Social discrimination against teenagers in the mall environment : a case study in Migros shopping mall
Author(s)
Advisor
Erkip, FeyzanDate
2005Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
288
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Abstract
This study focuses on the issue of social discrimination against teenagers in shopping
malls. Young people, as often being perceived to be threats to the dominant forces of
adult world, experience constraints of the adult values in different public spaces.
Considering the teenagers’ use of leisure time and spaces, the shopping mall has been
observed as an extensively used space by this group for various reasons. In this
research, Migros Shopping Center is the survey site, since its physical and social
structures are appropriate to analyze the perceived social discrimination against
teenagers. The main purpose of this research is to obtain clues for the sources of
perceived discrimination patterns against teenagers in the mall environment, which is
expected to indicate physical and social aspects of the problem, concerning the mall
space of Migros. Information on these issues was obtained through observation and
in-depth interviews. The results indicate that, although there are some dislikes,
problems, injustices and perceived discrimination patterns of the respondents, most of
the teenagers in the mall do not perceive social discrimination that has a mall origin
on the contrary to their foreign counterparts. However, teenagers’ presence in the mall
can be argued as resulting from discriminating factors such as parental restrictions,
financial dependence and limited financial resources.