ITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

 A large amount of young people coming from developing countries have arrived in Italy during the last decade. Not all these young people wish to build a future in Italy, many of them expect to move to another European nation or further abroad, to other developed countries: this means creating new relations and identities. This paper is based on data collected during an empirical study in Lombardy – a region in the North of Italy which counts the largest number of foreign students residing in Italy (one fourth of the total number) – carried out in 2006 on a sample of young immigrants attending several types of secondary educational institutions. Our aim is to highlight the usefulness of some of theoretical categories provided by international studies within the sociology of migration for interpreting the social condition of young immigrants in Italy. The role of the family and the role of school environment, with a particular consideration of the problem of school distress, in determining these adolescents’ future social inclusion are discussed. In conclusion, the need for a comparative analysis of data sets, drawing upon both native and immigrant student data is recommended in order to aid comprehension of the entire process of social inclusion.