REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT CHILDREN

AND YOUNG PEOPLE

IN CITIES AND MUNICIPALITIES

Frosso Motti-Stefanidi, PhD

Professor of Psychology

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

Presentation at the Child in the City Conference of the Child in the City Foundation,

European Network: Child Friendly Cities

City of Ghent, Belgium, November 2016

OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION

1. Introduction: Migration and the refugee crisis

2. Mission Statement: Positive Development of Immigrant Youth:

Why Bother?

3. Syrian Refugee Children: Characteristics of the Situation

4. Receiving communities and their role in successful immigrant

integration

5. Developing Intercultural Competence

GLOBALISATION AND MIGRATION

Over the past 20 years, globalisation and mass migration have

altered the face of the world fundamentally.

As a result of these phenomena most countries in the world, had to

face and accept that their societies have become culturally diverse

(United Nations, 2013).

THE REFUGEE CRISIS:

A PHENOMENON OF MASS MIGRATION

• European countries are culturally diverse.

• Currently, in addition to ethnic minority groups and

immigrants who have settled in different European countries

over a period of many years, large numbers of refugees are

entering and settling in Europe.

• Particularly during the second half of 2015, more than 1

million people embarked on a treacherous journey, crossing the

Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe in order to find safety.

THE REFUGEE CRISIS:

A PHENOMENON OF MASS MIGRATION

• According to the UN Refugee Agency, 31% of these

refugees were children.

• Furthermore, about 25000 children are travelling

unaccompanied or have become separated from their families

during the migratory journey.

• The arrival of large numbers of refugee families and children

in a very short period of time has created a situation of

urgency in receiving countries

REFUGEE CRISIS:

SOME OF THE CHALLENGES

• All Member States of the European Union have signed up to the

1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees and have

adopted humanitarian values.

• Thus, they need to provide protection to those who need asylum.

• Furthermore, the refugees who have made it to Europe need to be

supported in order to integrate in receiving societies.

• At the same time the flow of refugees needs to be managed

efficiently.

• Particularly, in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris and

Brussels, security issues come to the forefront.

• Thus, those asking for asylum who either do not qualify and/or

pose security threats need to be treated according to the law.

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE

COUNCIL ON THE REFUGEE ISSUE,

BRUSSELS, 10.2.2016

“The only responsible course of action is to face this

reality, to explain it openly and honestly to citizens;

and to step up efforts to better and more effectively manage

the consequences of this situation in the European Union

by means of a better coordinated European approach and

in line with the commonly agreed EU rules and values”.

MISSION STATEMENT:

POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF

IMMIGRANT YOUTH:

WHY BOTHER?

MISSION STATEMENT

POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF IMMIGRANT YOUTH:

WHY BOTHER?

Formulated in Hydra, Greece, September 19th, 2015

Experts’ Meeting on Immigrant Youth Adaptation and Well-

being

The meeting was organized, on behalf of one American and two

European scientific societies of developmental psychology

• Frosso Motti-Stefanidi, Athens University, Greece

• Radosveta Dimitrova, Stockholm University, Sweden.

Society for Research in Child Development

2950 S. State Street, Suite 401 Ann Arbor, MI 48104,USA

Website: www.srcd.org

European Association of Developmental Psychology

European Association for Research on Adolescence

CONTRIBUTING SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES

Working Group

Cynthia García Coll, Carlos Albizu

University, Puerto Rico

Frosso Motti-Stefanidi, University

of Athens, Greece

Brit Oppedal, Norwegian Institute

of Public Health, Norway

Vassilis Pavlopoulos, University of

Athens, Greece

Dagmar Strohmeier, University of

Applied Sciences of Upper Austria,

Austria

Fons van de Vijver, Tilburg

University, The Netherlands

All members of the experts’ meeting

Amina Abubakar Ali, Lancaster

University, UK

Jens Asendorpf, Humboldt

University Berlin, Germany

Radosveta Dimitrova, Stockholm

University, Sweden

Gail M. Ferguson, University of

Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Stockholm

University, Sweden

Jennifer Lansford, Duke University,

USA

David Lackland Sam, University of

Bergen, Norway

Emilie Phillips Smith, University of

Georgia, USA

Peter F.Titzmann, University of

Zurich, Switzerland

POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF IMMIGRANT

YOUTH: WHY BOTHER?

• It is in the best interest of Europe and other receiving countries to have successful adaptations among their immigrant populations.

• The current refugee influx renders this a particularly timely and pressing issue.

• However, the successful adaptation of immigrants to new lands is also all the more important in light of increasing life expectancies and decreasing birth rates in receiving societies.

• As a result, for example, nonimmigrant senior citizens’ retirement pensions partly depend on the economic contribution of immigrants.

POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF IMMIGRANT

YOUTH: WHY BOTHER?

• In this context, immigrants are expected to become in the

next decades an important force in the economies of

receiving societies and also to contribute to the care and

support of the aging nonimmigrant, as well as immigrant,

populations (Hernandez, 2012).

• International research suggests that well-informed

policies and practices are necessary for the successful

incorporation of immigrants into new societies.

THE EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT

• Children's positive adaptations and well being provide the foundation for healthy and productive adult lives (Motti-Stefanidi, Berry, Chryssochoou, Sam, & Phinney, 2012; UNICEF, 2013).

• Investing in childcare, education, and health-related prevention and intervention programs comes with multiple economic and social returns, including more labor participation and reduction of crime (Heckman & Masterov, 2007; Lundberg & Wuermli, 2012).

• For some host societies without such programs, immigrant youths’ well-being and educational prospects may deteriorate as they age and acculturate to their new environments (Garcia Coll & Marks, 2012).

THE EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT

• Providing immigrant families with economic

opportunities and reducing barriers to obtain adequate

employment equips parents to raise well-adjusted and

productive citizens (Stoessel, Titzmann, & Silbereisen,

2011).

• It has been shown that immigrants in many countries pay

more in taxes over their life course than they receive from

the social benefits (Dustmann & Frattini, 2013).

• Without economic opportunities, citizenship

documentation, or a clear path to citizenship, children and

families suffer in their health and well-being (Suarez-

Orozco, Yoshikawa, Teranishi, & Suarez-Orozco, 2011).

THE EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT

• Policies toward immigrants are important for the

successful adaptation of immigrant youth (Filindra,

Blanding, & Garcia Coll, 2011). However, countries

differ in their policies toward immigrants (Helbling,

2013; Huddleston, Niessen, Chaoimh, & White, 2011).

• Immigrant youth do better in countries with more

integration oriented policies; assimilation policies can be

counter-productive (Yağmur & Van de Vijver, 2012).

THE EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT

• Immigrant youth adopting the host cultures and languages

while also maintaining the heritage culture and language,

do better and contribute more to society than youth who

learn only one language or cultural orientation

(Suarez-Orozco, Abo-Zena, & Marks, 2015; Berry, Phinney,

Sam, & Vedder, 2006; Nguyen & Benet-Martinez, 2013).

THE EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT

• Discrimination, racism and exclusion have deleterious

effects for positive youth development (Marks, Ejesi,

McCullough, & Garcia Coll, 2015) and social cohesion,

and are risk factors for radicalization (Pascoe & Richman,

2009; Schmitt, Branscombe, Postmes, & Garcia, 2014).

• In contrast, feelings of belonging and being accepted by

the receiving society, strengthen youths’ ties to the host

society (Arends-Tóth & van de Vijver, 2006; Motti-

Stefanidi, Pavlopoulos, Obradović, & Masten, 2008).

WE THEREFORE RECOMMEND THAT POLICIES

AND PRACTICES IN RECEIVING COUNTRIES

CONCERNING IMMIGRANTS SHOULD

• Be informed by research and interventions that have been

shown to have beneficial results.

• Promote non-segregated, welcoming environments and

opportunities for intercultural communication and

collaboration at all ages.

• Provide economic opportunities to ensure that immigrant

families do well and contribute to the country.

WE THEREFORE RECOMMEND THAT POLICIES AND

PRACTICES IN RECEIVING COUNTRIES

CONCERNING IMMIGRANTS SHOULD

• Provide early childcare, education, and health-related

prevention and intervention programs to ensure that

immigrant youth have the basis for successful integration.

• Create public campaigns that show the contribution of

immigrants to the host countries as well as respect to the

diversity and needs of various ethnic groups.

• Incorporate these considerations as part of choosing where to

resettle refugees in addition to the availability of spaces.

SYRIAN REFUGEE CHILDREN:

SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SITUATION

SYRIAN REFUGEE CHILDREN:

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SITUATION

1. Large numbers of refugee families and children have

arrived in a short period of time. They create a situation or

urgency. We need to act!

2. Cover basic needs: shelter, food, health, schooling

3. Prepare to face the psychological aftermath of the trauma

that these children suffered (war, bombings, death).

SYRIAN REFUGEE CHILDREN:

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SITUATION

• Whereas immigrant youth and their families plan to stay

in receiving societies for longer periods of time, refugee

youth and their families are in an uncertain situation.

• Host nations have a preference for temporary protection

and restrictions on refugees, including channeling them

into camps, pending their repatriation.

SYRIAN REFUGEE CHILDREN:

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SITUATION

TO INTEGRATE OR NOT TO INTEGRATE?

• If refugees hold onto the hope of repatriation or resettlement in a third country and view their situation as temporary, they may resist integration or any form of settlement that may obstruct this hope.

• The degree to which host governments promote local integration depends on three factors:

1. Real and perceived threat that accompany refugees.

2. Perceived or actual economic and environmental resource burdens.

3. Attitudes and beliefs of both refugees and locals about the refugees’ length of stay.

RECEIVING COMMUNITIES AND THEIR ROLE IN

SUCCESSFUL IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION

SUCCESSFUL IMMIGRANT YOUTH

INTEGRATION: STAKEHOLDERS

• Central governments with their integration programs

• Local governments (active offices for immigrant affairs)

• Nongovernmental actors (NGOs)

• Funders and foundations (e.g., business community)

• Immigrants themselves

THE ROLE OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS

• Central governments play a key role in facilitating the integration

of refugees and immigrants, through policies and programs, while

at the same time taking appropriate action to protect the

population from people who may pose security threats.

• Programs, such as funding adult literacy and host language

acquisition, educating children, providing information on

naturalization, easing immigrants and refugees into the job

market, contribute to their integration in the receiving society.

• Rarely do central government programs prepare receiving

communities for the new arrivals, address their anxieties or try to

engage their residents in the longer term process of immigrant

integration.

THE ROLE OF RECEIVING COMMUNITIES

• However, all immigration is local.

• Receiving communities -the places in which newcomers settle,

along with the residents- are actually on the front lines of refugee

and immigrant integration.

• How can we expect immigrants to integrate successfully if they feel

unwelcome or if their neighbors are not prepared to accept them?

• And how can we expect their neighbors to welcome them if no

effort is made to manage the confusion, fear, and anxiety these

neighbors feel about the changing nature of community life?

• Local communities must be engaged before we can expect their

residents to embrace immigrants.

THE ROLE OF RECEIVING COMMUNITIES

The challenging goal for local communities is to

acknowledge the very real, and potentially destabilizing,

changes that they are undergoing and to adopt the

appropriate interventions that will promote interaction and

positive relations between the local population and the

newcomers.

HOW CAN WE PROMOTE IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE

YOUTH INTEGRATION IN RECEIVING COMMUNITIES?

Through the promotion of intercultural interaction and exchanges,

especially at school, in the workplace and in the community.

Intergroup contact theory proposes that prejudice and hostility between

members of different groups can be reduced by bringing members of those

groups into contact with each other, as long as the contact takes place

under appropriate conditions (Allport, 1954; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006):

• The contact needs to take place between people who see themselves as

being of roughly equal status within the contact situation

• The contact needs to be sufficiently prolonged and close that it has the

potential to allow meaningful relationships or friendships to develop

between the participants

• The contact needs to involve cooperation on joint activities aimed at

achieving common goals (rather than competition between groups)

• The contact needs to be backed by an explicit framework of support by

those in authority or by social institutions

HOW CAN WE PROMOTE

IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE YOUTH

INTEGRATION IN RECEIVING COMMUNITIES?

• Intercultural contact reduces prejudice and promotes tolerance

towards the members of other cultural groups, and promotes

intercultural dialogue.

• In order to achieve harmonious interaction between people and

groups from different ethnic and religious backgrounds,

intercultural dialogue needs to be promoted.

• Intercultural dialogue has been defined as “the open and

respectful exchange of views between individuals and groups with

different ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds and

heritage, on the basis of mutual understanding and respect”.

Council of Europe, White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue, 2008

HOW CAN WE PROMOTE

IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE YOUTH

INTEGRATION IN RECEIVING COMMUNITIES?

• A major step in reinforcing a sense of community between

foreign-born and native-born residents is to create opportunities

for intercultural contact and communication.

• Evidence shows that having direct contact with immigrants

changes people’s perceptions of immigrants and immigration.

• Immigrants themselves also look to their native-born neighbors

for cues on how to fit in and how to behave in the host society.

• Creating spaces for immigrants and native born to interact, and

to recognize their common goals for the community and future, is

critical to the success of receiving communities.

INTERGROUP CONTACT: EXAMPLES

• Working on group projects together around issues of common

concern and interest.

• Community level: Set common goals and aspirations for the

future of the community.

• How? Organize town hall meetings, community discussions

• Examples of group projects: cleaning up the neighborhood,

promoting secure neighborhoods

• School level: Form groups of students from different ethnic

backgrounds. Assign them a project that requires collaboration.

• How? In school and in extracurricular activities

HOW CAN WE PROMOTE

IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE YOUTH

INTEGRATION IN RECEIVING COMMUNITIES?

REFRAMING THE ISSUES TO COUNTER

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT IMMIGRANTS

• Native-born residents’ misunderstandings of immigrants greatly

affect how receiving communities deal with their immigrants, and

they must be addressed.

• Local coalitions of native-born and immigrant residents can work

to reframe the issues by

a) Personalizing immigrants to allow them to be seen as “one of us”, and,

b) by using objective information so that the focus of the debate shifts

from immigration restriction to immigrant integration.

REFRAMING THE ISSUES TO COUNTER

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT IMMIGRANTS

• Reframing the debate is crucial but challenging.

• Local efforts may adopt different approaches.

• One such approach was to put together a broad spectrum of

local actors, ranging from business leaders, labor unions, school

officials, religious leaders, nongovernmental actors, and health

care providers.

• Through the organization of community forums and briefings

for state and local policymakers, as well as though harnessing

the media and providing materials on their website,

• they provided “a fact based approach to sharing information

about immigration and immigrants in the city.

WHO CAN BEST HELP PROMOTE IMMIGRANT

AND REFUGEE YOUTH INTEGRATION?

• Mainstream leaders who are respected in their communities

should be encouraged to help address the changes that take place

locally and to manage them effectively.

• When they support immigrant integration efforts it sends

powerful signals to the broader community.

• Identifying and mobilizing local-level leaders is a critical part of

engaging local communities in reaching out to new immigrant

residents and integrating them into the larger receiving

community.

• They do not need any particular background or profession.

• They have to be optimistic, passionate about their communities,

embedded in their communities’ social networks, and willing to

reach out to people with sometimes very different points of view.

WHAT ELSE NEEDS TO BE DONE TO PROMOTE REFUGEE

AND IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION IN THE COMMUNITY?

Building partnerships between

state and local governments and new residents.

• The most successful local initiatives bring together nonprofits

and private-sector actors with people from the public sector.

• Having local government representatives at the table is

important because they have responsibilities that touch the

lives of all residents, including immigrants, in areas such as

health, schooling, and policing.

• They also have a set of resources—existing programming,

professionals that staff their agencies, and venues to

communicate with the public through websites, newsletters,

and public offices—that help shape immigrant integration.

DEVELOPING

INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

WHAT IS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE?

Intercultural competence is the competence which an individual requires to

engage appropriately, effectively and respectfully in intercultural interaction

and dialogue with people from other cultural backgrounds

For example, amongst other things, intercultural competence involves:

• Values – Valuing cultural diversity and valuing cultural otherness

• Attitudes – Openness and sensitivity towards other cultures, curiosity

about other cultures, and willingness to tolerate ambiguity

• Skills – Skills of how to discover and interpret information about other

cultures, empathy, linguistic, communicative and plurilingual skills,

flexibility and adaptability

• Knowledge and understanding – Knowledge about specific cultures,

understanding the impact of culture on one’s own and other people’s

world views and behaviour, understanding that all cultures are

internally diverse and are constantly evolving

HOW DOES INTERCULTURAL

COMPETENCE DEVELOP?

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Intercultural competence can be enhanced through

intercultural education and training (e.g., Black &

Mendenhall, 1992; Hammer, 1999; Klak & Martin, 2003;

Pascarella et al., 1996)

This education and training can be delivered through both

formal education (schools and universities) and non-

formal education (youth programmes, international

exchange programmes, youth work, etc.).

HOW DOES INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE DEVELOP?

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

The development of intercultural competence and intercultural

dialogue require appropriate conditions:

1. Tolerance to diversity from all sides concerned, and relatedly

2. Recognition of, and respect for, the diversity of cultural

traditions, ethnic identities and religious beliefs

3. To provide refugees and immigrants appropriate opportunities to

engage in intercultural encounters. No segregation in all

refugee or immigrant neighborhoods or schools. Refugees and

immigrants need to be integrated in society, not marginalized.

4. Contexts need to be strategically designed to promote

intercultural contact between refugees, immigrants and

nonimmigrants.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!