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Integration, political behaviour and attitude change : A comparative study of 100 southern Spanish and 100 Sicilian migrants in Charleroi, Belgium

Magauran, Helen C. (1985) Integration, political behaviour and attitude change : A comparative study of 100 southern Spanish and 100 Sicilian migrants in Charleroi, Belgium. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, University of Kent. (doi:10.22024/UniKent/01.02.94497) (KAR id:94497)

Abstract

This thesis is a comparative study of two groups of migrant workers in Charleroi, Belgium: one Sicilian group from Santa Elizabetta, Agrigento, and one Spanish group from the San Roque area, Andalusia. By means of interviews carried our in the host country Belgium, questions were asked in order to ascertain various political , economic and social beliefs, held by the migrants. These were used to throw light on the various effects of migration.

It was found that those who adapt least, the Spaniards, are those who are more politically aware. The answer to this would seem to lie in the culture of the home village. The Sicilians were found to rely heavily on the extended family, which explains their sense of well being and relative ease of assimilation.

Most European countries are now faced with high unemployment and in some instances xenophobia is high. Many Governments have imposed restrictions on immigration. Besides the political reasons there are also pressing economic reasons which have called for a halt to immigration.

However, the immigrants are now a permanent fixture arc the majority are unlikely to return to the donor countries. The presence of large numbers of foreign workers has become indispensable ever, in times of recession. For the most part in Europe immigrants live on, the fringes of society, they nave not been absorbed or integrated into the host country. To a large extent the initial attitudes of the immigrants coincided with those of the host countries because they saw themselves and were seen as temporary labour. But now they nave become a permanent force which must be reckoned with.

Item Type: Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD))
DOI/Identification number: 10.22024/UniKent/01.02.94497
Additional information: This thesis has been digitised by EThOS, the British Library digitisation service, for purposes of preservation and dissemination. It was uploaded to KAR on 25 April 2022 in order to hold its content and record within University of Kent systems. It is available Open Access using a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-commercial, No Derivatives (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) licence so that the thesis and its author, can benefit from opportunities for increased readership and citation. This was done in line with University of Kent policies (https://www.kent.ac.uk/is/strategy/docs/Kent%20Open%20Access%20policy.pdf). If you feel that your rights are compromised by open access to this thesis, or if you would like more information about its availability, please contact us at ResearchSupport@kent.ac.uk and we will seriously consider your claim under the terms of our Take-Down Policy (https://www.kent.ac.uk/is/regulations/library/kar-take-down-policy.html).
Uncontrolled keywords: Migrant worker integration
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
SWORD Depositor: SWORD Copy
Depositing User: SWORD Copy
Date Deposited: 13 Jul 2023 09:56 UTC
Last Modified: 13 Jul 2023 09:57 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/94497 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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