From primarily perceiving refugees as human beings in need of protection, the main discourse now seems to be how to protect Europe from the influx of new refugees and the general trend in Europe has been towards more and more restrictive migration policies (Gauffin, 2020). Studies have documented how the post 9/11 'War on Terror' has had a negative effect on Muslim children and youth in the West, and how parental identity formation among Muslim parents living in the West is highly influenced by the negative portrayals of Islam within mass media (Dalgaard, 2016).…”

Child Protection With Muslim Communities: Considerations For Non-Muslim-Based Orthodoxies/Paradigms in Child Welfare and Social Work

“…To further understandings of how Islamic perspectives can be applied, it is important to understand how Islam is lived by Muslim parents and children. Franceschelli and O'Brien (2014) and Dalgaard (2016) have examined the role of Islam in parenting amongst Muslim parents living in Muslim-minority contexts. Their findings included that the Islamic idea of 'the right path' was embedded in parenting strategies, that Islam was employed to inform aspirations across generations, and that Islam supplies parents with networks and resources to assist with child socialisation, including at Mosques (Franceschelli and O'Brien, 2014).…”

The Primacy of Discourse in the Study of Gender in Family Therapy

“…Discourse analytic methods (e.g., conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis, discursive psychology, membership categorization analysis) can address the gap and difficulties discussed above. Although there is a burgeoning body of discursive empirical work on gender/diversity outside of family therapy, including in the study of the family (Adjei, ; Dalgaard, ), family therapy has trailed behind in using discursive methods in general (Tseliou, ) and in examining gender/diversity in particular. None of the existing discursive analyses of family therapy (Lawless, Gale, & Bacigalupe, ; Moore & Seu, ; O'Reilly, ; Singh, ) directly address the construction of gender/diversity and power relations.…”