Violent right-wing groups have emerged in the German youth scene since reunification in 1990. By the early 1990's, many groups of people have had to face racist violence and harassment as a threatening part of everyday life. With the social, political, economic, demographical and ideological changes which have taken place across Europe, especially since the fall of the Communist systems in Eastern Europe, it becomes essential to consider their impact on individuals. A psychosocial approach to the subject of right-wing youth violence in Germany is adopted and will reveal that the concepts of identity formation have undergone changes not unlike the progressive changes of social structures after the second World War. Key sources for this thesis are works by Alfred Adler, Theodor W. Adorno, Bruno Bettelheim, Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud, Erich Fromm, Stuart Hall, Dick Hebdige, Kenneth Kenniston, David Riesman and others. This approach will support the argument that youth violence is a side effect of developmental capitalism, the root causes of which emanate not from cultural contexts but rather from a variety of factors which lie within social structures. Subcultures absorb individuals who cannot function amid the dynamic social changes of capitalist development. Youth anger and anxiety is expressed as racist violence as young people seek someone to blame for their isolation from mainstream society. An analysis such as this one inevitably leads to larger issues regarding Germany's historical past, right-wing extremism in Europe and the International Nazi Cooperation network, which to some extent has also triggered and supported racist and right-wing youth violence. / Graduation date: 1997

This study explores black African migrants' experience of racism in Berlin, today. Its vantage point is that of a missiological discipline. Since racism is a very complex phenomenon, both in the church and society; the study therefore, adopted a multidisciplinary approach. This helps us to better understand the different theoretical nuances, which inform racism as an ideology and, as a social construct. Against this backdrop, the study engaged the “pastoral cycle” (cycle of missionary praxis) by Holland and Henriot and developed by Cochrane et al as its theological framework. The research methodology consisted of data collection, interpreting and analyzing (comparing and contrasting primary sources in light of data collected). Personal narratives of research participants' experience of racism in a semi-structured format, formed part of the methodology, in establishing ecclesiastical, political, social and structural climate on how they contribute to the way that black African migrants experience racism in Berlin, today. Two forms of data collection were employed: Qualitative interview and observation instruments. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M.A. (Theology)

This study explores black African migrants' experience of racism in Berlin, today. Its vantage point is that of a missiological discipline. Since racism is a very complex phenomenon, both in the church and society; the study therefore, adopted a multidisciplinary approach. This helps us to better understand the different theoretical nuances, which inform racism as an ideology and, as a social construct. Against this backdrop, the study engaged the “pastoral cycle” (cycle of missionary praxis) by Holland and Henriot and developed by Cochrane et al as its theological framework. The research methodology consisted of data collection, interpreting and analyzing (comparing and contrasting primary sources in light of data collected). Personal narratives of research participants' experience of racism in a semi-structured format, formed part of the methodology, in establishing ecclesiastical, political, social and structural climate on how they contribute to the way that black African migrants experience racism in Berlin, today. Two forms of data collection were employed: Qualitative interview and observation instruments. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M.A. (Theology)