Religious identity development of orthoprax Muslim adolescents in the Netherlands

The central research question of this study is the following: “How do orthoprax Muslim adolescents construct and perceive their religious identity and their religious identity development?” At the start of our research project, we developed a framework based on several theories of identity development, particularly harking back to Marcia’s Identity Status Interview model (Marcia et al., 1993). We also used the narrative approach of McAdams (1997, 2005, 2008) to investigate the life story of adolescents and to gain insight into the content of religious identity development. In this research pro... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Visser-Vogel, E.
Dokumenttyp: Dissertation
Erscheinungsdatum: 2015
Verlag/Hrsg.: Utrecht Univeristy
Schlagwörter: Letteren / religious identity development / orthoprax / Muslim / adolescents / exploration / identity / participation
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-29201431
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
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Link(s) : https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/311665

The central research question of this study is the following: “How do orthoprax Muslim adolescents construct and perceive their religious identity and their religious identity development?” At the start of our research project, we developed a framework based on several theories of identity development, particularly harking back to Marcia’s Identity Status Interview model (Marcia et al., 1993). We also used the narrative approach of McAdams (1997, 2005, 2008) to investigate the life story of adolescents and to gain insight into the content of religious identity development. In this research project, we chose the label “orthopraxy” and distinguished four criteria for “orthopraxy.” Based on the developed framework, we undertook our empirical study. The results of this research paint a rich and varied picture of orthoprax Muslims in the Netherlands. Our study first provides insight into the religious identity of orthoprax Muslim adolescents when it comes to important themes in the construction of their religious identity. The study results found three important themes in the religious identity construction of highly committed young Muslim adults: acquiring knowledge, participating in and being involved with their own communities, and following the commandments of Allah. The results also show which practices and choices are important to the participants’ religious identity. Second, we learned more about how the societal context of the Netherlands influences the construction of religious identity. Identity construction, indeed, depends on the context, situation, and reactions of others (Erikson, 1968; Mitchell, 2006). The respondents seemed aware of the negative image of Muslims in the Netherlands and set themselves apart from the “general Muslim,” claiming different practices and beliefs from them. Respondents particularly mentioned being different from the mainstream, forming part of their religious identity. Third, processes of religious exploration appeared to be of particular importance. By describing four ...