Sanna Kronqvist
Tutor: Margareta Poopola Examiner: Philip Muus One year Master thesis 2010-05-26
Integrating newly arrived immigrant youths – an evaluation of
IM´s project in Landskrona, Sweden
By Sanna Kronqvist
Abstract
The intent of this paper is to evaluate the aid organization IM´s (the Swedish Organization for Individual Relief) two year project in Landskrona, with a focal point on their two activities “Move it” and Café for women and girls. Focus lie on how IM has strived to achieve their objectives and perceived effects. The evaluation is conducted from an individual perspective, seeking participating individual’s and cooperation partner’s perception. Secondly the paper discusses on what ground and what possibility the project has for integrating newly arrived immigrant youths and women in relation to theories of integration, social capital and sport-based social mobility. Semi-structured interviews were held with key persons, participants and volunteers and were complemented with participant observations at activities, in the area and by following the work of the project leader.
Effects are detected at mainly an individual level. Participants have gained language skills, tested sports and know slightly more about the town. Especially the women have received weak ties with Swedes and other participants and to some degree extended their knowledge about the society. Some youths have “dropped off” to other organizations but the amount is not established here. The project mainly works on a “structural integration” level. It appears to lower prejudices among the participants and volunteers, however most likely they did not hold strong prejudices from the start. Contact with associations was experienced mainly positive however a few negative contacts have occurred and could have enlarged prejudices about immigrant, Swedes, youths, the association etc. The findings show a very limited enlarged social capital for the participants, but the women’s weak ties represent some. To enlarge the positive effects seen IM ought to focus more on language skills, knowledge about the town and develop relationships rather then centre on visiting associations. The volunteers have also gained from their engagement, for example interest in cultures or personal development.
To sustain IM´s activity in Landskrona it requires additional volunteers, as well as team building and communication regarding the future. Furthermore the “Move it” activity need to focus more on socializing, continuity and gaining a wider context.
Keywords: integration, social capital, Landskrona, Individuell Människohjälp/the Swedish Organization for Individual Relief, newly arrived immigrants, “Move it”
Table of content
Abstract ... 2 Table of content ... 3 1 Introduction ... 5 2 Background ... 6 2.1 “Move it” ... 6 2.2 “Move it” in Landskrona ... 8 2.3 IM ‐ the organization ... 10 2.4 Landskrona – the town ... 11 3 Methodology ... 13 3.1 Cross‐cultural research ... 13 3.1.1 The research relationship ... 13 3.1.2 Limiting distortions ... 14 3.1.3 Multicultural research ... 15 3.1.4 Limitations ... 15 3.2 Observation ... 16 3.2.1 My roles ... 16 3.3 Interview ... 17 3.3.1 Transcription ... 18 3.3.2 Amount ... 18 3.3.3 Selection ... 19 3.3.4 Gatekeeper ... 20 3.3.5 Anonymity ... 20 3.3.6 Location ... 21 3.4 Survey ... 21 3.5 Evaluation ... 21 3.5.1 On‐going suggestions and anonymity ... 22 4 Theories ... 23 4.1 Integration ... 23 4.2 Social capital ... 25 4.2.1 Social capital at society level ... 27 4.3 Allport and Contact theory ... 28 5 Result ... 31 5.1 Description ... 33 5.1.1 “Move it” ... 33 5.1.2 Café for girls and women ... 35 5.2 Volunteers ... 36 5.3 Relations with associations ... 39 5.4 School and participation ... 40 5.5 Language ... 42 5.6 Leisure time and Fun ... 43 5.7 Knowledge about Associations and Landskrona ... 44 5.8 Contacts/relations and Society ... 45 5.9 Parents and a wider framework ... 47 5.10 Response and notice ... 48 5.11 Sustainability ... 496 Findings and theory ... 53 6.1 Integration and prejudice ... 53 6.2 Social capital ... 55 6.3 Social capital at society level ... 57 7 Summary ... 59 Work Cited ... 62
1 Introduction
Individuell Människohjälp (the Swedish Organization for Individual Relief) is a Swedish aid organization who works in 15 countries all over the world, including Sweden. The NGO strives to combat and make visible poverty and exclusion. In the winter of 2008 IM, which I will call the organization from now on, started up activity in the city of Landskrona, Sweden. The over all purpose is to reduce isolation and alienation for newly arrived immigrant youths. They try to accomplish this objective through an activity called “Move it”, where they introduce newly arrived youths to different associations in the town. Additionally the organization has a Café especially for women and girls and some volunteers assist in a school. The initiating project, with an employed project leader, is scheduled to end in September 2010.
I and IM´s cooperation stated since I sought after doing something more practical with my academic knowledge. When the time came to write my thesis I contacted IM where I was engaged in as a volunteer. To my delight they responded positively and answered that they required an evaluation of their project in Landskrona. Since I am interested in and had already written a prior thesis in the topic of integration I felt strongly for the subject.
The aim of this paper is to evaluate IM´s work in Landskrona. The focus will lie on how IM has strived to achieve the goals set out and what effects can be detected by their project. The issues will be investigated from an individual perspective, from the perception of the individuals partaking in or cooperating with the project. Secondly the study will discuss on what ground and what possibility the activity “Move it” and IM´s project in Landskrona has for integrating newly arrived immigrant youths and women in relation to theories of integration, social capital and sport-based social mobility.
2 Background
2.1 “Move it”
During the autumn of 2002 a school counselor in Lund noticed a large need for activities for pupils in introduction classes at the high school were she worked. An “introduction class” is a class where pupils are placed when they first arrive to Sweden, where they study Swedish and other subjects so that they later can cope in a regular class. According to Olof Samuelsson, former employee at IM, the pupils were short of three things - physical activities, leisure time and contacts with Swedes. IM arranged homework support at some schools and the school counselor suggested that such activity could be a good opportunity for the newly arrived immigrant youths. However they did not have much homework. A trainee at IM got the task of starting up an activity for the young immigrants. She visited the school and gathered volunteers and they began to meet in IM´s building. After a while some new young volunteers started and together with a counselor at IM developed the activity which today is called “Move it” (Sandberg 4-5, Olof Samuelsson).
The activity “Move it” aspires to support newly arrived immigrant youths in attaining an active leisure time in order to facilitate their integration into the Swedish society. The main activity is to visit local associations weekly so that the youths have the possibility to find their favorite activity and start practicing it. This activity can be combined with trips, camps and homework support. The activity serves as a meeting point so that the participants can increase their social network, creativity, community, knowledge of language and cultures. The thought is that a meaningful leisure time guides the youth into a positive social context and that a larger social network helps the individual to gain a job or apartment further on in life. In the pilot study Philip Sandberg also mentions the theory of social capital in relation to “Move it” (Sandberg 3, 7-8). Kjell Jonsson, the assisting secretary-general in IM, says that the idea was that if you are new in a society, you want to learn the language and how the society works, then there is nothing better than doing fun activities with others that have the same interest. Olof Samuelsson, the counselor at IM who helped develop “Move it”, argues that inclusion may be a better word then integration. He says that one thought behind the activity was that the youths should not only meet volunteers at IM or other newly arrived immigrants. Rather they need to be included in the society at large.
Kjell Jonsson says that the goal from the beginning was that the youths should visit 10-15 associations during a semester and “drop off” into these other organizations. The purpose has been revised slightly, the goal is still that youths should start in an association but
it is not an end in itself. A few sports and activities are very expensive and can be hard for newly arrived to afford. As well, some individuals find the activities and associations they like fast, others need more time. To have fun can be enough. Nevertheless Kjell Jonsson means that ideological it is still positive to “drop people off” so they mix with the general population.
After the upstart in Lund, IM understood that this was a good method to work with. Kjell Jonsson means that it is rather easy to explain, simple to arrange and need little bureaucracy to sustain. What it needs is a few volunteers that are serious and who take responsibility, plus contacts to associations. Further Kjell Jonsson says the associations are usually positive and see this as an opportunity to gain members. Today IM work with “Move it” in four cities in Sweden, in Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmö and Landskrona.
Objectives for the “Move it” activity:
To create meeting places through a natural forum of interaction.
Introduce youths that are newly arrived in Sweden to different associations in Landskrona.
Create good role models among the associations and volunteers. The parents shall get a confidence in IM.
Lower the threshold for daring to speak Swedish to people their own age and in this way heavily enlarge the motivation for learning the Swedish language.
Increase the youth’s self-esteem. Increase the youth’s social network.
Shed light on young immigrant’s situation and questions that concern this target group. A long term aim is to start a volunteer group that on its own, with support from IM`s volunteer coordinator, can run “Move it” (Projektplan).
Effect goals, that are supposed to be measured one year after the end of the project: 1. At least 10 volunteers shall have participated each semester.
2. The project shall have had at least 30 participants/semester.
3. Volunteers and participants shall experience increased knowledge about associations. 4. Volunteers and participants shall experience that they have more friends/contacts. 5. Participants shall experience that they have got increased language skills.
of attending the project (Projektplan).
2.2 “Move it” in Landskrona
IM´s assisting general-secretary Kjell Jonsson declares that IM choose to establish their organization in Landskrona deliberately and he says that is was a valuation. They knew about the difficulty that exists in Landskrona. Many newly arrived immigrants are living in isolation, even if this is not a dilemma unique for Landskrona. Another motivation was that IM has a large activity and resources in the region of Skåne and from an assessment it was reasonable to include Landskrona. Besides individuals in Landskona donate money to the organization yet there was no local activity. Jonsson expresses two reasons for starting up a project in Landskrona. The first was to start “Move it”, the other to establish IM in the town. As written before, the vision is that when the initiating project is over the activities are prolonged and can be run by volunteers with help from the regional office in Malmö. The regional office in Malmö has responsibility for the all local activity in the region of Skåne which include Lund, Malmö, Helsingborg and later Landskrona.
IM´s project in Landskrona was partly founded by Allmänna Arvsfonden. IM received 651 000 for year one and 515 000 year two. IM contributed with mentorship and some administration costs. The project leader, Maria Söderborg, was employed halftime in September but started working fulltime in November 2008. The first information meeting for the public was held in November 2008 and the first volunteer meeting and “Move it” activity took place during December the same year (Field notes 4/5). The project was in the beginning cooperating with Centrum & Österlyftet, a municipality project for development in Landskrona and especially the areas Centrum and Öster. IM paid 40 % of one employee’s salary during one year, in exchange Maria Söderborg was introduced to Landskrona, the neighbourhood, key persons and associations (Field notes 25/3, 4/5, Kimmo Kolehmainen, Centrum & Österlyftet).
The project has two target groups. One constitute of newly arrived immigrant youths between 12-19 years in Landskrona municipals, which are or has attended introductions classes (Projektplan). However the age sometimes varies depending in the association and in practice the participants are not always asked of their age or if they are newly arrived, rather all persons that are interested can join. At occasion many young individuals have come and then a limit may be enforced (Maria Söderborg). The second target group comprise of persons that are interested in becoming a volunteer (Projektplan). This group has been hard to reach in Landskrona (Maria Söderborg, V-E). Other stakeholders are
parents and siblings of the young immigrants, schools and associations (Projektplan). IM cooperate with and visit introduction classes at Dammhagsskolan at grade 7-9 and Allvar Gullstands gymnasium, a high school. These are the only schools in Landskrona with introduction classes at those levels. Additionally IM has informed SFI classes (Swedish for Immigrants) about their activities, especially the “Tjejcafé” (Café for women and girls). SFI courses are for adults.
“Tjejcaféet”, which I will be calling the Café for women and girls or just the Café, was an activity that developed after some time. The Café started with a request from a girl that studies at SFI, she was too old to take part in “Move it” and did not feel comfortable being a volunteer. She wanted to practice Swedish and knew that there were other women and girls at SFI feeling the same. Some of the volunteers liked the idea and the Café started in June 2009. The plan was to meet four times but both volunteers and especially participants wanted to continue. Maria Söderborg says that another thought behind the decision was that it could be a way of getting girls to take part more. Girls did not visit “Move it” to the same extent as boys, and if they did they often took a step back behind the boys. Additionally a Café could reach the parents of the youths active in “Move it” since they often study at SFI. The Café meets every Tuesday evening from 5-7 pm, the participants drink tea and coffee and chat. At times the group does outings, much in the same way as “Move it” but not as often. They may visit an association, go to the library or, as when I was there, attend a first aid education. Maria Söderborg means that the activity is based on the same ideas as “Move it” and has developed more in the direction “Move it” was thought to do (Field notes 6/4, 6/5, V-E, V-C, V-B)
Furthermore IM started up homework support once a week at Dammhagskolan for all pupils in grade 7-9. After some time the interest from the pupils got lower and the volunteers made the suggestion that they could help out during class. During spring 2010 three volunteers started as “class-grandmas” in a 7th grade class (Field notes 6/5, V-B).
IM´s workplace is situated opposite to Dammhagskolan, in the district Öster and just a few roads from the town centre. The area has a high number of exclusion and many of the newly arrived immigrants live here. It is at IM premises “Move it”-participants gather before an outing. The women and girls in the Café also meet there as long as they are not too many, in that case they move to the office of Centrum & Österlyftet just a few meters away (Centrum & Österlyftet, Agnetha Nilsson, V-B, V-C). IM has many cooperation partners, the road map of the project mentions Landskona municipal, association, local media, volunteers and other members of IM in Landskorna (Projektplan).
Kjell Jonsson believes that the project has done well. A guess from his part is that IM are more known in Landskrona than before, that they have gotten more donors and that the persons involved in the activities has fun which is a good record in itself. Moreover he says that he will use Landskrona as an example for potential expansions to other cities. He considers this to be a good way of getting into a town, gain contacts and volunteers, without it getting to expensive. He notices that the project leader has been very alone in many questions even if support was given from the regional office. However he says that Maria Söderborg has tried to work with other actors, and states that the issues at hand is nothing IM should or can work on alone. The initiating project ends in September if nothing changes. Kjell Jonsson notes that it is expensive to employ personal in Sweden and, as said, the goal has always been that the activities in Landskrona should be on a voluntary basis.
2.3 IM ‐ the organization
The Swedish aid organization IM was founded 1938 and fight poverty and alienation in 15 countries. One of the countries IM work in is Sweden. IM is represented in many places and forms in Sweden. The organization has its head office in Lund but has local offices, shops, representatives, local associations and volunteer groups at different locations. In Sweden employed personal and volunteers try to give isolated groups a voice and to integrate them in the society. These groups could be newly arrives immigrants, asylum seekers or persons who have been on sick leave an extended period. Another important task in Sweden is to support engagement for the questions of poverty and exclusion. Year 2007 the organization utilized around 75 million SEK and approximately 1500 volunteers are active both inside and outside of Sweden (“Detta är IM”, “Frågor och svar”, “IMs arbete i Sverige”).
Around 2000 IM started to re-examine their own work in Sweden. Earlier the organization had employed a few social welfare officers and worked towards individuals, as well as run an institution for youths. At this time they reformulated their strategy and the counselors started to work more group oriented and develop approaches to work with volunteers. The idea behind the change was rather simple, IM wanted to reach more individuals and be able to make a deeper imprint. Instead of employing 10-15 counselors they can now hire 10-15 employees that work with and coaches volunteers. This way they reach a larger amount of individuals. For this reason they also had to re-evaluate how they worked, you cannot use the same methods or demands on volunteers as on professionals. Another change was that IM decided to focus on integration issues. Through their experience in other countries, their history and Sweden’s needs, the organization felt that they could contribute
most around this issue. To create a society for everyone, people have to be engaged. It is nothing officials can do alone. Gradually integration issues have become the organization’s characteristic in Sweden. Kjell Jonsson estimates that 85-90 % of their social activities and volunteer work in Sweden concern integration. Maria Söderborg, the project leader, described that IM discusses if “Move it” may be something to invest in generally. They have it in four cities already and it is an activity unique for IM (Maria Söderborg).
2.4 Landskrona – the town
Landskrona is located in the south-west of Sweden. In December 2009, 41 226 people lived in the municipals (“Landskrona i siffror”). Until the beginning of the 1980´s Landskrona was an industrial town. The textile company, Schlasberg, shut down 1978 and when the shipyard closed three years later it resulted in the biggest shut down in Sweden’s history and left almost 50 % of Landskrona´s population unemployed (Nerbrand 24-25, Lindskov 21). After a few years of reduced population and high unemployment Landskrona received many immigrants, none the least from Balkan. For the period of 1994-1995 2000 refugees arrived, which constitute 5 % of the inhabitants. Instead of areas divided by class, ethnic divisions appeared (Nerbrand 25). In a lecture about and in Landskrona professor Tapio Salonen from Linné University asks the question whether Landskrona will become two cities. Where the central parts represent persons with low resources and the area close to the sea include those with larger resources. As well, he shows that the economical and ethnical segregation overlap, however the driving factor are economical (Field notes 17/3). Citizens of Landskrona lack faith in the future, and in the election 2006 every fifth placed their vote on the xenophobic party, the Sweden Democrats (Nerbrand 25).
Nerbrand writes that this “typical” story about Landskrona is true but that there are also other factors in Landskrona´s past. The town has changed its identity three times before, it has not always been an industrial town. As well, the immigration did not start to arrive in the 1990´s. During the Second World War refugees came to Landskrona, another example is that when workers came from Germany, former Yugoslavia and Greece in the 50´s and 60´s. When the shipyard closed, 1/4 of the workers had foreign background (Nerbrand 25-26). The article also indicates that Landskrona is a town with many social problems and that voting for the xenophobic Sweden Democrats could be a sign for dissatisfaction rather then racial intolerance (Nerbrand 26).
In 2008 the 24 % of the citizens where born outside of Sweden, for Sweden in general the same number is 14 % (“Kommunfakta”). Moreover, around 30 % in Landskrona
have “foreign background”. The category include those who are born outside of Sweden or who has two foreign born parents (“Integration och mångfald”). At a lecture Anne Harju, Ph.D. in social work at Linnè University, talks about “we” and “them” constellations in Landskrona. She has studied the social environment, categories and relations, through interviews and observations. She detects three categories present in Landskrona, those with foreign background arriving in the 80´s and forwards, those with foreign background arriving in the 50´s-70´s and those with Swedish background. She describes that there are many “we” and “them” divisions and use of stereotypes even if persons know that they generalise. Further she describes an environment where people are unsafe (Field notes 17/3). During my observations I have also noticed that many persons talk about safety, or rather “unsafety”, in Landskrona. One volunteer bring up that Landskrona has an undeserved bad reputation regarding crime and immigrants and the majority of the volunteers mention integration issues as one reason for being engaged (V-B). Maria Söderborg has also reflected over this. Besides an impression of insecurity, in the beginning of the project people commented that persons in Landskrona are unengaged and it would be difficult to find volunteers (Maria’s notes).
3 Methodology
IM and my cooperation started on my initiative and they have not commissioned me. However I have received compensation for travels expenses. I have been free to design the study in my own way although based on their objectives. The main intention and my personal ambition are to produce a one-year master thesis. However a secondary function is that IM will gain insight and learn from my analysis.
The methods used for collecting data have been interviews and observation. Interviews provide information directly from individuals and are preferred since I sought to capture perceptions from persons involved with the project. Observation is a vital complement and facilitates interviewing.
3.1 Cross‐cultural research
3.1.1 The research relationship
All humans live in a constructed world and the reality is subjective (Schatzman & Strauss 329, Aspers 45). Kvale writes that, “The research interview is an inter-view where knowledge is constructed in the inter-action between two people.” (13-14). A number of distortions are embedded in the research relationship itself and we have to try to understand these distortions even if they are difficult to detect (Bourdieu 608, 612, Merriam et al 406).
Communication across “distances” runs the risk of not mere language differences but differences in understanding thought and meaning (Briggs “Native Metacommunicative”, Schatzman & Strauss, Blumer). Bourdieu describes social distance as the distance between how you see and analyze the object under study and the meaning it has to the respondent (609). Many hold that a cross-cultural interaction needs more reflection and bridging (Backnik 31, Schwartz & Schwartz 352-353, Shah 567-568, Patton 391). In this evaluation there may exist a cultural distance between me and some of the interviewees, since I am Swedish and belong to the majority population.
Another factor that presents distortion is power. The researcher contains more power, he imposes the agenda, provides the communication norms and usually enjoys a higher place in the social hierarchy (Bourdieu 609, Briggs A sociolinguistic appraisal 121). Hall divides the power question into personal and structural and she means that the personal power can shift from the researcher to the interviewee, due to education, age or class etc. (137-139). In some situations my interviewees have possessed more personal power than I,
due to higher position and age. Other interviewees were newly arrived to Sweden and younger than me, in these interviews I hold more power, both structural and personal.
3.1.2 Limiting distortions
As stated above a researcher should try to limit distortions. Reflecting over the relationship between the researcher and the respondent, and its influence upon the questions asked, the answers given and the result, are emphasised by many (Schwartz &Schwartz 352-353, Kvale & Brinkmann Den kvalitative forskningsintervjun 260, Fangen 159, Scatzman & Strauss 336-337, Bourdieu 608-609, Merriam et al 406). The relationship and the distance were highly varied in my interviews, but I tried to reflect on them accordingly. Interviewing professionals or newly arrived immigrants give highly different relationships and reflections. Moreover some of the projects participants are vastly younger than me. During my analysis I tried to not only analyze the words said but also the way they were said or in response to what questions. This was especially vital when interviewees did not know Swedish so well. I have taken this in consideration when analyzing in the way that very inconclusive answers were not used. Another reflection made is that younger participants had trouble answering abstract questions. This leaves that all questions asked where not answered which constitute a limitation. In addition I also tried to reflect over my own presuppositions.
To be able to reflect the researcher needs knowledge. Knowledge about the participant’s constructed world, place in it, their communication and the situation studied. (Bourbieu 612-614,618, Shah 567-568, Goldstein 592, Briggs “Native Metacommunicative” 2-3). When engaging in a cross-cultural research knowledge is emphasized even harder. The researcher needs time to get familiar with the new culture (Kvale 68). For the participants I found this task very hard due to their diverse language and cultural background. However among others Goldstein finds that spending time and observing the subject and the participants can be one way of requiring knowledge. Knowledge about how to ask questions and what the answers mean. Observation provides the researcher with a chance to record data within the worlds that has meaning to the respondents (Jackson 44, Burgess 79-80, Goldstein). As a complement to interviews I decided to use participant observations. The approach assumes participation and engagement and offers a wider and more complex picture of the field. Furthermore the researcher can compare what is said with that is done (Fangen 8, 32). Spending time in Landskrona, talking to persons involved with IM´s project there and especially spending time with the participants helped me understand the situation better. Participant observations gave both empirical data but also knowledge for conducting my
interviews. I met most of the participants and volunteers at least one time before the interview. One participant and one volunteer I did not have the chance to meet before but for different reasons still choose to interview. Burgess used this approach when interviewing pupils and means that it helped him establish a relationship between himself and the interviewee (107). Even so I experienced that a couple of the youths felt uncomfortable or stressed. On the other hand I do think meeting most of them before eased the relationship, in some cases obviously. However, my observations did not offer much insight into the participant’s cultures, it rather provided insight to their participation in IM´s activities. This produce limits to my findings, both in accuracy and in depth. Yet their participation in the project was my main focus in the interviews. As stated I constantly had the relationship and situation in mind when using the data and at times made reflections already in the transcript concerning these issues.
3.1.3 Multicultural research
The evaluation is not only across two cultures, it includes many cultures. Sweden, Landskrona and particularly the project itself are highly multicultural. Shah views a cross-cultural interaction in a multicultural society as different than a strictly cross-cultural one (567-568). Hall conducted her study in a multicultural Britain. The study dealt with South Asian women though she was white and British. She writes that “…I felt that portraying South Asian female immigrants as a South Asian and/or minority-ethnic issue, which should only be researched by individuals from that specific ethnic group was extremely damaging, and ultimately runs the risk of marginalizing the issue as a solely minority-ethnic concern.” (127-129). Many cultures, as well as language, mix during both the Café and “Move it” activities. For this reason getting familiar with the culture of each participant was impossible in the limited timeframe. But as Hall holds it, it is not wrong that also individuals from the majority investigates cultural issues. I felt that especially integration should not be considered a minority problem, it is a two way process. Hall also holds that she had insight how the prejudice, stereotypes and tensions are created from the majority perspective (129) which is a knowledge I also hold generally though I am not from Landskrona.
3.1.4 Limitations
The researcher has to be aware about the problems that cross-culture research brings. Cultural distance influences and limits the results and the researcher has to understand and be open with these limits (Tabane & Bouwer 562-563, Goldstein 589). In this chapter I have
mentioned a number of limitations to my research and result. I view my language and age distance to some of the participants as the main limitations. In addition my lack of cultural knowledge also conducts a limitation. Due to these constraints the evaluation has not been able go deep into the participant’s perception although I feel that I have been able to detect an over all view of their experiences and the project.
Since the world is constructed we have to remember that recordings are subjective. In observation, the observer “chooses” what to register and record. What is detected is very much up to how the researcher, I, conceptualize my world and my place in it (Somekh et al 138, Schwartz & Schwartz 343). For this reason what are presented in this evaluation are my findings, and even if true they are not the whole picture or the only result possible.
3.2 Observation
As stated above I used the method participant observation. I conducted observations during a lecture about segregation in Landskrona, a meeting with different actors concerning integration, I visited both the schools IM cooperate with and SFI, conducting interviews with key persons at different places in Landskrona, I participated in 5 activities with the Café and “Move it” and 1 volunteer meeting. Additionally, many days I worked from IM´s office in Landskrona. This gave me a chance to see the everyday practice of the project leader and the area where many of the participants live, as well as Dammhagskolan which is located right across IM´s premises. My time spent in the field has been on and off. I live in Malmö, a city close to Landskrona, and have commuted back and forth. I had never been in Landskrona before so my first visit to the city was the 8th of March. However I started to work more intensively after the 6th of April and I finished my data collection 11th of May. After or at times during each observation I wrote down field notes about what took place, what was said and my own reflections. Reflections are separated by being written in italic.
3.2.1 My roles
Fangen writes that the degree of participation can vary during a field work and the researcher can change between roles over time (139-149, 154). During the research I have many times felt a confusion regarding my role and to what extent I should participate. When I interact with persons it is sometimes hard to keep observing instead of solely participate. One example is when I was participating in a “Move it” activity and I was the only “volunteer” traveling to the activity with the participants. The others met us there. This time I had to take a large responsibility of getting everyone on the bus etc. When arriving at the activity I could
not take a step back since we already established a certain connection (Filed note 22/4). On the other hand I never totally forgot my role as an observer and reflected on the situation afterwards when writing field notes. It is also important to be aware that the researcher can influence the situation just by being present (Fangen 31). For this reason I at times tried to hold back my own involvement and constantly reflect over my presence. On the other hand if not engaging my influence could get larger by producing a stressful and odd situation (Fangen 31). For this reason I rather engaged than stress the situation.
This leads to the participant’s confusion about my role. Even if I informed them that I did an evaluation and that I was observing them, I am not certain they always understood fully. This regards both “Move it” and the Café. A few times I did not introduce myself as an observer for all participants, at one time I forgot since I met most of the participants and volunteers before and a few times there came new participants during an activity. Even if informed I think they at times saw me as a volunteer or even as a representative from IM. I explained this more extensively at the interviews but still felt that they sometimes did not fully grasp the situation and my purpose for being there. Even if problematic I do not think this compromise my result and more significantly I do not think this has much effect on their situation.
3.3 Interview
I have chosen to use a semi-structured interview method when interviewing participants and volunteers. Kvale and Brinkmann writes that in a semi-structured interview “…the guide will include an outline of topics to be covered, with suggested questions.” It depends on the study how strictly followed the guide is (InterViews 130). I established a few overriding themes and questions beneath them mainly based on IM´s objectives. Though the questions where not always asked in the exact order or the words written, rather the interviewee’s reactions and answers guided the direction it took. On the other hand the themes and questions created were all dealt with in some way and timing.
Interviews with key persons were also semi-structured but not organized according to the same themes. Key persons have different relationships to IM and different positions and the questions changed consequently. However they all dealt with IM´s activity in Landskrona and their relation to the project. A few interviews have been conducted in Lund and Malmö due to the key person’s location.
3.3.1 Transcription
I have not transcribed the interviews word for word or entirely. Rather I choose to summarize and describe a person’s view in the transcript. At some occasions genuine quotes are written and then questions marks are used. I have left out the parts that are not relevant for my analysis, to save time and since I do not consider transcribing the interviews fully contribute to the analysis to any large extent. Irony, laughter or such were added when relevant. These comments are divided from what was actually said in the way that they were put in brackets. My own questions or inputs are at times left out in the transcript. However questions do play a role in the outcome of the answer and therefore I now and then wrote down my participation and contribution in the transcript. To underline in this issue is that there are always sound files, which is the real empirical data, to go back and listen to. One sounds file, half an interview, was not possible to save on a computer however the interview is transcribed as described above. The transcripts are written in Swedish and the interviews were held in the same language. When the interviewee did not know that much Swedish I sometimes made a smaller analysis in the transcript. For example writing comments about weather or not they understood my question. Or when interviewing two participants together I sometimes wrote down comments regarding their interplay. These comments are written in italic. In the text I will refer interviews with participants, volunteers, students at Dammhagskolan and association through a letter system. P for participants, V for volunteers, S for students and A for associations plus an additional letter for coordination. For example, P-A, P-B, P-C etc. They are listed among the references.
3.3.2 Amount
I conducted 9 interviews with key persons, and one informal interview with Maria Söderborg the project leader towards the end. The names are listed among the references.
Regarding the participants I conducted 9 interviews, with a total of 11 participants. Totally 4 participants attended the Café and 7 “Move it”, 6 female and 5 male. Two interviews were conducted with two participants at a time. Once, a participant brought a friend. The second time I asked two women if they would want an interview with me and on their reaction I gathered that they wanted to be interviewed together. Maria had told me before that some may feel more comfortable interviewed in pair and may show up with a friend so I had already decided that would be acceptable. I called and reminded most of the participants and some came late. 3 participants were non-responsive, two did not come on a
scheduled appointment and did not answer when I tried to reach them. Both later said that they forgot or was busy and we could not reschedule due to their or my lack of time. Another person I asked did not want to set an exact time and as I understood she did not want to be interviewed. Furthermore, 5 participants were called on the phone from the beginning but did not answer, the phone was turned off or someone else answered.
When it comes to volunteers I conducted 5 interviews. With 2 mainly from the Café, 2 from “Move it” and 1 had been active in both. Totally it was 4 women and 1 man.
I conducted 4 interviews with pupils that had not attended or only attended “Move it” a few times. Three of them with two interviewees at the time so a total of 7 pupils in one class at Dammhagskolan, 4 female and 3 male.
I telephoned, or at two times performed interviews in person, with contact persons for associations and other actors that “Move it” or the Café has visited – 6 in total. One did not answer when I called.
3.3.3 Selection
The selection process for key persons was according to role relative perspective and a strategic selection (Aspers 92). The project leader functioned as my gatekeeper and she suggested which key persons to contact. I contacted almost all of the suggested persons as well as one or two that I understood was important after talking to others (Aspers 91).
For the selection of participants and volunteers Maria Söderborg, the project leader, had an equally larger role. She had the knowledge about who has been active the most or the least etc. However I also asked volunteers and participants myself at the activities or called them, sometimes going outside of Maria’s suggestions. One criterion for selecting especially the participants was that I wanted to have met them before at an activity. However at two occasions I went outside that criterion and followed strategic selection. As well, some participants have more trouble with the Swedish language which made me select those that are more sufficient. Both the language criterion and that I wanted to meet the participants at activities before could have implications for my findings, leaving many persons outside my reach. In this way my evaluation could be seen as a “swoop” during a certain time limit, both in selection of interviewees and observations made.
The selection of students in introduction classes was random. I chose to go to the introduction class with grades 7-8 at Dammhagskolan since I met their teacher. I talked to a few students that their teacher thought and themselves said that they had not been attending
“Move it” at all or only a few times. I continued to interview more students until their class was finished and they went to lunch, resulting in 7 interviews.
With regard to the association I received a paper with contact information from Maria, in total 10 contacts and I selected a few randomly and two according to strategic selecting. I knew one association had received new members through “Move it” and with another I had heard about some problems.
3.3.4 Gatekeeper
During the evaluation I worked closely with the project leader, Maria Söderborg. As a gatekeeper she was vital for my success in finding relevant key persons. The project leader was the only person that could present cooperation partners, significant volunteers and insight into the daily work. One main gatekeeper contains a backside regarding the selection on the other hand it provided extensive insight and understanding. I find Maria Söderborg´s contribution to be more essential than problematic.
My relationship with the project leader developed during the process none the least since we sometimes commuted to and from Landskrona together. Just as her role as a gatekeeper can influence my selection, our cooperation could provide a hinder since her views may have influenced my views or lower my rate of criticism. In some ways we also became “colleagues”, we discussed problems with my evaluation or her tasks. When conducting a formative evaluation or on-going evaluation my involvement in the ongoing project may not be unexpected but it could present an impact on the result. Even so I think it can provide insight into the project and enhance the result if reflected upon thoroughly.
One impact I have noticed is that I focused more on Dammhagskolan in my evaluation probably since IM has a closer cooperation with them. The attitudes and reflections from personal and students at the high school, Allvar Gullstrands Gymnasiet, are not investigated as much. Further inquiries may be needed at the high school to get a more complete picture. Still, given that IM worked more closely with Dammhagskolan I consider the limitation reasonable and with the information gathered I reflect over the issue in the analysis.
3.3.5 Anonymity
For the participants and volunteers full anonymity will be upheld. However the project leader and other participants and volunteers may know who I have interviewed. For participant this should not be a large problem since I interviewed a certain amount and I tried not to use
personal information. For volunteers there are only a certain amount per activity, however, I informed them that Maria knew whom I interview and was not bothered by this fact. For key persons I have instead asked if I can use their names and quote them. They have all agreed to this, yet many want to be able to read and give comments before printing the evaluation. For that matter I have emailed extractions of their interview to all key persons and they have been able to leave comments.
3.3.6 Location
Interviews with participants and volunteers where conducted at IM´s premises, except one which I interviewed in that person’s home. The premises is a place they all know, a place close to where most of them live and connected to IM. One problem has been that the premises is rather small and sound travel easy. It contain two floors, one constitutes the office space and the other a decorated cellar. Both Maria and an employee from Centrum & Österlyftet use the office. When conducting interviews Maria has usually not been there, or she has had a meeting at the other floor. Interviews have been interrupted a few times although the interviewees did not seem to be bothered by it.
In general most participants appeared open and answered the questions to their best ability. Language and hard questions seem to make them uncomfortable at times, or maybe just sitting talked to me alone.
3.4 Survey
From the beginning I intended to hand out smaller surveys in the introduction classes and SFI. I wanted to get an over view and reach persons that do not attend IM´s activities. A teacher at Dammahagskolan thought that a survey would be hard for the pupils to complete with regard to their language and I instead made shorter interviews. Nonetheless I decided to hand out surveys to two classes at SFI, however I noticed that it was hard for them to fill out the survey and understand the questions. For this reason I will not use the answers.
3.5 Evaluation
SIDA´s (the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) evaluation manual states that an evaluation is a “…reality test, a learning mechanism that provides feedback on the results of action in relation to prior objectives, plans, expectations or standards of performance.” Evaluation typically serves two broad ends: accountability and learning (Molund & Schill 11, 14). However there are different types of evaluations. Formative
and if needed modifies the design. Outcome evaluation is concerned with whether or not a project achieves their goals. With the later one problem could be that the goals often are vague and broad and as a result it is complicated to evaluate its effectiveness (Spiel 12170). This evaluation is more in line with a formative evaluation since the project is still not finished. I examined how IM work towards achieving their objectives, however I will not be able to state if they have achieved them in total. Further I try to propose suggestions how to proceed as well as alter the approach. The intent of the evaluation is rather to draw learning than focus on accountability. A comparison could be made to on-going evaluation, where observations are regularly brought back to the project management. Such evaluation extends throughout the implementation and permits an effective cooperation between the evaluator and project manager (Malmö Högskola). Nevertheless I have not had the opportunity to follow the project for the duration of its implementation.
3.5.1 On‐going suggestions and anonymity
In line with on-going evaluation I decided to from time to give suggestions or ideas to Maria Söderborg during the process of my research so that she could draw from them already. However this procedure could also constitute difficulty. Since Maria Söderborg knew what key persons I interviewed she could recognize from whom a suggestion came and for this reason I sometimes use their names. On the same time I should not compromise my informants. However all key persons agreed to quotations although some wanted to read their statements before. Additionally the suggestions were often practical and dealt with their profession. I have at times found the balance hard but I hope and believe that I have resolved it in a good manner. When interviewing pupils, participants or volunteers I have decided not to discuss the finding before the thesis is finished.
4 Theories
4.1 Integration
What is integration and what kind of integration should we strive for? To me it is a question about what kind of society we want to live in. I will not give a definite answer to what integration is, though I will discuss the concept and provide tools for an analysis.
Milton Gordon distinguishes between “behaviour assimilation” and “structural assimilation”. “Behaviour assimilation” refers to absorbing cultural behaviour patterns of the host society, this he calls acculturation. He includes a comment that I find vital, the cultural patterns of the receiving country modify a little continually. “Structural assimilation” instead refers to the migrant’s entrance into social organizations, institutional activities and the general civic life of the receiving country. This he simply calls assimilation and divide into two levels - “secondary friendships” and “primary friendships”. The first involves activities such as earning a living, carrying out political responsibilities and engaging in the instrumental affairs of the large community. The second level regards activities that create personal friendships such as frequent home visits, communal worship, and communal recreation - these are warm, intimate and personal relationships (“Assimilation in America” 279). In another article Gordon writes that ethnic pluralism can exist without a great deal of cultural diversity but it cannot exist at all without structural diversity (“Models of Pluralism” 182). In other words, if everyone assimilates on a structural level the society is no longer pluralistic. When studying America Gordon finds that behaviour assimilation has occurred to a considerable degree while structural assimilation has not (“Assimilation in America” 280). However, Herbert Gans, who also studied America, writes that some assimilation inevitable lay behind acculturation (878). Gans notices that one reason behind the faster acculturation is that individuals can do it by themselves. While for assimilation they need permission to enter the “American” group or institution (878).
In his book Choosing Integration Jose Alberto Diaz defines integration as,
“…a social process involving interaction between the migrant and host population. In contrast to the concept of assimilation, we do not assume that…integration means the elimination of all differences in cultural and behavioural standards. For us, integration means the qualitative increase of participation of minority members in systems of social interaction and relations within the majority society.” (7).
It is important to notice that integration is a two way interaction and as Gordon brings up also the cultural patterns of the host country modifies regularly. I regard this is particularly important to highlight when discussing a nation state like Sweden. Even if both Gordon and Gans discuss assimilation I consider the division between structural and behavioural interesting and applicable on integration. In this light Diaz definition focus more on the structural side. Diaz also referees to William S. Bernard´s distinction between assimilation and integration,
“Integration is achieved when migrants become a working part of their adopted society, take on many of its attitude and behaviour patterns, and participate freely in its activities, but at the same time retains a measure of their original cultural identity and ethnicity.// Assimilation passes beyond this point .. and takes place when the migrants or their descendents have merged themselves so fully with in native inhabitants, have adopted new folkways, and a new culture (a blend of their old culture and that of the host society) so thoroughly, and have abandoned their original ethnicity so wholly that they are indistinguishable from the natives and have attained a social invisibility.” (Bernard 1973:87) (Quoted from Diaz, 16).
Diaz argues that the main difference is that assimilation relates to cultural similarities and integration relate to the quality of social relations (16). Contrary I hold that the two concepts deal with both these levels, both structural and behaviour. Rather, and as he also mentions, it is the partial retaining of migrants original cultural identity and ethnicity that is the important difference. As well, I would like to stress the free participation of the immigrant.
Marko Valenta researched social integration of immigrants in Norway, or in Gordons terms “structural assimilation”. The general pattern was that immigrants have weak tie attachments with Norwegians combined with compensatory integration in selected parts of social networks containing compatriots (192). Valenta studies the social integration in relation to the immigrant’s meanings, interpretation and self-image. The relationships with locals and compatriots have different meanings for immigrants self-work. Weak ties to locals may give a feeling of belonging and acceptance, however they run the risk of being rejected and the majority always set the rules of the game. Instead many prefer dense social ties with compatriots. Selective incorporation can be due to fear of rejection or that they do not succeed in developing relations with locals. Weak ties with locals can be seen as the most secure approach (193). Valenta connects this with that straight-line process of gradually increased integration is criticized by segmented assimilation theorists. Instead different immigrant groups may pursue different paths of incorporation and partake in diverse segments of the
society (179). Related Spaaij writes that minority groups use leisure time and sports to particularly get away from tense relations and instead they want to be among those with whom interaction is uncomplicated, symmetrical and meaningful (252). Why relations are tense may be since, as stated in the methodology, our world is created. Herbert Blumer means that our understanding and interpretation of the world influence our actions and behaviour. He believes that the basis of the understanding and meaning come from interaction between people. For example the meaning of a thing grows out of how other people act towards you in relation to this thing. Which give that meanings are social produced. Further Blumer holds that interaction can modify the interpretation and give new meaning to things (2-5).
These accounts raise many questions. Firstly immigrants may not desire close local friends and rather feel more comfortable with their compatriots. Perhaps are school and work life filled with tense relations and it becomes important that spare time is simple. This could be compared to Gordon’s division between primary and secondary friendships. Furthermore Valenta highlights that integration looks different for different groups. A person may have integrated within his group or with other immigrants and enjoy their support in dealing with the new society. Another issue it underlines is the majority’s role in determining the rules of the game and their ability to reject attempts to integrate, which also Gans brought up above.
4.2 Social capital
Social capital is a concept with diverse definitions. Alejandro Portes writes that social capital has become extensively used in everyday situations leaving the term without distinct meaning. In his article, Social Capital: Its Origin and Applications in Moderns Sociology, Portes discusses different authors interpretation of the concept (2). However he writes that despite diverse definitions
“…the consensus is growing in the literature that social capital stands for the
ability of actors to secure benefits by virtue of membership in social networks or other social structures.” (6).
Glen Loury`s quote is particularly reveling the importance if social capital,
“The merit notion that, in a free society, each individual will rise to the level justified by his or her competence conflicts with the observation that no one travels that road entirely alone. The social context within which individual maturation occurs strongly conditions what otherwise equally competent individuals can achieve. This implies that absolute equality of
opportunity…is an ideal that cannot be achieved.” (Loury 1977, p.176) (quoted in Portes 4).
One discussion I will bring up is the one between dense and weak ties, which also Valenta uses above. While Coleman and Loury has stressed the importance of dense ties for social capital, Burt (1992) holds the opposite view. He finds that the absence of ties creates “structural holes” that facilitates individual movement and that weaker ties can be sources of new knowledge and resources (6).
Portes continues and describes the sources of social capital. One vital point here is that a person has to be connected to others to possess social capital and it is the others that are the real source. The first source Portes mentions are norms and obligations that make people obey traffic rules, trust that their money will be returned or that children play safe on the street. A second source is obligations of others by the norms of reciprocity. Yet another source could come from being a member of a certain group or community, for example workers or a church. This is called bounded solidarity. A final source mentioned is when a common social structure serves as the base of trust. The recipient must not hold the trust rather the collective as a whole contains it as a forms of status or approval and the collective acts as a guarantor (7-8).
Also the consequences of social capital are plural. Portes distinguishes three functions of social capital from the literature, 1) as a source of social control, 2) as a source of family support and 3) as a source of benefits through extrafamilial networks (9-13). Portes emphasizes that social capital also have negative consequences. He puts forward four negative consequences, 1) exclusion of outsiders, 2) excess claims on group members, 3) restrictions on individual freedom and 4) downward leveling norms. This way social capital can both be a “public good” and a “public bad” (15-18). Portes writes that is it important to separate sources and functions to avoid confusion and facilitate the study of their interrelation. Further the forms of social capital may at times clash (14-15).
However there are also other forms of capital which can reinforce each other or facilitate the acquirement of another. Except social, Bourdieu discerns two other forms of capital, economical and cultural. Shortly economical capital conforms to material wealth. Cultural capital refers to cultural goods, knowledge, experiences, education, competences and skills that a social actor composes and which offers power and status (Spaaij 250). Ramón Spaaij investigates if sport-based social intervention programs could be a possible vehicle for obtaining these capitals for urban youths and improve their social position. The Sport Steward
Program he studied was located in Rotterdam and was an educational platform including both personal development and employment opportunities (247). The difference from IM´s activities are wide, however the idea partly the same. Spaaij found that the program contributes social mobility for some participants however in most cases it is more appropriate to stress the relatively modest increase in cultural, social and/or economical capital (247, 252). Spaaij writes that his conclusions verify two main points already recognized in literature regarding sport for development. Firstly, the program studied offers a useful hook engaging disadvantaged urban youths and presents a supportive environment. Secondly the transformative capacity for the youths can only be realized within a social and personal development approach and not by merely offering sport activities (262). Spaaij writes, “Here Bourdeiu´s argument that cultural capital plays a vital role in the reproduction of dominant social relations comes in to play. The meritocratic ideal of `level playing field` is illusory and conceals the fact that a person’s origins (family, circumstances, social class, etc.) continue to have a major impact on his/her ability to become socially mobile.” (262). Sports are interrelated to other social spheres but a rather autonomous sphere. Contradicting education and family is two of the most important variables influencing relative social mobility, variables which also put restraints on individual’s ability to become socially mobile. Except education and family circumstances, financial pressure, legal status or gate-keeping mechanisms could compose restraints. Spaaij concludes that these programs need to be individually tailored (250, 262).
When linked social capital and integration I would like to highlight that all contacts in the Swedish society disregarding ethnicity comprise social capital. In line with segmented assimilation, integration into an ethnic enclave provides social capital in that sector.
4.2.1 Social capital at society level
Portes holds that the theoretical promise of social capital lies at the individual level. As a result he agues against Putnam’s idea of “civicness” where social capital means “features of social organizations, such as networks, norms and trust, that facilitate action and cooperation for mutual benefit.” Putnam views social capital as a property of communities or nations instead of individuals, Portes writes that it leaves that “…social capital is simultaneously a cause and an effect.” (18-21). Even though Portes holds a valid point and social capital may hold more validity at an individual level I still choose to bring forward one article from Putnam that deals with trust and diversity. Putnam also recognizes that not all outcomes from
networks will be socially beneficial however he still holds that, from a community point of view, most evidence suggests that where levels of social capital are higher children grow up healthier, democracy works better etc (138).
Putnam discusses conflict and contact theory. The contact theory argues that diversity fosters interethnic tolerance and social solidarity. Contradictory conflict theory suggests that diversity fosters out-group distrust and in-group solidarity. Putnam writes that these two theories share one common assumption which is that in-group trust and out-group trust are negatively correlated. Putnam instead means that “bonding” social capital and “bridging” social capital are not contradicting (141-144). Spaaij describes bonding social capital as close ties between kin, neighbors or close friends and that help persons “get by”. Bridging social capital contradictingly refers to distant ties, for example loose friends or coworkers and which are used to “get ahead” (251). In Putnam’s findings he concludes that diversity decreases both in-group and out-group solidarity, both “bonding” and “bridging” social capital, and leads to social isolation. Instead, he suggests using his colleague term “constrict theory” (149). Putnam suggests that diversity does not produce bad race relations instead persons of diverse communities tend to withdraw from collective life, to distrust their neighbors despite their color, withdraw from close friends, expect the worst from the community and its leaders, to volunteer less or cluster in front of the TV (150-151). Related but on a individual level, Spaaij highlights that in a socially disorganized neighborhood individuals prospects for the creation and use of social capital is hindered (250).
Putman goes on and discusses that people trust each other more when the social distance is less, in other words when they are more alike. Social distance sequentially depends on social identity. He argues that if we change the social identity it will lead to changes in behavior. In turn he asks for immigration policies that focus on reconstruction of the ethnic identities without eliminating their personal importance (159-161). Putnam quotes Trevor Phillips, chair of the British Commission on Equality and Human Rights, “We need to respect people’s ethnicity but also give them, at some point in the week, an opportunity to meet and want to be with people with whom they have something in common that is not defined by their ethnicity” (Easton 2006) (quoted in Putnam 164).
4.3 Allport and Contact theory
With Putnam’s discussion in mind I bring up Allport`s contact theory. I view it as a theory of how a positive contact can be obtained and that it can be used in a practical manner. Moreover I do not necessarily agree that contact theory assumes that in-group trust and
out-group trust are negatively correlated, at least not as Pettigrew and Tropp use it. Further Pettigrew and Tropp also notice that contact under unfavourable conditions might enlarge prejudice instead of lowering them. Allport developed the theory in his book The nature of
Prejudice from 1954. The theory is founded on the idea that “contact between groups under
optimal conditions could effectively reduce intergroup prejudice”. The theory holds four conditions for the contact situation to be most favourable; 1) equal status between the groups in the situation 2) common goals 3) intergroup cooperation 4) support of authorities, law or custom (Pettigrew & Tropp 752).
Pettigrew and Tropp conclude that Allport´s four characteristics increase the positive outcome of the contact. However they are not essential, a decline in prejudice is possible even without all conditions met. Rather the conditions act as facilitators. They hold institutional support as extra important for a positive contact, however all the conditions should be seen as interdependent. However if these conditions are not vital for a positive outcome, then what is? Pettigrew and Tropp write that a rising perception suggests that reducing intergroup anxiety is important. Anxiety grows out of concern how to act, how you will be perceived and accepted (Pettigrew and Tropp 753, 766-767).
Contact theory has received conflicting conclusions in research. One researcher concludes that reduction of prejudice within the group may not be possible to generalize to entire outgroups. Another holds that intergroup contact may lower the prejudice at a personal level but that it has problems doing so at a group level. An additional conclusion is that contact under unfavourable conditions might enlarge prejudice instead of lowering them (Pettigrew and Tropp 752). Intergroup contact refers to contact between different groups, for example contact over ethnic lines.
Pettigrew and Tropp mean that there always is a bias in the selection of people joining a mixed group. Prejudiced people tend to keep away and tolerant people tend to be more interested to participate. But the reduction of prejudice seems to be stronger if there is no choice in the participation. Pettigrew and Tropp´s research indicate that intergroup contact extends past the direct contact situation and could be shown to have a generalized effect to entire outgroups, outgroup members in other situations and even outgroup not involved in the contact. These effects can be seen across a broad rage of targets and settings, which give the contact theory relevance in different contexts not just racial or ethnic (Pettigrew and Tropp 753, 759, 766, 768). While research mainly has focused on positive factors for intergroup contact, Pettigrew and Tropp stress the importance to also look after negative factors.
Examples are intergroup anxiety and authoritarianism which create an obstacle for positive contact (767).
