Political Socialization of Youth in Three Culures: Germany, the Palestinian Authority and Israel

Duration of Research: 1997-2001

Funding Agency: German Research Foundation (DFG)

Researchers: 
Gideon Fishman (P.I.)
Zvi Eisikovits (P.I.)
Guy Enosh (P.I.)

Collaborator:
Prof. Dr. Hans Oswald, University of Potsdam


Project Description:
The project followed the development of political attitudes and behaviors of adolescents over a 4 year period, as well as their group of peers and their parents. This is a longitudinal, comparative and cross-national study exploring the patterns of political socialization and participation of adolescents in three cultures: Germany, The Palestinian Authority and Israel.

The aim of this project is to investigate the influence of various socializing contexts such as parents, peer group, educational framework and social and economic background on political attitudes, socialization and involvement. The data was collected among a national representative sample of high school students in Germany, Palestinian Authority and Israel. The Israeli data includes a sample of 1500 students that was drawn based on cluster sampling by classes. A stratified sample random of 150 classes was derived representing the general, religious, and vocational high schools. From each class 10 children were randomly selected and each respondent was asked to identify his/her best friends. The four best friends were also interviewed. The data was collected during three consecutive years with the same subjects filling in the questionnaire once a year.


Publications:

Fishman G. (2004), "Characteristics of Israeli Society: The Context Youth is Brought Up" (Chapter 3). in Democratic Development : East German, Israeli and Palestinian adolescents. Rebenstorf Hilke (ed.). (Leske & Budrich).

Enosh G. & Katz S. (2004), "The Perstistence of Vision: Interest of Israeli Youth in Social and Political Issues" (Chapter 7). in Democratic Development : East German, Israeli and Palestinian adolescents. Rebenstorf Hilke (ed.). (Leske & Budrich).

Mesch G.S. (2004), "The Apple does not Fall Far from the Tree: Parents' and Children's Support for Violent Political Activities in Israel" (Chapter 11). in Democratic Development : East German, Israeli and Palestinian adolescents. Rebenstorf Hilke (ed.). (Leske & Budrich).

Enosh G. (2004), "The River and the Stream - The Democratic Idea in Israel" (Chapter 15). in Democratic Development : East German, Israeli and Palestinian adolescents. Rebenstorf Hilke (ed.). (Leske & Budrich).