The role of alevi-sünni marriages in the context of perceiving the "other" in terms of intergroup relations

In this study, Alevi-Sunni marriages are discussed in terms of intergroup relations. Based on the negative prejudice, stereotype and marginalization tendencies in Alevi-Sunni relations, the effect of the institution of marriage on the question of when these mental and behavioral patterns can change has been analyzed. The work is divided into two main parts. In the first chapter, the concepts of other and marginalization, theories and approaches to intergroup relations, Alevi-Sunni relations, marriage and family institution are discussed by document analysis technique. In the second part of the study, it has been tried to understand from the eyes of the participants how the Alevi-Sunni marriages affect the relations between the Alevi-Sunni groups and whether the kinship ties established by marriage eliminate the existing prejudice, stereotype and marginalization tendencies. In-depth interviews with individuals living in the cities of Samsun and Amasya, who had Alevi-Sunni marriages, were discussed. With the data obtained, the course of the view towards the other was examined. In particular, it has been tried to understand the approach of family, relatives and social environment from the eyes of individuals. In this direction, along with the interview questions, some spontaneous and sounding questions were asked to the participants. Responses and comments of the participants led to the formation of different themes. The data obtained from the interviews were coded into themes and content analyzes were made. In general, such marriages continued increasingly with the mutual contact brought by university education as well as urbanization, modernization and secularization processes. In this respect, it has been determined that Alevi-Sunni marriages do not pose much of a problem among individuals, but are discussed among family and relative groups. In particular, the fact that the families and relatives of both groups live in rural areas caused these marriages to be perceived negatively. In this respect, it has been determined that families are under the pressure of the social environment. It was observed that the interviewed individuals gave different answers to the questions asked in terms of variables such as age, gender, education, occupation, place of residence, family relations and sense of belonging. Responses and comments of the participants led to the formation of different themes. The reasons for these differences and their analysis are evaluated in detail in the findings and comments section. Finally, Alevi-Sunni marriages were examined within the framework of the "Inter-Group Contact Hypothesis" and it was discussed whether the results of these marriages supported this hypothesis. First of all, it has been determined that Alevi-Sunni marriages provide a suitable contact in terms of realizing the interaction between Alevi-Sunni groups. There are two different views on how this contact resulted. First; The second is that the contact with marriage makes the differences between the groups more visible and reinforces the negative relations; The positive results of the contact include individuals, the positive view cannot be generalized to other members of the group and does not affect intergroup relations positively. Both results show that intergroup contact established by marriage does not give the desired positive results. In this respect, negative prejudices, stereotypes and othering tendencies towards the other include only positive changes in the individual sense, and do not include the religious belonging that makes the other the other.