Making sense of places : Belonging among “unaccompanied” young migrants in kinship care in a Swedish suburb

• For young people who have migrated unaccompanied by parents or other legal guardians, it is important to feel a sense of belonging. However, belonging is not fixed to one place. This study aims to explore how young migrants in kinship care in a Swedish suburb describe what different places mean to them and what these descriptions can tell us about their sense of belonging. In this study, semi-structured interviews with 11 young migrants between 16 and 21 years of age who took part in a mentoring programme are analysed by thematic analysis. Our analysis reveals that (a) the young people described four “levels” of place as meaningful in different ways—their kinship homes, the local community, the country they currently inhabit, and the world and that (b) it was through the interrelationships between these levels that their described sense of belonging emerged. To counterbalance young migrants' uncertain future, social interventions are needed that can help them to meet other people and get wider social networks in order to gain a sense of belonging in the new country.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialt arbete (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Work (hsv//eng)

Keyword

belonging

kinship care

migration

place

unaccompanied

young people

Social Work

Socialt arbete

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)