New research has revealed the different ways the ongoing conflict in Syria has impacted Syrian citizens and the damage it has caused to family relationships and relationships between friends, both inside Syria and in countries of migration.
The Sada (Echo) Institute for Research and Surveys polled people on the extent of the impact on relations inside the family, which are the main pillar of Syrian society, in confronting the current situation. The research said that the continuation of the conflict could produce a social situation that will be hard to patch and hateful and disparate relations that the current generation will not be able to overcome.
The survey was conducted between Mar. 5 and Apr. 5, 2019, in three Syrian cities—Aleppo, Idleb and Damascus—and three Turkish cities—Istanbul, Gaziantep and Sanliurfa—and included 1,200 samples, with 40 percent of them women, ranging between 18 and 60 years old.
The result of the survey showed that 43 percent of respondents believe the Syrian conflict has created a sharp division that has led to a sort of disconnect between family members. It has created minor rifts among 33 percent, with the rate who were unaffected at 18 percent.
On the level of friendship, the rate of total divisions was at 49 percent, and 30 percent of respondents said there were minor disputes, with those who had no divisions at 12 percent.
Twenty-two percent of the sample said that the problems would end if the war ends, and 30 percent responded that this might happen, while 32 percent predicted that they would probably not end, and 16 percent said that this would depend on the outcome of the war, with three percent saying that it was up to time.
Fifty-four percent of respondents said that this social division had negative impacts on the future for social peace in Syria and 23 percent predicted that these impacts would end with the conclusion of the war. Eighteen percent said that would depend on how this stage was addressed, and six percent said that the matter was hard to predict.
According to the results, family divisions have impacted financial and social life of 33 percent of people in a major fashion and 28 percent in a minor fashion, with 23 percent unaffected, and 16 percent affected because of the length of the conflict.
Fifty-six percent said that severe social attitudes had been passed on to the next generation of children in the family, and 29 percent believed that they had been passed in a minor way, while 10 percent believed they were limited to adults.
Fifty-eight percent said that internal and external displacement had a role in deepening divisions and in their perpetuation. Twenty-nine percent said that they had been affected in some cases, while eight percent believed that migration had no effect.
Seventy-two percent said that social media had contributed strongly to deepening these divisions and making them apparent, while 16 percent believed they had contributed in a minor way, while six percent said that they had affected relations positively, and six percent believed they did not have a positive or negative role.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
