Religion and Adolescent Immigrants in Italy: A Case of Identifying with or Turning away from their Communities?

Abstract

This article deals with a specific element of immigrant identity in host societies: the religious element, which is increasingly important in the definition of integration paths. I examine how the religiousness of two youth immigrant groups in Italy (Filipinos and Moroccans) is related to multiple collective identities (origin, new country, European, and cosmopolitan), attachment to one or both cultures (original or new), and acculturation as a process realized through a variety of domains in personal and social life. Firstly, I seek to ascertain some of the major subjective factors motivating church/mosque attendance and involvement. Secondly, by means of participant observation, in-depth interviews, and analysis of the rhetoric within the religious communities, I explore and describe (by comparing and contrasting) the various ways in which ethnic religiousness contributes to the construction and support of ethnic identity and consciousness among the two groups.

Immigrant Youth, hip-hop, and Feminist Pedagogy: Outlines of an Alternative Integration Policy in Vienna, Austria

“…The state‐centered theory of integration raises issues of poverty, social and urban exclusion, unemployment, civic participation, education, and religion (Rooth and Ekberg ; Van London, Phalet and Hagendoorn ; Jargowsky ; Arbaci and Malheiros ; Ricucci ; Van Geel and Vedder ). The security of the state is also relevant.…”

Acculturation and identity

“…In contrast, conflict theories expect more religiosity in those generations because an assumed increase in perceived inter-group conflict or group threat; this is the religious mobilization hypothesis. In her own qualitative study on Moroccan (Muslim) and Filipino (Catholic) immigrant youth in Italy, Ricucci (2010) concludes that the paradoxical appeal of religion for many second-generation immigrants lies in its capacity to provide a kind of 'refuge' from their sense of marginalization and also provides positive social identity and group empowerment.…”

“…Religion may in many countries play a greater role in the lives of second-generation immigrants than was the case for earlier immigrant groups, although the meaning this identity is given varies both within and between religious groups. Ricucci (2010) notes that assimilation theories on ethno-religious minorities in secularized contexts predict less religiosity in subsequent generations, as a result of acculturation; this is the secularization hypothesis. In contrast, conflict theories expect more religiosity in those generations because an assumed increase in perceived inter-group conflict or group threat; this is the religious mobilization hypothesis.…”

In the Shadow of Bell Towers: The Use of Religious Capital among Christian-Catholic Second Generations in Italy

“…Paradoxically, these young people are going to develop (maybe similarly to their Muslim peers, even though for different reasons) and "amphibian strategy": e.g. as their Moroccan peers, Filipinos "choose, paradoxically, the same strategy because they do not want to be rejected by their Italian peers who don't attend church, do not spend their free time in religious associations, and don't share their values of filial piety, respect for parents, and family centeredness" (Ricucci, 2010).…”