Does Participating in National and Ethnic Associations Promote Migrant Integration? A Study with Young First- and Second-Generation Migrants

Abstract

Research carried out in recent decades on the experiences of migrants in Western countries recognizes the complexity and multidimensionality of adaptive and integrative processes associated with the difficulties of living in a new sociocultural context.Following an overview of the distinctive characteristics of different migrant generations, we present a brief review of studies that connect social participation with integration and multiculturalism. In this chapter we define social participation as the process by which individuals are "actively participating in the life of their communities" by joining associations and volunteering (Harvard School of Public Health/ MetLife Foundation, 2004;Pozzi, Pistoni, & Alfieri, 2017). We then describe the results of a qualitative study that explored what integration meant for a group of young engaged migrants, how integrated they felt, and what role participation in associations, both national and ethnic, played in these young people's perception of integration. Next, we discuss our results, connecting them with the principal results found in the literature. We conclude with the implications of our research findings.A large number of factors have been proposed as being associated with the adaptation and integration of different migrant generations. For the first generations these factors include sociodemographic variables (e.g., gender, age, length of stay in the host country, socioeconomic status), post-migration variables (e.g., acculturation factors), and social contextual variables (e.g., characteristics of the host country, perceived discrimination, social support, ethnic network) (Berry, 1997;

Enacting Migrant Community: Struggles and Unbelonging in the Field of Russian-Speaking Cultural Production

“…They offer social spaces that contribute to forming social ties between different small groups of migrants who may perceive themselves to be isolated from the community they 'imagine'. In studies of migrant organisations, profit and non-profit organisations are often seen as distinct (Babis, 2016;Guma et al, 2023;Halm and Sezgin, 2013;Marzana et al, 2020;Moya, 2005). The latter are often considered to have been created to defend the interests of migrants and to maintain homeland identity and culture.…”

“…In migration studies, there remains a popular view that migrant communities are often built through informal and formal organisations, that aim to fulfil their members' needs, including preserving their 'true' or 'original' culture and heritage, promoting common goals and interests or contributing to developing social trust and support (Babis, 2016;Fennema, 2004;Halm and Sezgin, 2013;Jardim and Da Silva, 2019;Marzana et al, 2020). Community members are commonly perceived as being linked through horizontal connections, such as those formed through participation in organisational activities and extended through intergroup membership and contacts.…”

Community participation and subjective wellbeing among the immigrant population in Northern Italy: An analysis of mediators

“…Specifically, MCBOs are settings where immigrants can resist injustice (Buckingham et al, 2021), share oppressive experiences, bolster collective dignity, and take action to transform their realities (Aceros et al, 2021; Paloma et al, 2010). Although research has found a bidirectional relationship between psychological sense of community and community participation (Chavis & Wandersman, 2002; Talò et al, 2014), in this study—following our liberation psychology theoretical approach—we are interested in analyzing community participation as a catalyzer of psychological sense of community among immigrants (Marzana, Alfieri, Marta, 2020; Marzana, Alfieri, Marta, Paloma, 2020; Marzana, Martinez Damia, et al 2020; Ramos et al, 2017, 2020; Sonn, 2002). We also relied on the literature on the general population that reported that psychological sense of community could serve as both a partial and a total mediator between community participation and subjective wellbeing (Cicognani et al, 2008; Mazzoni et al, 2014) and similar results that were found for immigrants (Liu, 2020).…”