The Ethnic, National and Religious Identities of Muslim Tunisian Adolescents in Southern Italy

• In Event: 2-018 - Explorations of Identity Development among Muslim Minority Adolescents in Different Contexts

Integrative Statement

Questions of identity characterize the daily interactions of individuals and groups in contemporary societies. This is truer today than when Tajfel observed that “we live in a world in which the processes of unification and diversification proceed apace, both of them faster than ever before” (Tajfel, 1978). Migration and public debates over immigration are currently some of the more relevant factors influencing collective identity formation for the new generations of youth. This process is generally salient for all adolescents, but it has become more complex for Muslim adolescents with an immigrant background living in Europe, where new national security issues and immigration policies complicate their identity development and acculturation pathways (Phalet et al., 2018). Although the study of ethnic identity development among youth has grown in the last decades (see Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014), there is relatively less research on the simultaneous development of ethnic, host national and religious identities among immigrant minority adolescents.

Therefore, the present study focused on exploring (1) how these collective identities are shaped and the salience, centrality and intertwinement of these identities among Muslim immigrant adolescents living in a Tunisian enclave in Italy, and (2) how these identities are related to adaptation outcomes (mental health and risk behaviors), using qualitative methodology.

The participants included 17 second-generation Muslim Tunisian adolescents (9 boys and 8 girls), aged 13-17 years old residing in Mazara del Vallo, a 50,000-inhabitant town in southern Italy (Sicily) where approximately 10% of the population is Tunisian and lives largely concentrated in the specific “kasbah” district. Each adolescent participated in one of three focus groups (one male focus group, one female focus group, and one mixed-gender focus group), and each focus group comprised 4 to 7 participants.

We used the focus group methodology to listen to participants’ discussions of issues and topics they perceived were important in their lives. A trained Italian researcher and a Tunisian cultural mediator conducted the focus groups lasting approximately 1 hour each. Discussions were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were then coded and analyzed in accordance with the thematic analysis approach, and guided by a literature review, the hypothesized collective identity development associated with immigration patterns and the community context (Braun and Clarke, 2006).

Our analyses revealed that Muslim Tunisian adolescents’ collective identity formation was inextricably intertwined with their historical and ecological context. Three main findings emerged across at least 70% of the adolescent participants: (1) Their ethnic and religious group identifications emerged as more salient identity markers than their host national identification; (2) their religious identity was strictly entwined with their ethnic identity and heritage cultural values, although these identities were unrelated with their host national identity; and (3) their collective identities were discussed in relation to their adaptation outcomes depending on the interaction of specific factors, for example, exposure to discrimination and prejudice. These findings will be discussed with regard to the historical and contemporary patterns of immigration of Tunisians in that region, and their implications for the adaptation and well-being of Tunisian immigrant adolescents in Sicily.

Authors

• Alida Lo Coco, University of Palermo
  Presenting Author

• Pasquale Musso, University of Calabria
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cristiano Inguglia, University of Palermo
  Non-Presenting Author

• Charissa S. L. Cheah, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
  Non-Presenting Author