Mick Hartley

Pity poor Christian Pfeiffer. He's conducted a major piece of criminological research, only to find that the results aren't at all to his liking:

A new German study shows that boys growing up in pious Muslim families are more likely to be violent. The study, which involved intensive questioning of 45,000 teenagers from 61 towns and regions across the country, was conducted by Christian Pfeiffer of the criminal research institute of Lower Saxony.

Pfeiffer was quick to assure the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that he was not a racist or ‘Islamophobe’…

Well thank goodness for that.

…and that, in fact, he had been dismayed by the results of the survey.

Pfeiffer’s work took into account the level of education and standard of living in the families of the children — aged between 14 and 16 — who were questioned. He also asked them how religious they considered themselves, and how integrated they felt in Germany.

Pfeiffer said that even when other social factors were taken into account, there remained a significant correlation between religiosity and readiness to use violence…. The increased likelihood to use violence was restricted to Muslim boys, Pfeiffer said – Muslim girls were only as likely to be violent as non-Muslim girls.

This led him to conclude that there was not a direct link between Islamic belief and violence – but an indirect one. He pointed to Christian teachings which justified domestic violence and male dominance of society for a long time.

Hmm. The logic isn't quite clear on that point; especially since much of the violence of these pious young Muslim men is in fact – what a surprise – directed against women:

His researchers asked the teenagers a range of questions about their ideas of manliness, for example, whether they thought a man was justified in hitting his wife if she had been unfaithful. They also asked about what media and computer game violence they were exposed to, as well as whether their friends were involved in crime or violence.

The results showed that Muslim boys from immigrant families were more than twice as likely to agree with macho statements than boys from Christian immigrant families. The rate was highest among those considered as very religious, Pfeiffer said. They were also more likely to be using violent computer games and have criminal friends….

Pfeiffer said he thought the responsibility for the macho culture lay with Imams in Germany, who he said usually come from abroad and often cannot speak German or have much understanding of the culture. “We have to prevent attempts at integration from being destroyed by Imams who preach Turkish provincial stories and a reactionary male image,” said Pfeiffer. He concluded that Germans should reconsider how they treat Muslims, noting that there had been a damaging loss of trust since the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Again the logic isn't entirely clear. Germans should "reconsider how they treat Muslims"? Why?

Well, clearly, any conclusion that doesn't actually blame Islam itself must be seized on. He isn't an Islamophobe, after all. And anyway, the poor man has his personal safety to consider…