Perceptions of Human Security among Islamic School Students, Parents and Teachers in Southern Thailand’s Subnational Conflict Zone

ABSTRACT

Since 2004, close to 7,000 people have died in Thailand’s domestic insurgency in its three Muslim-majority southern provinces, one of the longest-running, low-intensity conflicts in Southeast Asia. This study assesses perceptions of human security threats in the area among a sample of students, their parents, and teachers of Islamic private schools (n = 427, n = 331, n = 51, respectively), and how they relate to perceptions of government actors and other community institutions. Questionnaire items were drawn from the World Values Survey Wave 6. Focus groups and interviews were also conducted to deepen our understanding of conflict related dynamics.

Acknowledgments

Data collection and research was supported by a grant from the Strengthening Human Rights and Peace Research and Education in ASEAN/Southeast Asia program (SHAPE-SEA), funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR). The views expressed in the article are those of the authors alone.

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest or financial interests or benefits associated with the research presented in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

Data collection and research was supported by a grant from the Strengthening Human Rights and Peace Research and Education in ASEAN/Southeast Asia program (SHAPE-SEA), funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR). The views expressed in the article are those of the authors alone.

Notes on contributors

Tarik Abdel-Monem

Tarik Abdel-Monem is a research specialist at the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center, United States of America.

Mahsoom Sateemae

Mahsoom Sateemae is a university scholar teaching at the Faculty of Education, Fatoni University, Southern Thailand.

Suhaimee Sateemae

Suhaimee Sateemae is an Islamic Studies scholar with Satree Islam Vitaya Mulniti School - an Islamic private school in Yala, Thailand.

Sareeha Tayongmat

Sareeha Tayongmat is a lecturer of Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Islamic Studies and Law, Fatoni University, Thailand.

Stacey J. Hoffman

Stacey J. Hoffman focuses on program evaluation, program management, risk and crisis communication, public health monitoring system evaluation, and disaster behavioral health response planning in her work at work at the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and her B.A. from Cornell College.

Mark DeKraai

Mark DeKraai is a research director at the at the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center, United States of America.