Somali Culture Research Articles

Enhancing federal inter-governmental relations and state building in Somalia

Federalism is regarded as the ideal strategy for Somalia in forming a power-sharing agreement among Somali clans and a workable solution to the national unity, peace and security. Despite the adoption of federalism in Somalia, the reality on the ground is different as Somalia has continued to be in a state of political quandary. Available literature says little about the Inter-Governmental Relations (IGR) and civic state building as a possible cause of political quandary. This study explores Somalia’s Federal-state Inter-Governmental Relations and civic state building. It seeks to answer the question, how and to what extent have the intergovernmental relations between the federal government and federal member states affect civic state building in Somalia? Utilizing a qualitative approach specifically, synthesis of literature, in-depth interviews and guided questionnaire, the study suggests that despite the existence of a federal structure, intergovernmental relations between the federal government and the member states have been characterized by tensions and conflicts; the federal and state apparatuses lack appropriate provisions in the constitution and that the minimal federal-state IGR laws that are now in place are not honored and applied by both levels of the federal government. This study also suggests that there is no effective, agreed-upon model of IGRs and power sharing in Somalia between the federal government and member states, thus constraining any kind of progression in the federal institutions. This study also shows how dangerous it is to neglect indigenous approaches of state building that take into account Somali culture, religion, and customs. The findings of this study contributes to the scholarly discourse on civic state-building, federalism, and IGRs in post-conflict settings. This study recommends a review of the federal-state intergovernmental relations laws paying attention to cultural and religious significance, to strengthen federal-state IGRs.

FAMILY PLANNING BETWEEN THE SOMALI CULTURE AND THE ISLAMIC TRADITION

This essay examines the intricate connections between the Islamic faith, Somali culture, and family planning. Large families are viewed as a sign of social prestige and pride in Somali culture, which explores the societal norms and expectations surrounding family size. Examined are how maternal responsibilities and the extended family structure affect reproductive choices. The influence of Islamic teachings on family planning techniques in the Somali community is also investigated. Islam favors procreation and regards children as a heavenly blessing, but it also advocates responsible parenting and places a strong emphasis on the welfare of parents and children. The paper explores the ways in which Islamic scholars have interpreted sacred texts to advocate for the use of contraception within specific parameters. A sophisticated approach to family planning is produced by the fusion of Islamic tradition and Somali culture, balancing societal expectations with the welfare of the individual and the family. The abstract ends by emphasizing how crucial it is to comprehend these cultural and religious aspects in order to create successful tactics that respect the ideals and principles of the Somali community while advancing all-inclusive reproductive health care. KEYWORDS: Family planning, Somali culture, Islamic tradition, Societal norms Responsible parenthood.

The Say Wallahi Generation: A Narrative Study of Bicultural Identity for Somali American Emerging Adults

This qualitative study used narrative inquiry to examine how five Midwestern Somali American emerging adults negotiated their Somali culture and their American culture into a coherent sense of self. Participants were primarily women ( n = 4) and students (three undergraduate and one graduate). Merging or hybridizing cultural identities was one way participants found integration. Shifting or alternating identities was another. In general, dominant and conflicting cultural narratives presented challenges to integration and connected to themes of acculturative dissonance, exclusion, and contested American identity. Yet, robust competing narratives were transformative, undergirding the themes of Integrated and Owning It and Shifting Identities. Unlike conflicting narratives which existed in negative tension with dominant narratives, competing narratives existed in positive tension and provided a basis for frame-switching which empowered participants to shift identities with ease even as they contended with multiple master narratives.

Culinary cultural immersion: A qualitative analysis of resident knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral changes following a brief Somali cultural immersion experience.

Teaching cultural humility is required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and can improve patient satisfaction and health care outcomes. Because one-third of the 150,000 Somali immigrants and refugees in the United States live in Minnesota, we aimed to determine whether a brief cultural immersion experience, where small groups of residents share a meal with Somali interpreters at a Somali restaurant, would affect resident knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors when caring for Somali patients in a Minnesota emergency department. From October 2017 to September 2018, emergency medicine residents were invited to dinners held outside of regular clinical/academic hours. Dinners took place at a Somali restaurant and were facilitated by a Somali interpreter and a faculty physician. While they were designed as learner-driven sessions, facilitators were encouraged to discuss specific themes. In addition to an evaluation survey, participants underwent semistructured interviews after the experiences, and a qualitative analysis of derived themes is reported. Six dinners were hosted for a total of 20 residents, with 17 (85%) completing the evaluation survey and interview. Residents strongly agreed that this experience was worth their time and would recommend the program. Residents reported an increase in their knowledge of Somali culture, health care paradigms, and diet. Behavioral changes were described, including how residents greet patients, tailor clinical visits to patient expectations, and use interpreters as cultural brokers. Attitudinal changes were reported to a lesser degree but included an increased acceptance of cultural differences and an increased sense of connectedness to this population. Finally, residents reported that the benefits of this program were due to the authenticity of the experience, the informal small-group setting, and their sense of being in the minority during the dinners. A brief immersion experience at a Somali restaurant was sufficient to result in increased knowledge, attitudinal, and behavioral changes when caring for Somali patients.

Reducing Khat use among Somalis living in Kenya: a controlled pilot study on the modified ASSIST-linked brief intervention delivered in the community

BackgroundDuring recent decades, the consumption of the stimulant khat (catha edulis) has profoundly changed in countries around the Horn of Africa, and excessive use patterns have emerged—especially evident among displaced Somalis. This is related to the development of severe somatic and psychiatric disorders. There are currently no preventive or interventional studies targeting khat use. This study’s aim was to test screening and brief intervention (SBI) to reduce khat use among urban Somali refugees living in Kenya with limited access to public healthcare.MethodsIn this controlled study, 330 male Somali khat users from the community were either assigned to SBI (161) or an assessment-only control condition (AC; 169); due to field conditions a rigorous experimental design could not be implemented. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST)-linked brief intervention was adapted to khat and Somali culture. Trained local counselors administered the intervention. The amount and frequency of khat use was assessed using the time-line-follow-back method. We compared the month before the intervention (t1) to the two months after it (t2, t3). Baseline differences in khat use frequency were corrected by partial matching and mixed effect models used to evaluate intervention effects.ResultsSBI was well accepted and feasible for khat users. Over the complete observation period and from t1 to t2, khat use amount and frequency decreased (p < .001) and the intervention group showed a greater reduction (group x time effects with p ≤ .030). From t2 to t3, no further reduction and no group differences emerged.ConclusionThe results provide preliminary evidence that khat use amount and frequency can be reduced in community settings by SBI, requiring little resources. Thorough assessment alone might have intervention-like effects. The non-treatment-seeking community sample and the non-professional counselors are distinct from SBI studies with other substances in other countries, but support the feasibility of this approach in khat use countries and especially in Somali populations with limited access to healthcare. Future studies that employ rigorous experimental design are needed.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02253589. Date of first registration 01/10/2014, retrospectively registered https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02253589. First participant 16/09/2014:

Wagar and Motley “Archaic” Vestiges: A Postmodernist Reading of Contemporary Somali Fiction

The advent of the modernist dream resulted in the universalisation of culture, which entails deliberate effort to abandon traditional ways of life that foster difference and instead embracing national cultures to bring different communities together. Colonialism in the Horn of Africa, for instance, brought different Cushitic communities under single political entities and most of them adopted Islam to find a common ground. Other communities in East Africa had to convert to Christianity to find a universal cultural bridge. This has resulted in the assumption that most African peoples are homogeneous given that past traditions that elevated difference have been eradicated by unifying factors such as modern states and conventional religions such as Islam and Christianity. A critical reading of some literary texts, however, demonstrates that such claims are partly unfounded because there exist aspects of pre-Islamic Somali religion along with the fundamental beliefs of Islam, which bolster difference. This article is a postmodernist reading of selected contemporary Somali fiction to investigate the influence of pre-Islamic Somali religion on contemporary Somali culture. Using the ideas of Jacques Derrida and Joseph Campbell, the study demonstrates the impact of myth and the ancient traditions on migration and contemporary culture in Nadifa Mohamed’s Black Mamba Boy and Nuruddin Farah’s Secrets.

Guiding Sky

This paper presents an astronomical study of a sample of ancient cairns, stelae and burials at the cairnfield of Xiis (Heis) in Somaliland, a historic centre of long-distance trade between different cultures. The analyses reveal a set of significant orientations that the paper relates to the seasonal movements of the region’s nomads, which are believed to have remained unchanged for millennia. The structures, which date from the first to the third century AD, are also contextualised within the broader astronomical traditions of the Somali and other Cushitic peoples, many aspects of which predate the arrival of Islam to the Horn of Africa and constitute some of the most distinctive and complex aspects of Somali culture.

“Using contraceptives is abandoning our culture”: A qualitative study of contraceptive use among Somali women in Finland

ObjectiveSeveral studies have reported that Somalis have negative attitudes about using modern contraceptives. However, little attention has been paid to the differences in Somali women’s attitudes toward contraceptives across generations and the attitude change happening overtime in Somali women’s attitudes toward contraception. This study explores attitudes toward contraceptives and factors influencing contraceptive use, among first- and second-generation Somali women living in Finland. MethodsThe study follows a qualitative design with data collection using in-depth interviews. Sixteen women were interviewed regarding their knowledge of, attitude toward, and use of contraceptives. Eight of the study participants were first-generation and eight were second-generation Somali women living in Finland. The data were analyzed using a thematic approach guided by a cultural anthropology framework. ResultsThree main themes emerged in the data analysis: (1) Culture influencing Somali women’s attitudes toward contraceptives; (2) information sources can work differently within the same cultural group; and (3) Somali women’s perspectives on contraceptives change over time. Cultural, religion, taboo, and knowledge resources are used to understand the whole concept of Somali women’s attitude toward and use of contraceptives. Hence, the study shows the diverse opinions of Somali women. According to the informants the main underlying factors influencing Somali women’s attitudes toward contraceptives were education, culture, misinterpreted religion, and social pressure. ConclusionsAccording to the Finish resident women interviewed for this study, Somali culture do not support the use of modern contraceptives. Even though attitudes towards contraceptives are slowly changing, there is a need for SRH education, particularly among first-generation Somalis. Second-generation women are generally more open to the use of modern contraceptives. The study also draws attention to the need to improve the training of health care professionals regarding the handling of culturally sensitive topics such as contraception use.

Somali Immigrant Mothers’ Experiences of School Engagement: Implications for School Leaders

Purpose: This critical phenomenology study examines the experiences of Somali mothers’ involvement with an urban school in London, United Kingdom. Specifically, the study explores Somali mothers’ experiences and responses in navigating the coloniality of gender discourses imbedded in school structure and culture. The research questions that guided the study concerned the gender-based tools that Somali mothers use to navigate the school structure and culture and how school leaders can recognize and tap into parental knowledge and ways of being to serve these communities. Methods: This study is based on the stories of five Somali immigrant mothers. Data collection included focus groups, field memos, site observations, and school archival data. Data were analyzed through hermeneutic interpretation of whole-part-whole. Findings: Somali mothers use three important elements—identity, resistance, and traditions—to respond to coloniality of gender in school as they negotiate tensions between the Somali conception of motherhood and western notions of gender. The findings emphasize the practices rooted in Indigenous Somali culture and gender roles as assets. Implications: This research argues that the matripotent leadership practices of Somali mothers can inform theory, practice, and policy, as these practices offer a more collective and humanizing approach to leadership centered in ideals connected to a non-Western conception of motherhood, gender, and gender dynamics.

Culture clash of female Somali adolescents and sexual and reproductive health services in Oslo, Norway

Objective Culture influences an individual’s perception of health needs. The influence of culture also applies to Somali individuals’ perception of their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and uptake of related services. An understanding of female Somali adolescents’ SRH needs is vital to achieve inclusive health coverage. No research has, however, been conducted to explore the SRH needs of this population group in Oslo; hence, the aim of this qualitative study was to minimise the knowledge gap. Methods Fourteen young women aged 16–20 years were recruited using the snowball technique with purposive sampling. In-depth interviews using a semi-structured interview guide were used to collect data, and thematic analysis was applied. Results Participants perceived SRH as a very private matter and open discussion of SRH was extremely limited owing to certain Somali cultural beliefs and values. As the participants intend to practise chastity before marriage, they believed that existing SRH services were largely irrelevant and inappropriate. Where they felt the need to access SRH services, participants wished to do so in a way they considered culturally appropriate. Conclusion Somali culture markedly influences individuals’ perceptions of SRH services. It is recommended to modify existing SRH services by increasing confidentiality and anonymity in order to take into account the cultural requirements of female Somali adolescents.

Swedish and Australian midwives’ experiences of providing antenatal care for Somali-born women: A qualitative study

BackgroundWomen from Somalia have increased risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes compared with destination country populations, but little is known about midwives’ experiences of caring for Somali women in pregnancy, knowledge which might help to improve care and outcomes. This study aimed to explore how midwives in Melbourne and Stockholm experienced caring for Somali women. MethodEight midwives in Stockholm and ten midwives in Melbourne, all working in antenatal care clinics, were interviewed about caring for Somali women and the interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. FindingsBoth the Swedish and Australian midwives highlighted lack of time and challenges in communication as impacting on their capacity to provide good care; and all wished they had a better understanding of Somali culture. Some differences in midwife attitudes and approaches to care were apparent in the two settings, particularly in how accepting of Somali women the midwives were and the flexibility with which care could be provided in order to meet the needs of the women. The Australian midwives appeared both more accepting and also more flexible. ConclusionDifferences in the culture of care were apparent between midwives in Sweden and Australia, particularly in how flexible care could be in order to meet the needs of migrant women and how accepting and responsive the midwives were. More attention in antenatal care on developing mutual understanding between midwives and Somali women would improve their care, and possibly also their outcomes.

Nuruddin Farah and Somali culture

Tydskrif vir Letterkunde is an online, peer-reviewed, accredited scholarly journal which publishes original, previously unpublished research and overview articles on theoretical, applied or comparative aspects of African literatures and cultural practices.

Factors related to privacy of Somali refugees in health care.

Privacy is one of the key principles in health care and requires understanding of the cultural aspects of patients' privacy. In Western cultures privacy is focused on the individual, however, in some non-Western cultures, privacy is linked to the collectivism of the community or religion. The objective of this study is to describe the factors related to the realisation of privacy of Somali refugees in health care by describing the factors related to the patient, healthcare professional and interpreter. The data were collected from Somali refugees (N = 29) using a qualitative questionnaire and were analysed by deductive content analysis based on factors related to the patient, healthcare professional and interpreter. Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Turku, and research permissions were obtained from all participating institutions. Factors related to the patient were as follows: privacy was realised when the patient had self-determination; was able to act according to Somali culture; had knowledge and understanding of treatment; and trusted the healthcare professional. Factors related to the healthcare professional were as follows: the healthcare professional was expected to be of the same gender as the patient, act professionally, focus on the health issues, and to have knowledge and understanding of the Somali culture. Factors related to the interpreter were as follows: the presence and Somali background of the interpreter decreased privacy; the interpreter was expected to be of the same gender as the patient; to have competence and to behave professionally. Gender congruence, professionalism and caring attitude and common understanding between the Somali patient and Finnish provider increase the privacy of Somali patients. Somali patients' privacy can be improved by increasing healthcare professionals' understanding of Somali culture, acknowledging the importance of gender concordance in relation to healthcare professionals and interpreters, and the effect of the presence of the interpreter on patients' privacy.

What Goes Around Comes Around

Recent scholarship on African cinema has expanded the discourse’s historical focus on Francophone West Africa to address other regions, transnational cinemas, and film media on the Continent and in its diasporas. Other African cinemas, however, continue to be overlooked. Through formal and narrative analysis of several films by Somali film-maker Abdisalam Aato, especially Xaaskayga Araweelo (My Wife Araweelo, 2006), this article examines the recent phenomenon of Somali narrative cinema as a nationalist cinema in the post-conflict Somali diaspora. Special focus on myth, masculinity, and Islamic morality demonstrates these films’ renegotiation of traditional Somali culture, gender roles, and identity after the fall of the Somali nation-state. This article argues Aato’s films constitute a destabilised discourse of Somali masculinity in the diaspora. It also argues that these films distinctly engage diasporic crises of identity through their exploration of misandry, expanding discourses on African cinema and diaspora aesthetics, in turn.

Understanding the unique experiences, perspectives and sexual and reproductive health needs of very young adolescents: Somali refugees in Ethiopia

BackgroundKobe Refugee camp hosts roughly 39,000 refugees displaced from Somalia during the 2011–2012 Horn of Africa Crisis. Sexual and reproductive health, as with the greater issues of health and well-being for adolescents displaced from this crisis remain largely unknown and neglected. In 2013, the Women’s Refugee Commission, Johns Hopkins University, and International Medical Corps in Ethiopia, implemented qualitative and quantitative research to explore the factors and risks that impact the health of very young adolescents (VYAs), those 10–14 years of age, in this setting. This paper presents findings from the qualitative effort.MethodsFocus group discussions (FGD), incorporating community mapping and photo elicitation activities, were conducted with 10–12 and 13–14 year-olds to obtain information about their own perspectives, experiences and values. FGDs were also implemented with 15–16 year-olds and adults, to consider their perspectives on the sexual and reproductive health needs and risks of VYAs.ResultsThis research identified several factors that were found to influence the health and well-being of VYAs in Kobe refugee camp, including newfound access to education and security, combined with gender divisions and parental communication around early SRH and puberty that remained intact from traditional Somali culture. Girls were found to face an additional risk of child marriage and early pregnancy exacerbated since displacement, which significantly limited their ability to access education and achieve future aspirations.ConclusionFindings from this study could help to inform future programs in Kobe and similar contexts involving long-term displacement from conflict, focusing on the health and development needs of VYAs. Future programs should consider the determinants of positive VYA health and development, including access to education, gender equity, and safety.By better understanding the unique experiences, perspectives and needs of VYAs, practitioners, policy makers and donors can invest in the individual and community assets that reinforce positive behaviors established in early adolescence, in order to achieve long-term SRH impacts.

Somali asylum seekers' perceptions of privacy in healthcare.

Privacy has been recognized as a basic human right and a part of quality of care. However, little is known about the privacy of Somali asylum seekers in healthcare, even though they are one of the largest asylum seeker groups in the world. The aim of the study was to describe the content and importance of privacy and its importance in healthcare from the perspective of Somali asylum seekers. The data of this explorative qualitative study were collected by four focus group interviews with 18 Somali asylum seekers with the help of an interpreter. The data were analysed by inductive content analysis. Research permissions were obtained from the director of the reception centre and from the Department of Social Services. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Turku University. The content of privacy includes visual privacy, physical privacy and informational privacy. All contents can be shared with healthcare professionals. The importance of privacy includes respect, dignity and freedom. Privacy is strongly connected to the collectivism of Somali culture and religion. Unlike the Western cultures, privacy is not important only for the individual; most of all, it is seen to support collectivism. Even though all contents of privacy can be shared with healthcare professionals, it is important to recognize the cultural aspect of privacy especially when using interpreters with Somali background.

In Two Maine Towns, Schools Address The Mental Health Of Refugee Children.

School-based programs in Auburn and Lewiston help meet the unique health needs of refugees from war-torn Somalia.

Learning from Somaliland? Transferability of learning from volunteering to national health service practice in the UK.

BackgroundCapacity building partnerships between healthcare institutions have the potential to benefit both partners particularly in staff development. Previous research suggests that volunteering can contribute to professional development but there is little evidence on how learning is acquired, the barriers and facilitators to learning in this context or the process of translation of learning to the home environment.ResultsVolunteers from a healthcare partnership between the UK and Somaliland reported learning in communication, interdisciplinary working, teaching, management, leadership and service development. This learning came from observing familiar practices in unfamiliar environments; alternative solutions to familiar problems; learning about Somali culture; opportunities to assume higher levels of responsibility and new professional relationships. There was variability in the extent of translation to NHS practice. Time and support available for reflection and mentoring were important facilitators of this process.ConclusionsThe professional development outcomes documented in this study came directly from the experience of volunteering. Experiential learning theory suggests that this requires a complex process of critical reflection and new knowledge generation, testing and translation for use in new contexts. This process benefits from identification of learning as an important element of volunteering and support for reflection and the translation translation of learning to UK contexts. We suggest that missed opportunities for volunteer learning will remain until the volunteering process is overtly framed as part of continuing professional development.

Like "Any Muslim Family That Has Moved to Finland": The Fallacy of Realistic Reading Practices in the Reception of Parvekejumalat by Anja Snellman

In the past two decades, transcultural or cross-cultural literary texts have sparked several public controversies in various Scandinavian countries. Bokhandleren i Kabul (2002; The Bookseller of Kabul, 2003), by Asne Seierstad, in Norway; Gomda (1995; Buried Alive) and Asyl (2004; Asylum Granted), by Liza Marklund and Maria Eriksson, in Sweden; the poems of Yahya Hassan (Tahya Hassan: Digte, 2013) in Denmark; and Layla (2011), by Jari Tervo, in Finland are among these controversial texts that are located between cultures. All of these texts have induced arguments between those who write them and those whom they are written about (or who perceive themselves to be the object of the writing). The reasons for these controversies are manifold, but one almost always has to do with the question of realism: that is, to what extent have these texts been written, presented, or read as realistic and generalizing or as generalizable depictions of the texts' respective cultures and people? In recent decades, this problem has been particularly topical in Scandinavia; however, the issue is larger. Similar questions have touched cross-cultural literary texts all the way from The Satanic Verses (1988), by Salman Rushdie, to The White Tiger (2008), by Aravind Adiga (on Rushdie, see Pipes 1990). Are these texts offered to readers as realistic descriptions of alien cultures? Or, alternatively, to what extent are they read as true representations, regardless of their genre? The current article approaches this cross-cultural problem by examining the reception of the Finnish novel Parvekejumalat (2010; Balcony Gods), by Anja Snellman. As one of the first novels written in Finnish to deal with Somali immigration, Parvekejumalat narrates the story of a girl with a Somali background and a Finn who has converted to Islam. In the spring of 2010, several newspaper critiques of Parvekejumalat included a strange and, perhaps, worrying feature. More than one critic seemed to have read this novel, which describes cultural contact zones (Pratt 1992), as a truthful, realistic period piece, revealing aspects of society that had previously gone unnoticed. They read Parvekejumalat as a kind of expose of the taboos of contemporary Finland. As such, the reception of Parvekejumalat seemed to repeat the starting points for many literary conflicts located on the borders of cultures. This article focuses on this question of a realistic reading of Parvekejumalat. Even if Snellman's novel did not ignite an actual public controversy, by examining its reception, we can better understand why narratives located in cultural crossroads so often evoke strong emotions and determine the role of realistic reading practices in the controversies that follow. The article approaches this question by analyzing two sets of data in the reception of Parvekejumalat. newspaper reviews of the novel and entrance exam answers about the novel produced at the University of Turku. The first part of the article examines nine newspaper and magazine critiques of Parvekejumalat and the inclination of these critics to read the novel as a plausible and realistic story. It focuses particularly on critics' tendency to read and interpret the patriarchal violence of the novel in a larger culturalist frame. The second part of the article analyzes entrance exam results concerning Parvekejumalat, which were produced in the Department of Finnish Literature at the University of Turku. (In the Finnish educational system, access to universities is gained through participation in an entrance exam, for which material must always be read beforehand. In 2011, this material included Snellman's Parvekejumalat.) The second part of the article discusses how the examinees perceived the novel as a depiction of the clash between cultures, and tended to confuse the categories of fact and fiction. With the aid of these two source categories, reviews and examinations, I will discuss how Parvekejumalat was interpreted in relation to contemporary reality, which many consider to be plagued by a conflict between the values of Islam and Somali culture, on one hand, and Finnish and Western values, on the other. …

Educating Somali Immigrant and Refugee Students: A Review of Cultural-Historical Issues and Related Psychoeducational Supports

Somali immigrants and refugees have entered the United States with increasing frequency due to civil war-induced violence and instability in their native country. The resultant increase of Somali students is of particular relevance to educators and school psychologists because Somali youth possess unique cultural backgrounds. In addition, refugee youth are at an elevated risk for mental health and academic difficulties due to their pre-immigration exposure to traumatic events and lack of formal education. In this article, we provide an overview of Somali history and culture, recent immigrant trends, and the challenges faced by Somali children and youth in the United States. Then, we describe the research on school-based supports for the academic and social-emotional needs of this population, and discuss implications for school psychological services and applied research.