This paper explores the intersection of religious and sexual identity formation amongst Muslim-American youth, employing psychological theories of identity, sociological theories of performance, and theological perspectives of gender and sexuality in Islam. The mixed-method design utilizes both focus groups and a survey instrument to understand the religious and sexual identity development of Muslim American students (ages 10-14) in a medium-sized city in the southern United States. The project contrasts three particular school settings public schools that have a large Muslim population, public schools that have few Muslim students, and Islamic schools. The study seeks to understand Muslim youths beliefs regarding the Islamic teachings on gender and sexuality, Muslim youths beliefs regarding their peers expectations on gender and sexuality, the impact of social contexts on religious and sexual identity formation, and ways in which sexuality is moderated by the religious beliefs of Muslim youth. Findings suggest that gender and sexuality are often part of a null curriculum for Muslim youth issues that are considered taboo and thus un-Islamic. However, Muslim youth who do utilize religious scripts are found to be able to make agentic choices about their sexual identity. In addition, improving parental scripts on gender and sexuality can have a positive impact on the sexual identity formation of Muslim American youth.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-12022014-134211 |
| Date | 03 December 2014 |
| Creators | Mohyuddin, Hasina Akhtar |
| Contributors | Douglas D. Perkins, Ph.D., Paul R. Dokecki, Ph.D. |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-12022014-134211/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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