M.A. Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

https://digitalarchive.library.bogazici.edu.tr/handle/123456789/11698

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 32

A cash-for-care scheme targeting children with disabilities in Turkey: Parent / caregiver perspectives
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2018., 2018.) Avşaroğlu, Nazlı.; Yılmaz, Volkan.
A cash-for-care scheme targeting mainly families with at least one disabled member has become the central policy response to the care needs of persons with disabilities in Turkey’s welfare regime. This thesis explores how beneficiaries perceive this program by focusing specifically on caregivers of children with disabilities. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 caregivers of children with disabilities—four primary caregivers who have been receiving cash-for-care at the time of the research and four primary caregivers who have lost their benefits—in Istanbul’s Atasehir and Sultangazi districts between February and May 2016. The research reveals that although cash-for-care scheme has been widely welcomed by the informal caregivers, it has been perceived by the caregivers as a symbolic financial aid instead of a wage in exchange for their informal care work. In addition, cash-for-care beneficiaries that were included in this study perceive this scheme primarily as a financial support for poverty alleviation rather than a cash benefit in order to meet the special needs of their children with disabilities. While the introduction of a targeted cash-for-care allowance has signified an extension of state responsibility in social care, this thesis concludes that the program functions not as a care support scheme but as a social assistance scheme for the very poor.
A qualitative study on the perspectives of HIV activists on HIV disclosure in Turkey
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Yediveren, Oğulcan.; Kolluoğlu, Biray.
The literature suggests that public health measures, which are vital to preventing the HIV epidemic, and the right to privacy of people living with HIV often come into conflict. Public health measures follow a strategy to combat the epidemic that focuses on identifying the HIV status of people living with HIV and taking measures to stop transmission. However, this strategy raises privacy and confidentiality concerns for people living with HIV. The thesis seeks to understand how HIV activists manage the tension between public health measures and the rights of people living with HIV as they develop their perspectives on sharing HIV status. Within the scope of the research, one-on-one structured in-depth interviews were conducted with eight HIV activists. The findings of this thesis are based on a thematic analysis of the interviews. The findings of the thesis are presented under three headings: Experiences of people living with HIV while disclosing their HIV status, HIV activists' perspectives on disclosing their HIV status, and factors affecting the decisions of people living with HIV to disclose their HIV status. The main finding of the thesis is that the HIV activists interviewed embrace the idea that HIV disclosure is not an obligation. In justifying this idea, the participants pointed to the discrimination they were exposed to after disclosing their HIV status, the fatigue of disclosing their HIV status to everyone and informing the disclosed people about HIV, the right to privacy and the Undetectable=Untransmittable campaign.
A three-layered analysis of Turkey's social and economic support program :|intentions, implementations, and gender outcomes
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2020., 2020.) Keleş Yüksel, Şehide Zehra.; Kolluoğlu, Biray.
Female poverty, that can be rendered temporarily invisible by the traditional conjugal union, becomes a non-negligible problem when social aid mechanisms gain essential importance over single-parent households that are in majority led by mothers who themselves have become a new social risk both demographically and politically. Social investment paradigm aims at this new risk in a way to reduce the costs of motherhood and divorce especially for single mothers. This thesis examines a form of gendered economic vulnerability that has become visible with divorce or separation over a welfare program, Socio-economic Support Service (SED). Relying on the interviews with four bureaucrats, eight social workers, and eleven beneficiary single mothers; this study reveals both the challenging and route-making qualities of divergences between the designed, implemented and experienced SED. First it shows that, the criteria that trace whether the beneficiaries really lack alternatives to survive force women to make a choice between men and the state and most women prefer being dependent on the state’s budget. Hence, this policy ends up empowering women who want to build a new life outside the normative family. Secondly, since care policies fail to create alternatives, informal employment and compressed motherhood undermine government’s ideal of warm family environment. Besides, intergenerational transmission of poverty cannot be prevented as long as child poverty is considered separate from gender inequality. Over all, this thesis argues that social policy can give birth to unintended possibilities through practice and interaction of different domains.
An analysis of rehabilitation policies in Turkey from the perspective of disability rights activists
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2019., 2019.) Gencelli, Anıl.; Yılmaz, Volkan.
Access to rehabilitation services for people with disabilities is considered as a human rights issue in the Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities (CRPD). Along with the ratification of CRPD and implementation of the 2005 Turkish Law on Disability, Turkey experienced a modest welfare expansion especially in services and social transfers to people with disabilities. In this context, the thesis examines the perspectives of disability rights activists on the contemporary rehabilitation policies while situating their perspectives in a historical trajectory of rehabilitation policy changes in Turkey. The thesis draws on two types of data: documents and in-depth interviews. First, documents analysed in this thesis include media reflections of debates around rehabilitation policies, relevant legislations, policy documents and available data on rehabilitation services. Second, eight interviews were conducted with disability rights activists from six NGOs in İstanbul, İzmir and Bursa between January and March 2019. Both documentary analysis and thematic analysis of interviews demonstrate that rehabilitation services in Turkey still considerably diverge from a human rights approach to disability. The thesis identifies the following four obstacles against the full adoption of a human rights approach to disability in Turkish rehabilitation policies: 1) the domination of the medical model of disability in rehabilitation services in Turkey, 2) inadequacy of rehabilitation services in meeting the need, 3) insufficiency of social security coverage, and 4) inefficacy of rehabilitation services in taking individual differences among beneficiaries into account that limits its potential.
An analysis of Turkish oral healthcare system :|patients' perceptions and treatment pathways
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2021., 2021.) Aydın, Sibel.; Yılmaz, Volkan.
Universal Health Coverage (UHC), as a globally set policy target in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, offers a unique opportunity for countries to make their healthcare systems more inclusive. However, oral healthcare provision and financial protection in oral healthcare have not been adequately addressed in the literature on UHC, despite its significance for health outcomes. Against this background, this thesis examines patient perceptions and treatment pathways in oral healthcare in the case of Turkey — a country that has achieved UHC and has taken steps to make oral healthcare more accessible in the recent years. In this context, this thesis explores the way the Turkish oral healthcare system shapes patient pathways to diagnosis and treatment. It relies on an explanatory qualitative study that includes 19 in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted in April 2021 with dental patients from a public and a private dental clinic in one neighbourhood in Istanbul. The thematic analysis reveals that four major factors have a significant impact on shaping the dental patients’ pathway towards diagnosis and treatment: Dentist stability, perceived dentist responsiveness to patient preferences, medical care costs, and waiting time. Based on these factors, this thesis identifies two distinct patient pathways that the Turkish oral healthcare system has: Shortcut and undefined pathways. Patients willing and able to purchase private services have a direct and fast access (shortcut pathway), whereas patients relying on the General Health Insurance have an unpredictable and meandering one (undefined pathway).
An examination of diabetes policy in Turkey :|a qualitative documentary analysis
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Ekici, Ekin.; Müderrisoğlu, Serra.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that Diabetes Mellitus is the 9th leading cause of death globally, accounting for about 2 million annual deaths as of 2019. Turkey is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of diabetes. Turkey’s position in diabetes outcomes worldwide needs explanation as it has a relatively strong healthcare system and allocates a significant budget to the management of diabetes and its complications. In this context, this thesis explores the policy factors explaining Turkey’s failure. Using Walt and Gilson’s policy triangle framework, this thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of diabetes policy in Turkey by examining Turkey Diabetes Programme 2015-2020 and the transcriptions of Diabetes Parliament meetings held between 2015-2018. The thesis reveals a wide gap between policy and implementation, the lack of cooperation among diabetes actors and inadequate recognition of social determinants of health (SDoH) in Turkey’s national diabetes programme. Turkey’s adoption of a vertical like, disease-centred, treatment-focused and group-based approach in the management of diabetes may have contributed to the failure of its diabetes policy.
Attitudes of young Turkish workers towards private pension plans
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2019., 2019.) Gülmez, Müge.; Yılmaz, Volkan.
Having established public pension schemes since the 1940s, Turkey introduced the voluntary private pillar in the early 2000s and launched the auto-enrolment in the private pension plan for all employees under 45 in 2016. Nevertheless, around 60 percent optedout out the private pillar. This thesis explores the attitudes of young workers towards private pension plan in Turkey and the factors that young workers refer to in explaining their decisions to stay in or opt out of the private pension plan. The thesis relies on a qualitative study that includes 29 semi-structured interviews with working young people between the ages of 18 and 30 in two types of workplaces in the public and private sectors, namely municipalities and shopping centers. Using thematic analysis of interview data, the thesis offers an analysis of young workers’ attitudes towards the retirement, their motivations for opting out and staying in the private pension plan, their attitudes towards auto-enrolment and their reasons for trust and mistrust towards the private pension plan. The thesis finds that young workers are generally ill informed about pensions and have a myopic attitude towards retirement, which also shape their attitudes towards the private pension plan. While the nudge, in the form of autoenrollment, helped some young workers to stay in the private plans, the thesis suggests that most of those stayed in does not see private pension plans as a long-term saving plan. The nudge, however, failed to keep most young workers in the private pension plans, who referred to their current financial needs, preferring other saving mechanisms, high retirement age and mistrust towards the state, the state of the economy and private insurance companies as reasons for their decision to opt-out.
Breast cancer patient pathways to treatment in Turkey’s internal healthcare market :|a qualitative study
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Kesici, Zeynep.; Müderrisoğlu, Serra.
The importance of managing noncommunicable diseases, such as cancer, has been viewed as a vital component of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) due to their worldwide high prevalence, significant disease burden, and sometimes life-long medical ramifications for patients. Having been deemed an achiever of UHC, Turkey has implemented an internal market for healthcare to achieve equal access to healthcare. Against this background, this thesis explores breast cancer patients’ experiences of access and pathways to treatment in private hospitals offering publicly-funded services (PHOPS) in Turkey. It examines the factors that shape these pathways and the implications of these pathways for patients. This thesis relies on a thematic analysis of an exploratory qualitative study that includes 12 semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted between July and August 2021 with female breast cancer patients using private hospitals. It reveals two interrelated factors that shape patient pathways during the diagnosis and treatment stages: the projected cost of treatment and barriers to accessing integrated medical care. Based on these two factors, two distinct patient pathways, insured and underinsured patient pathways, are identified. While patients with private health insurance alongside compulsory general health insurance experience easy access to timely and effective treatment (insured pathway), those who only count on the latter deal with complicated processes of accessing treatment such as combining different providers (underinsured pathway). The thesis concludes that the insurance status of patients has a significant influence on experiences of access and pathways to treatment in PHOPS.
Educational well-being of Syrian refugee children in public schools :|a qualitative study in Istanbul
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2019., 2019.) Serim, Simla.; Müderrisoğlu, Serra.
Starting from 2011, Turkey has been putting forth crucial efforts towards the education of Syrian refugee children. With the 2014 regulations, the Turkish government has made the decision to include Syrian students in public schools and phase out temporary education centers (TEC). This thesis explores the Syrian refugee children's perspectives and interpretations on their education in the light of child well-being perspective. Konu and Rimpela’s (2002) "School Well-being Model" is used as an analytical framework in this study. In-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out with 12 Turkish-speaking Syrian children strongly supported by humanitarian organizations and recruited through a refugee community center located in Sultanbeyli, Istanbul. The findings of the research reveal that children are highly motivated to get an education and very eager to learning. Despite the children’s high motivation to be successful in education, they are placed in a highly-supported environment and their intense psychological investments towards education, the thesis demonstrates that they still face serious difficulties in the Turkish education system that negatively affect their school adjustments and well-being in education. Disadvantaged position in the education to due language barrier, perceived unfair measurement, and evaluation systems, fear of losing their fluency in their mother tongue, discrimination and exclusion occurred in their vertical and horizontal relationships in school are the recurrent themes in children's subjective experiences. Thus, this thesis concludes that comprehensive and inclusionary social and education policies have to be developed by taking into account Syrian children’s capabilities, actual needs and their sense of fairness in education.
Exploring agency problems in the Turkish private pension system :|pension sector employee perspectives
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2020., 2020.) Aslan, Remziye Gül.; Yılmaz, Volkan.
The existing literature on Turkey’s private pension system highlights the limited financial literacy of its participants, which may lead to agency problems. Through a qualitative exploratory study on pension sector employee perspectives, this thesis examines agency problems in the Turkish private pension system in the context of its governance structure. The study relies on semi-structured in-depth interviews with 16 employees from eight pension companies, three portfolio management companies, and one of the regulatory and supervisory organizations. The analysis relies on a thematic content analysis of the interview data. The thesis finds that pension sector employees believe agency problems are prevalent in the private pension system, particularly in the relationship between pension companies and participants. It identifies four major agency problems: the provision of insufficient information to prospective participants, offering pension funds that mismatch participants’ risk preferences, the provision of insufficient information to participants about the performance of their funds, and making investments to their group companies at the expense of participants’ interests. The thesis suggests that these problems may negatively affect the rate of returns for participants and the efficiency of the system. It concludes that the state’s regulatory role of the in the private pension system is more critical in the Turkish case than in countries where secondary pillars are partially monitored through industrial relations in the absence of collective voice mechanism and contract-based governance structure.
Exploring social justice implications of mitigation policies :|positions of climate action advocates in Turkey
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Yeniev, Gökçe.; Zenginobuz, Ekrem Ünal.
Studies show that in the absence of corrective complementary social policies, environmental mitigation policies are very likely to fail to provide overall positive societal results. Although the challenges should be addressed to ensure a sustainable and equitable transition, so far scant attention has been directed to rebuilding the economy in a low-carbon and at the same time in a just manner, especially in the context of developing countries. Based on 21 in-depth interviews conducted with climate advocates in Turkey, the ways they address the impacts of mitigation policies on affordability, employment, equality, and social cohesion, as well as social policies they suggest offsetting the potentially-detrimental effects of mitigation policies are investigated. After reviewing briefly utilitarian, distributive, participatory, and capabilities approaches to environmental justice in the context of mitigation policies, the study proposes an analytical tool—by proposing a quadrant of justice—to map the corresponding justice approaches of various social measures recommended by climate advocates. The results of the study are as follows: a) Climate advocates consider the social impacts of low-carbon investments as relatively positive, while assessing the social risks of the policies that will impose sanctions on carbon-intensive industries as high; b) for the complementary social policies, climate advocates challenge the existing socio-economic structure when it comes to adopting a combination of different justice typologies; c) although the academic research on the social impacts of mitigation policies have increased quantitatively and qualitatively recently, the issue is not by and large on the agenda of climate advocates in Turkey.
Gender equality and taxation : a critical analysis of Turkish tax policy
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Aydoğuş, Dilara.; Kolluoğlu, Biray.
Despite developments in women’s role in contemporary societies they still face inequalities in different forms, including taxation which exacerbate the existing gender bias in various ways. In that regard, the examination of taxation policies and their gender equality outcomes is of great importance due to the interconnection between citizenship, tax obligation, and representation. Aiming to address the gap in the literature, this thesis examines gender bias in terms of Turkish tax policy based on women’s different roles as production, consumption, and reproduction. It is revealed that direct taxes exacerbate indirect gender bias by applying lower tax rates on riskier investment tools that are found to be used less by women. On the other hand, tax policies endorse women’s inclusion into production by providing tax deductions. Notwithstanding that, it is also seen that regarding consumption, taxes aggravate gender bias by applying high rates of value-added tax on the products that are solely and indispensably used by women (or used for child care). By conducting a gendered analysis of electoral seats, political agendas, and voluntary gender quotas, these findings are found related to the lack of political representation of women. Furthermore, it is concluded that the tax system and tax collection method in Turkey exacerbates women’s tax consciousness, which results in women relinquishing their political representation. Hence, it is revealed that the gender discriminations arising from Turkish tax policy and the lack of political representation of women are interrelated matters.
Homelessness at the dining table :|needs-talk in the Hayata Sarıl Restaurant
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2020., 2020.) Dursunoğlu, Şeyma.; Kolluoğlu, Biray.
This thesis is based on a year of ethnographic research in the Hayata Sarıl Restaurant which is a soup kitchen serving free food for the homeless in Istanbul. It scrutinizes how, from what perspective, and for what aim the needs of the homeless are interpreted by the volunteers working there. ‘Needs-talk’, conceptualized by Nancy Fraser, refers to the ways needs are interpreted and it is an institutionalized part of the political discourse in welfare states (1989). This thesis indicates that for the Hayata Sarıl, homelessness is a process starting as a familial and social exclusion. It is deepened as a psychological problem through traumas. Then, it results in a lifestyle where finding a socially meaningful job does not matter to the homeless anymore. Accordingly, homeless people are considered in need for sociality, psychological support, and discipline the most. The state is responsible for creating concrete, human rights-based solutions, society is responsible for socially including the homeless, and the homeless are responsible for giving efforts to be housed again. This needs-talk aims for the homeless to change and become citizens who can exercise their rights. The study also shows that volunteers use victim-blaming and structure-blaming discourses of homelessness at the same time, which indicates that these discourses may well coexist. The thesis concludes that having more homeless people in the positions of volunteerism or jobs can help the relationship between ‘housed’ volunteers and homeless diners to be stronger and also the homeless to politicize their unspoken needs claims.
Locating Turkey's active labour market policies within activation typologies :|enabling or workfarist?
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2021., 2021.) Canbazer, Cemre.; Yılmaz, Volkan.
Labour market activation has emerged as a significant research area in the social policy literature due to the relevant policy developments of the last decades throughout the world. In Turkey, labour market activation mechanisms, including ALMP (active labour market policy) programmes, have also gained momentum in the policy framework, particularly in the last decade. This study explores the workfarist and enabling elements of ALMP and other activating labour market policy programmes of Turkey within the analytical framework put forth by Dingeldey (2007) and locates the case of Turkey in the activation typologies developed by Barbier (2004a) and Serrano Pascual (2007a). As the literature on activation typologies disregards the implementation dimension, the methodology of the study incorporates the thematic analysis of the 13 semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with İŞKUR officials and the content analysis of legal and policy documents regarding labour market activation in Turkey. The findings of the study reveal that ALMP and other activating labour market policy programmes of Turkey are stronger in their workfarist elements than in their enabling elements in comparison. Nonetheless, workfarist elements are not implemented coercively and systematically due to several institutional factors. Regarding the activation typologies, it is asserted that the case of Turkey diverges from the ideal types, but it is closer to the liberal type within the typology developed by Barbier (2004a) and the economic springboard regime within the typology developed by Serrano Pascual (2007a) when compared to the other types.
Mental health care policy reform in Turkey: User group perspectives
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2018., 2018.) Bilir, Merve Kardelen.; Yılmaz, Volkan.
The mental health policy of Turkey has been undergoing a transformation process since 2006. The main aim of this change is to prioritize the establishment of community-based mental health care services and to organize an accessible mental healthcare service network across the country. In this regard, this thesis explores the politics of mental health policy change in Turkey through a qualitative analysis of the views of mental health user groups on these changes. The main objective of this thesis is to analyze the politics of mental health policy change in Turkey and to understand the role of user groups in this process by a qualitative analysis of the views of mental health user groups on these transformations. There are 13 in-depth semi-structured interviews in this thesis that were conducted with representatives of mental health user groups in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir between April and June 2018. The thesis reveals that this policy change took the form of the balanced care model, and the introduction of community-based mental health care centers provided to increase the utilization of mental health care services. However, it is not sufficient to bring a holistic view of the Turkish mental health system, which provides recovery-based services through medical and social support to empower individuals living with mental health issues. In addition, the user group representatives were included in this study believe that this policy change did not meet the expectations of user groups and remained insufficient in other respects.
Political discourse and health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey :|a critical analysis
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Şen, Tuğba Zeynep.; Kolluoğlu, Biray.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, governments had to devise policies to respond to a novel situation with imperfect and uncertain information. Developing government discourses to make meaning out of these unprecedented circumstances has been a key component of the pandemic response. This thesis examines how the Turkish government discourses have constructed the relationship between the state and citizens in terms of their respective responsibilities during the pandemic. Focusing on the government discourses in two significant turning points during the pandemic in Turkey, the thesis applies Political Discourse Analysis to analyze 27 speeches delivered by President Erdoğan and Health Minister Koca. The thesis finds that these discourses have served political aims that go beyond the pandemic response. As political communication, these discourses have served political goals through its framing of the pandemic as a naturalized event outside of its control and the government as a strong and proactive leader in pandemic response with past healthcare reforms being treated as evidence for its current success. As health communication, government discourses were often evidence-based, informative, and persuasive. However, the limitations of the broader social policy environment have undermined the effectiveness of this otherwise successful health communication. In the context of the uneven and inadequate financial support for affected households that could facilitate their compliance with public health measures, these discourses have created a framework where individuals are “responsibilitized” in protecting their own and others’ health regardless of their ability to do so.
Public-private partnership in Turkish healthcare provision :|the city hospital model
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2019., 2019.) Gün, Çağla.; Yılmaz, Volkan.
The city hospital program has been the latest example of the public-private partnership (PPP) paradigm in the Turkish healthcare system, which has transformed the role the public sector plays in public service provision. This thesis examines the city hospital model as a case study of PPP that has emerged out of a process of policy transfer and an interplay of public and private actors within policy transfer networks. In this regard, this thesis explores the policy networks, motivations of actors to involve in these networks, political dynamics behind the introduction of PPP in healthcare provision in Turkey, and the perceptions, contributions and resistances of different actors about this introduction. This thesis relies on participant observation and a comprehensive review of legal and policy documents. The analysis has unveiled four key findings. First, the model emerged out of the government's relationing to epistemic communities and is an example of policy transfer in which the state was voluntarily involved and appreciated contributions of private actors. Second, the model was implemented in a top-down, undemocratic manner, with critical details of projects not disclosed to the public. Third, the lack of expertise of the public sector created information and power asymmetries, which resulted in pushing the public sector into a passive role and the empowerment of private actors. Fourth, rapid implementation of the PPP model in healthcare without ample planning is in line with the appreciation of health care as a short-termist economic growth strategy that is capable of yielding popular support and legitimacy.
Reclassifying the Turkish welfare regime in the light of child well-being indicators
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2019., 2019.) Gürbüz, Didem.; Yılmaz, Volkan.
This study reexamines the welfare regime clustering of Turkey based on the data of child well-being across OECD countries between 2014 and 2017. In the previous literature, Turkish welfare regime is characterized as part of the Southern European (Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Italy) cluster. This thesis argues that the clustering of the Turkish welfare regime would be different from the previous literature’s finding, if child well-being indicators were taken into consideration. The thesis relies on the OECD’s following child well-being dimensions: material well-being, educational well-being, health and safety, risk behaviors. This thesis suggests that in terms of child well-being indicators, Turkey diverges from Southern Europe, and it resembles Latin American countries (Chile, Mexico, and Brazil). While a comparative analysis of social policy development in different countries lies beyond the scope of this thesis, the discussion presented in the study draws attention to the important role of family policies in determining the child well-being outcomes and suggests that gendered family policies appear as an essential factor affecting child well-being outcomes.
Refugee women's employment in Turkey's humanitarian response to the Syrian crisis :|a qualitative documentary analysis
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2019., 2019.) Gürbüz, Şeyma Nazlı.; Yılmaz, Volkan.
Eight years ago, first flow of refugees started to cross the Turkish-Syrian border, fleeing a bloody civil war that started to tear their lives apart while looking for a fresh new start in a new country. Soon after, these refugee flows turned into a humanitarian crisis that no longer seeks emergency actions for its problems but instead necessitates permanent integration strategies that would ease life for both Turkish and Syrian societies. This thesis examines how and to what extent humanitarian actors approach the labor market integration of the Syrian refugee women in Turkey. The thesis relies on exploratory qualitative analysis of documents produced by five prominent humanitarian actors, namely Yuva Association, Support to Life Association, Turkish Red Crescent, Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants, and United Nations agencies in the post-2016 period, which was the year that the work permits for the Syrians under the temporary protection was issued. The thesis argues that the selected humanitarian actors adopt an approach that fits in between the Basic Needs Approach and the Instrumentalist Approach according to Olivius’ categorization of humanitarian responses to refugee women. The thesis finds that, although the humanitarian actors in Turkey acknowledges the importance of gender mainstreaming in their rhetoric, this acknowledgement is not reflected in their discourse on livelihood programs. Refugee women mostly appears in the humanitarian actor discourses on basic needs programs.
Retirement age and beyond : pension reforms in Turkey and welfare retrenchment
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Üçkol, Gözde Zeynep.; Zenginobuz, Ekrem Ünal.
In response to concerns that early retirement policies had a detrimental effect on the actuarial balance and that resources were diverted from the state budget to pay for social security organizations' deficits, Turkey's pension system was restructured during the 1990s and 2000s. With 1999 reforms, retirement age conditionality was implemented in addition to the contribution days and premium payments conditions. This change was applied retroactively, and thus has adversely affected people who started working before the law was implemented. Millions of people ended up having to wait until a much later age to gain retirement rights, although they have satisfied the previous conditions. In the 2000s, several pension reforms were enacted regarding pension calculations that led to significant decreases in pensions, resulting in further losses for this group of people. In time, people affected by the 1999 reform organized around a common cause, which came to be popularly known as ‘People Who Encountered the Age Obstacle in Retirement’ (Emeklilikte Yaşa Takılanlar - EYT) movement. This thesis critically assesses to what extent the 1999 and subsequent pension reforms in the 2000s and their outcomes that resulted in the EYT phenomenon in Turkey can be examined under the welfare retrenchment discussion by employing qualitative methods. In addition to the comprehensive desk research for capturing the historical development of pension systems in Turkey, a semi-structured, in-depth interview was conducted with 13 EYT individuals in the study’s second phase.

Browse

Browsing M.A. Theses by Title

Results Per Page

Sort Options