Att ha hedern i behåll eller att förlora sin familj för evigt? : En kvalitativ intervjustudie om svenska lärares erfarenheter och förhållningssätt till hederskultur samt dess samband med religion

The aim of this study is to examine Swedish teachers’ experiences and perspectives on honour-related oppression and violence amongst students as well as how to recognise and manage honour-related issues amongst the students. Furthermore, the study aimed to identify possible associations between religious groups or religion in general and honour-culture. This was done through a qualitative phenomenological method with semi-structured interviews of six teachers working in different schools in Stockholm. The six participating teachers had different backgrounds yet three of them had backgrounds in the Middle East. The empirics of this study has been analysed through three theoretical frameworks: social constructivism, ethnocentric and cultural relativism and finally individualism and collectivism. The results of this study show that Swedish teachers find managing honour-related issues amongst students complicated as they find themselves unaware of official procedures. All six teachers express the importance of this issue, although the three teachers with backgrounds in the Middle East find managing honour-related issues easier due to their language skills. The Arabic language was found closely associated with students who experience honour-related oppression and violence. The parents of these students were found as the main factor of the issue as they often come from societies with values that differ from the Swedish democratic values. Working with the parents was found as the main solution for the issue. The mapping of these students is made through listening to their opinions and values and if they are influenced by honour-culture. Also, the teachers find that certain students do not attend some compulsory school-activities, like swimming, due to their parents which was found to be a common thing amongst students who live in honour-culture. A point was made to look at the participating teachers’ background and what was found was that all teachers had religious backgrounds. This can imply that religious teachers feel a need to participate to prevent common prejudice regarding honour-culture being related to religion. This also suggests that teachers with religious backgrounds feel a certain liability for students who live in honour-related conditions. However, all informants expressed clear distance from the statement of religion and honour-culture being related. Moreover, connections between Islam and honour-culture are commonly made, however, previous research argue that honour-culture is related to religiousness in general rather than a specific religious group which my study verifies