Integration Of Immigrant Communities Research Articles

Social Integration of Immigrant Communities in a Multicultural Context: A Case Study of Migrant Domestic Workers in Hong Kong

This paper focuses on the diverse cultural landscape of Hong Kong and examines the social integration of Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers to the local society. It analyzes the challenges they face in achieving social integration, the underlying factors contributing to their integration issues, and the measures taken by the Hong Kong government and non-governmental organizations to enhance immigrants social integration. The study reveals that Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers experience lower levels of social integration, requiring further improvements in personal safety and employment protection.

Festival participation for integration and inclusion? A critical reflection

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to get a better understanding of the impact of the Stockholm Fire Festival on the cultural integration of immigrant communities, and particularly its impact on the sociocultural integration of individual participants into Swedish society. The methodological approach is mixed-methods, consisting of participant observation, and a selected part of the data from 280 completed surveys based on answers to open-ended and closed-ended questions. The results indicate that participation in the festival and its celebration have a positive impact at the macro and ethnic community levels in terms of recognition of the festival by the host society, and thereby cultural integration, identity and inclusion of the ethnic community in the entire society. However, the results do not support the idea that participation in this festival has a positive impact on the sociocultural integration of the individual participants into society. Sociocultural integration presupposes intercultural encounters between immigrant individuals, between them and other ethnic groups (including the natives). It is evident that this festival cannot create such a platform for individual participants. This research contributes to the existing body of research on immigrant-oriented festivals in Western societies and strengthens the debates on migration, inclusion, integration, multiculturalism and interculturalism.

Integration of the african communities in the UK

The article is devoted to the issue of integrating African communities into modern British society. In the United Kingdom, activities in this area are based on improving legal mechanisms to protect the civil, economic and social rights of foreigners residing on its territory. In practice, this is manifested in the development of the legal system and the creation of new public authorities that combat manifestations of racial discrimination in all spheres of public life. The government course towards the integration of immigrant communities, including Africans, depended on the correlation of political forces in the country - the Labor party was traditionally more loyal than the Conservative Party, who created additional legal and administrative obstacles for immigrants. In the ideological sphere, this difference between the leading British parties was manifested in the concepts of multiculturalism and the «hostile environment», which opposed each other.

Values or origin? Mandatory immigrant integration and immigration attitudes in Europe

ABSTRACT One of the most significant European policy developments of the past decade has been the proliferation of mandatory immigrant civic and language integration requirements. The primary intention of these policies is to facilitate immigrant integration, but do they also improve public support for immigration by fulfilling the type of deservingness criteria many hold for benefits or status? Or do such integration requirements contribute to growing mass anti-immigration sentiment through signalling cultural distance? We contribute to this ongoing debate by examining whether mandatory integration fosters or diminishes public support for immigration. In doing so, we first use biennial data across 14 Western European countries between 2007 and 2014 and second implement an original survey experiment in the UK. Our unique contribution across these two studies reveals that neither mandatory language nor civic integration requirements appear to meaningfully affect public support for immigration. Rather, we identify immigrant origin as the deciding line between open and antagonistic immigration attitudes. Further, we find these patterns persist regardless of integration target, policy measurement, requirement difficulty, or analytical strategy. We thereby conclude mandatory integration of immigrant communities appears to do little in terms of reducing widespread anti-immigration sentiment.

Immigrant community integration in world cities.

As a consequence of the accelerated globalization process, today major cities all over the world are characterized by an increasing multiculturalism. The integration of immigrant communities may be affected by social polarization and spatial segregation. How are these dynamics evolving over time? To what extent the different policies launched to tackle these problems are working? These are critical questions traditionally addressed by studies based on surveys and census data. Such sources are safe to avoid spurious biases, but the data collection becomes an intensive and rather expensive work. Here, we conduct a comprehensive study on immigrant integration in 53 world cities by introducing an innovative approach: an analysis of the spatio-temporal communication patterns of immigrant and local communities based on language detection in Twitter and on novel metrics of spatial integration. We quantify the Power of Integration of cities –their capacity to spatially integrate diverse cultures– and characterize the relations between different cultures when acting as hosts or immigrants.

Measuring Community Integration of Lusophone West African Immigrant Populations Through Needs Assessment, Human Security, and Realistic Conflict Theory

This article describes the process of developing and validating an immigrant community integration factor score from three different indicators based on three theories: human security, needs assessment, and realistic conflict. Over twenty days in May/June of 2015, fifty-seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with Bissau-Guinean immigrants on Boa Vista and Santiago Islands of Cabo Verde in West Africa to pilot test this instrument. Questions asked measured study participants’ needs assessment, human security levels, and conflict experiences. These findings demonstrate the applicability of combining these three indicators into an aggregate integration score, validated through confirmatory factor analysis using partial least squares path modeling. This article shows how the immigrant community integration factor score accounts for the situational context, in this case, increasing population and resource pressures leading to tension, conflict, and outbursts of violence before various institutional and policy interventions calmed the situation. While this study serves as a test case, we are confident that the validated integration score can serve as an effective proxy for measuring the level of comprehensive community integration not along individual acculturation indices, but according to broader human security and conflict potential at the community level.

Building relationships and facilitating immigrant community integration: An evaluation of a Cultural Navigator Program

Despite the long history of immigration in the United States, communities around the country struggle to integrate newcomers into the economic, cultural, and political spheres of society. Utilizing results from the program evaluation of one public library's Cultural Navigator Program, the authors illustrate how communities and public institutions can promote integration and relationship-building between newly arrived immigrants and long-time residents. Existing social networks within receiving communities, conceptualized in this article as social capital, were leveraged to build capacity among newly arrived immigrants and foster inclusivity and integration at the community level. As a place of intervention, public libraries are suggested as a safe and shared space where community integration can be fostered. Insights derived from the evaluation inform a discussion on engaging approaches to immigrant integration. Lessons learned and recommendations for program evaluators and administrators are provided.

Newcomer Civic Participation: The Alliance Homework Club and the Integration of Next Generation Youth in Ottawa

Through the analysis of ethnographic data collected in a homework club serving children of immigrant families, this article reports on a less documented mode of newcomer civic participation that is non-institutional and unrelated to government. Indeed, contrary to other clubs included in a larger study, the one discussed here is positioned by its organisers as outside the race for subsidies. Participation in this race entails that organisations such as theirs are accountable to and must frame objectives, which are amenable to those of funding agencies. We find that this parallel mode of participation is based on long-term objectives of immigrant community integration into the host community, most notably through the educational success of their children. Thus, the club presented here is at the intersection of two previously documented newcomer integration strategies: civic participation and investment in the next generation. This is the first study to document such a crossroads. Dans le cadre d’un plus vaste projet de recherche portant sur les clubs de devoirs en langue française dans la Ville d’Ottawa (Ontario, Canada), nous présentons ici une ethnographie menée dans un club sur une période d’un an. Ce club a été mis sur pied par un groupe de parents issus de l’immigration et renseigne sur un mode de participation sociale non institutionnel de nouveaux arrivants. Peu d’études documentent ce genre d’initiatives qui se déploient en périphérie des initiatives formelles et institutionnelles. Contrairement à plusieurs autres clubs et initiatives, les moniteurs et organisateurs de ce club ne sont pas à la recherche de financements des gouvernements et cherchent plutôt à travailler auprès des jeunes, sans avoir à s’insérer dans un mode de fonctionnement formel. Ce mode de participation permet à ces derniers de poursuivre l’objectif d’une meilleure intégration des membres de leur communauté dans la société d’accueil à travers la réussite scolaire des enfants. Le club de devoirs présenté se situe à l’intersection de deux stratégies déployées par les nouveaux arrivants : participation sociale et investissement dans la deuxième génération. Il s’agit ici d’une des premières études à documenter ce type de processus.

Immigrant integration models in “illegal” communities: Postville Iowa's shadow context

Immigrant integration models in rural communities are limited because they do not acknowledge the context of illegality that exists within communities that have a high concentration of unauthorised immigrants. In this in-depth case study of Postville, Iowa (the site of an infamous US immigration raid), I examine current rural immigrant community integration strategies under a shadow context of illegality and unauthorised immigrant labour. I find that underground and informal relationships within the towns' employers, immigrants, civic leaders, and native townspeople sustain a shadow context of exploitation and community instability. My research demonstrates that communities with large unauthorised immigrant populations rely on both formal and informal immigrant integration strategies to create “welcoming” immigrant communities. The formal strategies are multicultural approaches that rely on “diversity champions” to instil a climate of inclusion but do not tackle structural issues that place unauthorised communities at risk. The informal strategies rely on tacit understandings of community behaviour that just perpetuate the structural conditions of exploitation present in rural towns. These two forms of immigrant integration strategies support a shadow context that breeds vulnerability and risk for unauthorised immigrants, even in an immigrant “welcoming” environment.

Padrões de casamento dos imigrantes brasileiros residentes em Portugal

Over the past decades, the number of foreign residents in Portugal has increased significantly. In this context, the Brazilian community is of increasing importance, and was, in 2009, the most represented nationality, with a 25% share in the total of foreign residents in Portugal. As expected, this development reflects on other levels, particularly in the context of marriage. Contrary to the downward trend observed for total marriages occurring between 2001 and 2009, those in which at least one spouse was born in Brazil almost quadrupled during the period. For many authors, mixed marriages are a good indicator of immigrant community integration in the host society. Thus, given the prominence of the Brazilian community in Portugal, it is important to observe the relevance of mixed marriages in this community and to analyze marriage patterns. Statistical analysis of microdata from weddings provided by the National Statistics Institute led us to study and characterize the possible evolution of marriages registered in Portugal between 2001 and 2009 and involving Brazilians living in Portugal. During this period there was a high number of mixed marriages, especially with Portuguese nationals, suggesting an integration with the host community. There were also some differences in the patterns of marriage between the sexes, as well as a tendency to a decreasing importance of mixed marriages, especially among men.

Pregnancy outcome of migrant women and integration policy: A systematic review of the international literature

Immigrant mothers in developed countries often experience worse pregnancy outcomes than native women. Several epidemiological studies have described the pregnancy outcome of immigrant women in European receiving countries, with conflicting results. The present systematic review makes a quantitative synthesis of available evidence on the association between pregnancy outcomes and integration policies.We reviewed all epidemiological studies comparing the pregnancy outcome of native versus immigrant women in European countries from 1966 to 2004 and retained 65 for analysis, from 12 host countries. Overall, as compared to native women, immigrant women showed a clear disadvantage for all the outcomes considered: 43% higher risk of low birth weight, 24% of pre-term delivery, 50% of perinatal mortality, and 61% of congenital malformations. The risks were clearly and significantly reduced in countries with a strong integration policy. This trend was maintained even after adjustment for age at delivery and parity.On the basis of an analysis of naturalisation rates, five countries in our sample could be categorised as having a strong policies promoting the integration of immigrant communities. The mechanisms through which integration policies may be protective include the increased participation of immigrant communities in the life of the receiving society, and the decreased stress and discrimination they may face. The results of this study highlight a serious problem of equity in perinatal health across European countries. Immigrant women clearly need targeted attention to improve the health of their newborn, but a deep societal change is also necessary to integrate and respect immigrant communities in receiving societies.

Review: From Strangers to Citizens: The Integration of Immigrant Communities in Britain, Ireland and Continental America, 1550–1750

Review: From Strangers to Citizens: The Integration of Immigrant Communities in Britain, Ireland and Continental America, 1550–1750

Effects of migration on family structure in the receiving country.

The recognition of the right to family reunification in 1976 brought far-reaching changes in the characteristics of the foreign population in France. Today, France's immigrant population has the following characteristics: 1) 42.6% are female, 2) 40% are under 25 years of age, and 3) foreigners are increasingly dispersed throughout France. Those with residents' cards may automatically obtain residents' cards for their spouses and children. France's reception policy calls for a social worker to visit a recently arrived family, to assess their need for and to promote social services. Problems of adaptation include 1) wives' social isolation and 2) changes in relations between father and children. The integration policy conducted by public authorities has 4 main aspects: 1) socio-educational activities, 2) cultural activities, 3) vocational training, and 4) activities connected with housing and lifestyle. In 1975, France began offering assisted return procedures to dismissed unskilled workers. In 1984, the authorities introduced public assistance in reintegration for workers under threat of dismissal or who had already been dismissed. The number of foreigners resident in France should remain stable over the next few years, making the integration of immigrant communities within French society a vital task.