Evaluación al sistema de control interno del hospital

Intergenerational relations and transmission are elements of the family field, and more specifically they reflect the dynamics and processes used by parents to pass on cultural and religious capitals to their children. Thinking of transmission as pivotal to the family field implies considering the social and structural conditions attached to it.

The concept of generation is particularly relevant in the context of migration. Brah defined generation as a ‘unit of analysis articulating horizontal relations between cohorts’ (Brah, 1996, p.43). By contrast, intergenerational relations are defined by the verticality between different age groups.

Findings from exploratory studies on young British Muslims (Lewis, 2007; Mondal, 2008) emphasise inter-generational conflict as the main dimension of the family’s relations. Mondal (2008), in his book based on 30 qualitative interviews with Muslim youths aged 18 to 30, recognised that the identity conflict that young British Muslims experience, is concerned with tensions between second and the older generations with the main object of challenge being the patriarchal model supported by parental cultural values (Mondal, 2008). Similarly, Lewis’s study (2007) based on interviews with British Muslims aged 18-30 years old, found that the cultural ‘bipolarism’, between Britishness and Islam, intrinsically expresses differences between young and old generations of British Muslims (Lewis, 2007). More generally, these perspectives about generations fit with a wide body of literature which emphasise ‘turmoil and rebellion’ as the main features of the transition to adulthood (Basit, 1997). In these perspectives, the changing of social roles that takes place during the teenage years is appointed as the main cause of stress and tension that characterise the transition (Coleman, 1980).

73 In contrast to the emphasis on conflict, other research studies emphasise cohesiveness and solidarity as crucial dimensions of the parent-young person relationship. These perspectives tend to take distance from the idea that rebellion is an inner part of the transition to adulthood and rather explain that adolescents often tend to avoid conflict (Douvan and Adelson, 1966 in Basit, 1997). A study of American and Danish adolescents, quoted by Basit (1997), concluded that these young people were surprisingly close to their parents, they respected their authority and shared the same aspirations (Kandel and Lesser, 1972 in Basit, 1997).

In the context of young British Muslims, Islam may be seen as enabling intergenerational solidarity by stressing the value of the family and recognising the importance of respect for parents into the core of its religious teaching.

Inter-generational transmission and religion

Theories about the intergenerational transmission have moved away from the early 20th century biological and genetic idea that values, religion or culture are inherited as ‘innate instincts’, to contemporary approaches which look more outward to the contribution of the social context. For instance, in cultural psychology the level of analysis has shifted away from the focus on ‘brain processes’ to macro-social variables (Schonpflug, 2009). Brannen’s (2006) study of different cultures of intergenerational transmission based on a study of 12 four-generation families in England, particularly exemplified the emphasis on social context. Brannen explored how attitudes toward family obligations change across generations according to different cultures of transmission. The study particularly examined how transmission is determined by the resources and experiences associated with specific historical and structural conditions and identified four main cultures: cultures of continuity and mutuality; independence; personal autonomy and receiving (Brannen, 2006). For instance, the post war economic prosperity and the expanding welfare favoured a culture of independence amongst the grandparents’ generation (Brannen, 2006).

The transmission of religion and the development of religious identity are also influenced by the combination of social, structural and personal conditions, or more precisely habitus. In the context of identity formation and transmission, religion acquires a particular value because it encourages the quest for meaning in individual

74 life. It also offers ways of answering existential enigmas; emphasises order and structure; supports coherence and integration between cognitions, emotions and moral actions and ‘it postulates an invisible unity beyond the spatial and temporal discrepancies of the visible world’ (Saroglou & Galand, 2004).

Research focusing on the role of parenting in the transmission of religious values found that mothers have different effects on the religious socialisation of their children than fathers do. Where there are substantial differences among parents’ values, fathers seem to be more influential than mothers (Clark, Worthington, & Danser, 1988) and the specific impact of mothers on transmitting religious values to children was found to depend on mother-child interaction. Taris and Semin (1997), based on a survey of 223 British adolescents and mothers, found that the quality of family interaction was a main factor in the adolescent’s religious commitment. Becher’s study suggested that co-parenting plays a key role in religious transmission, which is seen as a responsibility for both mothers and fathers (Becher, 2008). Becher found that parents adopt different strategies to nurture religion: talking, teaching and using ‘deliberate modelling and observation’ (Becher, 2008, p.125). According to Becher, the religiosity of children relates to the level of parental interest and knowledge of Islam and on the availability of time to teach religion to children. Results from a study by Bader and Desmond, based on the analysis of US national health data, indicate the effect of parents on the religiosity of their children is stronger when parents are consistent about the values they transmit and engage in behaviours and practices to support their belief (Bader & Desmond, 2006). Therefore, when parents believe in and practice their religion young people also tend to be more religious.

Conclusions

This chapter has reviewed some of the main features which characterise the South Asian British Muslim family field, particularly the influence of migration, ethnic capital, Islam, South Asian cultures and British lifestyle. In so doing, it has provided a context about how habitus and identities have been constructed and negotiated in this complex social field.

75 Data from the 2001 Census demonstrated that South Asian Muslim households still experience high levels of disadvantage and are more likely to live in social rented and overcrowded accommodation and to be workless. The migration histories of South Asians and the historical conditions of Britain from the 1950s onwards were explored in order to contextualise the South Asian Muslim family field and habitus that originates in there.

Once again, Bourdieu’s theory has provided the theoretical context to explore the implications of migration, ethnicity, cultures and Islam in defining the internal relations within the South Asian family field. The literature suggests that migration affects the dynamics within the family field and thus the construction of habitus and identity. However, migration does not necessarily imply a straight transfer of resources from the country of origin to the new country of residency. Rather, as Erel (2010) argues, migration converts these resources into new forms of capital. In this sense, migrants do not simply bring with them a package of cultural resources from one place to another but, as Erel points out: ‘cultural practices acquire different meanings and validations according to local, national and transnational context’ (Erel, 2010). Figure 3.2 portrays and summarises how the changes brought about by migration lead to the construction of a new habitus.

Figure 3.2: Migration, social fields and habitus.

South Asian Muslim Family Field

Islam Cultures Ethnicity

HABITUS

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Chapter 4

Youth as a social field

Introduction

This chapter begins with introducing how sociology has approached the concept of youth particularly within Bourdieu’s theory. It then focuses more specifically on British Muslim youth by presenting general demographics and findings from research studies, which reflect different perspectives on the construction of the identity of South Asian young Muslims in the UK. The final section of the chapter examines particular structural conditions, such as citizenship, Britishness, gender, social class and religion which are relevant for the analysis of young British Muslims’ identity.

Youth around the world are subject to complex and uneven conditions and experience large disparities. In western countries, the media has shaped representations of youth often seen as violent and problematic and in the UK public perceptions of youths have been increasingly affected by gang culture and knife crime (Halsey & White, 2008). In addition, the moral panic about the spread of Islamic terrorism in the West has worsened even further the perception of young British Muslims leading to prejudice and negative stereotyping.

4.1 Youth in sociology: concepts, theories and