Adolescentes del África Occidental: motivaciones y reflexiones del proceso migratorio. Un análisis comparado

Abstract

This article presents the perception of professional experts and adolescents from West Africa on their migration process and their passage through Spain as they head toward Europe. Its objectives are 1) identify the reasons to migrate, 2) analyze family’s influence on decision-making, and 3) point out the factors conditioning the migration process. Qualitative techniques such as a life story, a panel of professional experts, Delphi, and SWOT were used. The results further deepen into the scarcity of the families’ financial resources, the adult status that adolescents originally receive, low income, and low qualification as main motivationsfor migrating. In conclusion, thistype of migration isidentified and built on the same parameters as adults. Different perceptions were found between adolescents and professionals regarding remittances and family influence to migrate. As implications for the practice, it was identified the importance of specializing the protection system professionals who attend the needs of young migrants.

Profiles of Protective Factors among Children and Adolescents in the Child Welfare System

“…On the other hand, in the case of unaccompanied asylumseeking children and adolescents, they did not decide to migrate on their own will but are forced by their families because they are in a situation of poverty, mistreated by their family, or live in a war situation in their country of origin as stated by The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2020). Given the cultural nature of the conception of childhood and adolescence, in most cases, the referent adults of these children force them to migrate to Western countries independently and with the perspective of allowing them to become self-sufficient, which is why they have lower scores on family-related protection resources (Navarro-Pérez et al, 2021). In this line, the sense of self-determination and the acquisition of autonomy (Deci & Ryan, 2000) does not compete with the need to feel secure after having participated in this type of migration process.…”