Teenagers and the phenomenon of immigration

This article illustrates the results of a study on the social representation of the immigrant, worked out by two groups of teenagers introduced in different immigration contexts. Unlike normal surveys usually carried out in which the characteristics of context are abstracted, the present one aims to test the hypothesis of the strong link that exists between the evaluation of the immigrant and the social role assigned to him by the socio-political apparatus of the host society. The results show that the different temporal exposure to diversity, as well as the different ideological systems are variables that are strongly reflected in the two images of the immigrant that emerge. A second result demonstrates indirectly that even such a young adolescent population as the one surveyed presents a thorough and complete socialisation of the respective national beliefs.