Cultural transformations and popular scientific adaptations of psychological knowledge by parents in Turkey. A qualitative study

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jürgen Straub, since 8/2022
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 417274573

This project describes and analyses popular scientific formations of knowledge which emerge when psychological knowledge is appropriated, used and distributed in the field of parenting in Turkey. It studies the forms of subjectivity and relationality which are presupposed and established when parenting is psychologized. As empirical material, this project uses problem-centred interviews with parents of pre-school children. 20 new interviews are conducted in Istanbul and Ordu, a provincial town, and 14 interviews from a previous research project are used. Interpretative data analysis follows the methods “dokumentarische Methode” and “relationale Hermeneutik”. The interview study is flanked with an ethnographic approach to the field. For this purpose, parenting classes, public lectures or informative meetings are visited, experts such as parenting trainers are interviewed and online blog of parents are analysed. This project is build upon two previous studies: First, a qualitative interview study with parents in Germany who were asked about their perspectives on parent-child-relationships, and second, a yearlong research project in Turkey. The second project served as direct preparation for this proposal and involved interviews with parents and parenting trainers, participant observation in parenting classes and the collection of information material for parents.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Ehemalige Antragstellerin: Professorin Dr. Anna Sieben, until 7/2022