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Commitment Among ArabAdolescents in IsraelAdital Tirosh Ben-ari a & Faisal Azaiza aa School of Social Work University of HaifaPublished online: 03 Apr 2010.

To cite this article: Adital Tirosh Ben-ari & Faisal Azaiza (1998) Commitment AmongArab Adolescents in Israel, The Journal of Social Psychology, 138:5, 655-660, DOI:10.1080/00224549809600420

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The Journal of Social Psychology, 1998, 138(5), 655-660

Commitment Among Arab Adolescents in Israel

ADITAL TIROSH BEN-ARI FAISAL AZAIZA

School of Social Work University of Haifa

ABSTRACT. Arab adolescents’ commitments to their own self-development, their fami- ly, their extended family, the Arab people, and their village were explored. The sample consisted of 662 Arab adolescents in 12th grade in 7 high schools in Arab villages, Arab towns, and mixed towns (Jews and Arabs) in Israel. The findings reflect the unique situa- tion of Arab adolescents living in Israel. The polarity found between individualistic and collectivistic ideas, in terms of commitment, illustrates the cultural transformation that Arab society in Israel is currently undergoing.

THE COMPLEXITY OF FEELINGS OF COMMITMENT among Arab adoles- cents living in Israel was explored in the present study. We assessed adolescents’ levels of commitment to their own self-development, their family, their extended family, the Arab people, and their village.

One focus of the literature on adolescence has been the concept of commit- ment and its function of preserving and ensuring continuity from past to present and future (Erikson, 1956; Marcia, 1967, 1980). Erikson (1950) characterized late adolescence as a time of identity crisis resulting from being confronted with adult tasks such as getting a job, establishing a family, and becoming a responsi- ble citizen. Researchers of ego identity have assessed adolescents’ commitments to occupations, ideologies, and interpersonal relationships (Schiedel & Marcia, 1985). The two main areas in which adolescents must make commitments are occupation and political or religious ideology.

Stryker (1987) described two dimensions of commitmeht-extensiveness (the number of network connections determined by a specific identity) and inten- siveness (the value or importance accorded those connections). In general, men have more extensive and women more intensive social networks (Belle, 1987). According to Perry (1970, 1981), developing the ability to make a mature,

Address correspondence to Adital Tirosh Ben-Ari or Faisal Azaiza, School of Social Work, Universip of Ha fa , Haifa, Mount Carme131 905, Israel.

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thoughtful commitment is typical of late adolescence, after the teenager has developed an epistemological outlook. Commitment is viewed as a synonym for personal affirmation, which assumes a choice from alternatives.

The complex nature of the crisis experienced through late adolescence is determined, among other factors, by the individual’s life history as well as by cultural conditions, historical events, and social conflicts and pressures (Erikson, 1968), all of which are important ingredients in the make-up of Arab adolescents living in Israel. Israeli society comprises a Jewish majority (82%) and an Arab minority (18%; Central Bureau of Statistics, 1994). The two populations differ not only in their cultural origins, but also in terms of their national identification, religious commitments, family ties, socioeconomic status, occupational stratifi- cation, political orientation, and identification with and commitment to the state (Tzuriel, 1992).

The Arabs in Israel are exposed to conflicting pressures as both Israelis and Arabs. They have been a minority only since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, but they are affiliated culturally, socially, and nationally with neighboring Arab countries. Although the ongoing Israeli-Arab conflict has increased self-awareness among Arabs living in Israel regarding their nationality (Hoffman & Rouhana, 1976), Arabs do distinguish between their nationality and their civic identity.

Traditionally in Arab society, the focus has been on the community, the col- lective, and the extended family (the hamula), rather than on the individual (Barakat, 1985; Segall, Dasen, Berry, & Poortinga, 1990). Conflicting view- points among researchers exist with respect to the function of the hamula: Some maintain that the hamula is declining with the increasing influence of Western ideas, family values, and modernization processes (Avitsour, 1978). Others, how- ever, hold the opposite notion, that the modernization process taking place with- in Arab society paradoxically strengthens the hamula (Al-Haj, 1989).

The present study was based on the assumption that the transformation that the Arab population is currently undergoing is expressed in adolescents’ commitments. Scholars have argued that Arab society is traditionally collectivistic in nature. With Western influences introduced to the Arab culture, it is reasonable to assume that individualistic trends would be found. Therefore, we assumed that adolescents’ commitments to various institutions within the Arab culture, such as the family, the hamula, and the village (which represents the collectivistic trends), would be replaced by the commitment to their own, individual development.

Method

Participants

The sample consisted of 662 Arab students (47% boys, 53% girls) in 12th grade in seven high schools located within Arab villages, Arab towns, and mixed

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towns (Jews and Arabs), all in Israel. The distribution by religion was as follows: Muslims, 89.4%; Christians, 10.6%. Regarding level of religiosity, the majority (82.8%) considered themselves traditional; 17.2% described themselves as secu- lar. The differences in the levels of religiosity as perceived by Arab adolescents shows that they perceived themselves as less religious and more secular than their families. At the time of data collection, the participants had more years of schooling (M = 12) than their fathers ( M = 9.2, SD = 3.8) and mothers ( M = 7.5, SD = 4.3). The majority of fathers were blue-collar workers (69.7%); 13.6% were professionals and 16.6% were unemployed. The mothers were predominantly housewives (84.2%); 7.9% were professionals or blue-collar workers. The major- ity of the sample resided in almost exclusively Arab communities (76.6%), and the rest lived in mixed (Jewish and Arab) towns. The mean number of siblings of the students was 5.8 (SD = 2.7).

The schools were located in small villages (7,000 residents), medium-sized villages (15,000 residents), and large towns (20,000 residents). From each school, three 12th-grade classes were randomly selected. The study was con- ducted by two researchers, one Arab Israeli and one Jewish Israeli. The researchers explained the purpose of the study to school principals, teachers, and students before administrating the questionnaire.

Instrument

Because the questionnaire covered areas such as family relationships, future orientation, and self-perception, we presented it to the students as a general sur- vey designed to deepen our understanding of their world views. The question- naires were distributed to the students in all three participating classes at the same time. The students completed the questionnaires anonymously. About 45 min were needed to complete the survey.

The questionnaire was a version of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (Offer, Ostrov, & Howard, 1981), modified by a research team from the School of Social Work at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Altman, 1992). It was translated from Hebrew into Arabic and adjusted to the unique situation of Arab adolescents in Israel. The instrument covers various dimensions of adolescents’ world views, but in this study we addressed only the issues related to commit- ment. The students were asked to complete and rank the following statements from the most important to the least important: “How willing are you to serve your village?’ “How willing are you to serve your family?’ “How willing are you to serve your own personal development and growth?’ “How willing are you to serve the Arab people?’ “How willing are you to serve your ‘hamula’?’ The level of willingness served as a measure of the student’s sense of commitment.

Demographic information included variables such as sex, religion and level of religiosity, number of siblings, parents’ ages, parents’ number of years of edu- cation, parents’ occupations, and place of residence.

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Results

The findings show that these Arab adolescents living in Israel were willing to invest first and foremost in their personal development (38.6%); then, in descending order, in their people (37.7%), family (12.0%), hamula (8.8%), and village (2.9%).

At this first stage of the analysis, the statistically significant differences were revealed only in relation to places of residence. It was more typical for Arab ado- lescents who lived in villages to assign “my people” their first priority. The ado- lescents who lived in towns were more likely to give their first priority to their own self-development, ~ ~ ( 4 ) = 18.2, p < .001. Likewise, those who lived in exclu- sively Arab towns and villages were more likely to assign “my people” their first priority, whereas the Arab adolescents who lived in mixed towns were more like- ly to assign their own self-development their first priority, ~ ’ ( 4 ) = 17.3, p < .002.

At the second stage of analysis, we tried to identify patterns of commit- ment or levels of willingness. The most frequent pattern of commitment was as follows: my people, followed by my family, my village, my hamula, and my self-development. A total of 154 individuals (23.5%) reported this pattern. The second most frequent pattern was as follows: my self-development, my family, my village, my people, and my hamula. Eighty adolescents registered this pat- tern (12.2%). The third pattern was as follows: my self-development, my fam- ily, my village, my hamula, and my people. Sixty-five participants indicated this pattern (9.9%).

Those who indicated their first priority as their people were inclined to place their own self-development at the end of their priority list. Those who chose their own self-development as their first priority tended to put their commitment to their people toward the end of their priority list.

Discussion

When asked to rank their level of willingness to serve their village, their fam- ily, their personal development, their people, and their hamula, the Arab adoles- cents who participated in this study most frequently identified self-development as their first priority, followed by serving their people. This finding may indicate that Arab adolescents are shifting from emphasizing their sense of commitment to col- lectivistic frameworks, be it the family, the hamula, or the village, to emphasizing their individuality. This is one of the aspects of a major transformation that Arab society in Israel is currently undergoing. As a result, over the last two decades, Arabs in Israel have been constantly exposed to Western ideas and values held by the Israeli Jewish majority. Arab adolescents are being educated in the Israeli edu- cational system, which is influenced by Western ideas and values.

It is surprising that no gender differences appeared in relation to first prior- ities of commitment. It is reasonable to assume that if the questions regarding

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personal development had been more detailed, then gender differences in terms of family and occupational commitments might have been affirmed, because of the very fundamental differences in the socialization processes that male and female adolescents experience within Arab society in Israel.

The findings concerning patterns of commitment among Arab adolescents are noteworthy. The most prevalent pattern suggests that Arab adolescents set their priorities as follows: my people, my family, my village, my hamula, and my self-development. Almost a quarter of the participants registered this ranking of priorities. The second and the third most prevalent patterns were entirely differ- ent from the first: the individualistic and collectivistic priorities were in opposi- tion. The second most prevalent pattern was my self-development, my family, my village, my people, and my hamula, and the third was my self-development, my family, my village, my hamula, and my people. In these two patterns, which also total almost a quarter of the responses, the first priority on the list is self-devel- opment, and collectivistic aspects are moved to the very last priority, be it the hamula or the people. This finding could indicate that Arab adolescents are cur- rently struggling to find their way between two competing value systems. On the one hand, the traditional emphasis on collectivism has been modified to fit the unique political situation of the Arabs living in Israel, replacing the hamula with the people. On the other hand, the strong Western influences emphasizing the individual and his or her private needs are manifested clearly in two of the most prevalent patterns. In this respect, our findings reflect the transitions that Arab adolescents living in Israel are now experiencing.

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