Social determinants of concealment of sacrificial identity among martyr students (Shahed) in higher educational centers of Babolsar

The children of martyrs, notably those who are university students, conceal their sacrificial identity. Accordingly, the key question here is ‘why this happens?’. The present study primarily aims to investigate the social determinants of the concealment of sacrificial identity among martyr students (Shahed) in higher educational centers. Theoretically, this study is based on the grounded theory. Methodologically, this study employs semi-structured interviews with a sample of 22 martyr students (Shahed) in higher educational centers of Babolsar.
The preliminary results of this study indicate that approximately 77 per cent of these students tend to conceal their sacrificial identity. Furthermore, more detailed analysis illustrate that the concealment of sacrificial identity among martyr students (Shahed) in higher educational centers is significantly associated with a wide range of determinants. This includes such key determinants as social stigmatization, social illusion on the families of martyrs’ special advantages over the public, varying attitudes towards the special advantages amongst the families of veterans and the public, the waning of the values of martyrdom and sacrifice in the society, the lack of social sympathy with the situations of martyr families, the growing distance of authorities with the values of martyrdom and sacrifice, the poor performance of the officials responsible for the propagation of the culture of martyrdom and sacrifice, insufficient propaganda about issues related to the eight-year war, an unreachable social expectation over the martyrs’ children to appear as perfect individuals, religious factors and socialization.