THE IMPACT OF THE SYRIAN CIVIL WAR ON INTRAFAMILIAL RELATIONS AND THE PARENTAL FUNCTIONING OF SYRIAN REFUGEES

Öz

The civil war in Syria that has been ongoing since March 2011 has caused millions of people to become forcibly displaced. By employing in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 37 female Syrian refugees in Turkey and adopting the social ecological model and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory as the theoretical framework, this study examines how the Syrian civil war and the refugees’ migrations to Turkey have affected their intrafamilial relations and parental functioning. The findings of this study show that living in overcrowded groups in Syria, the loss or leaving behind of beloved ones, the economic and emotional hardships experienced in Turkey, and the conflict between the co-viwes and their children in polygamous marriages deteriorated the intrafamilial relations of Syrian refugees. Increase in marital conflicts, domestic violence, divorce, and family violence toward children were found to be the main impacts of the war and migration on Syrian refugee families in Turkey.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Intrafamilial Relations
• Domestic Violence
• Marital Conflict
• Syrian Refugees
• Turkey

Kaynakça

1. Adams, B. and Mburugu, E. (1994) “Kikuyu Bridewealth and Polygyny Today”, Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 25(2): 159-166.
2. Akesson, B. and Sousa, C. (2019) “Parental Suffering and Resilience Among Recently Displaced Syrian Refugees in Lebanon”, Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29(5): 1264-1273.
3. Al-Ali, N. (2005) “Reconstructing Gender: Iraqi Women between Dictatorship, War, Sanctions and Occupation”, Third World Quarterly, 26(4/5): 739-758.
4. Al-Eissa, Y. (1995) “The Impact of the Gulf Armed Conflict on the Health and Behaviour of Kuwaiti Children”, Social Science & Medicine, 41(7): 1033-1037.
5. Al-Krenawi, A. (2010) “A Study of Psychological Symptoms, Family Function, Marital and Life Satisfactions of Polygamous and Monogamous Women: The Palestinian Case”, International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 58(1): 79-86.
6. Al-Krenawi, A. (2013) “Mental Health and Polygamy: The Syrian Case”, World Journal of Psychiatry, 3(1): 1-7. Al-Krenawi, A. and Lev-Wiesel, R. (2002) “Wife Abuse Among Polygamous and Monogamous Bedouin-Arab Families”, Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 36(3-4): 151-165.
7. Al-Natour, A., Al-Ostaz, S. M. and Morris, E. J. (2019) “Marital Violence During War Conflict: The Lived Experience of Syrian Refugee Women”, Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 30(1): 32–38.
8. Bacallao, M. L., and Smokowski, P. R. (2007) “The Costs of Getting Ahead: Mexican Family System Changes after Immigration”, Family Relations, 56(1), 52-66.