‘Unaccompanied’ Minors? Accompanied Foreign Minors, Families and New Technologies

Abstract

This work aims to make apparent the importance of family, throughout the life trajectories of a group of young people whose very juridical designation-unaccompanied foreign minors-seems to preclude the possibility of recognising and appreciating such importance. Here, we present the results of an ethnographic and participatory research with 'unaccompanied' foreign minors in Bizkaia (Spain). By using our chosen methodology, we were able to understand how, with their currently transitory lifestyles as children in care, they fulfil their own social, emotional and identity needs, needs that the Social Care System alone is unable to meet. This study also shows how digital media cross all the social relations of these children. Digital media become an essential methodological tool for studying the daily life of young migrants.

Analysis of Psychometric Properties and Validation of the Personal Learning Environments Questionnaire (PLE) and Social Integration of Unaccompanied Foreign Minors (MENA)

“…In this way, the need to work for betterment of the training environment is highlighted, in order to improve communication processes, academic integration, and positive use of instruments for academics means within MENA. Furthermore, digital means such as methodological tools must be considered when studying the daily life of migrant young people, their social and emotional needs, and even concerns regarding their identity [49].…”

Mobility and the mobile: A study of adolescent migrants and their use of the mobile phone

“…Our study follows the guidelines of the ethical committee of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, from which the research was carried out. Moreover, given that the participant minors were under the Child Protection System, first, permission to carry out our research was sought from the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the governmental body responsible for the guardianship of these minors (Mendoza Pérez & Morgade Salgado, 2019). We also asked the religious entity that administrated the juvenile centre and their educational team for permission to carry out the workshops.…”

“…Second, for adolescents, the Internet represents a world of personal autonomy. Bradley (2005) explains that “adolescence is marked by the desire for autonomy and independence” and points out that “the Internet offers adolescents social, moral, recreational, and intellectual experiences that are not mediated by adults” (2005, p. 62) or, in our case, not mediated by the norms of the juvenile residential centre (Mendoza Pérez & Morgade Salgado, 2019). Moreover, these are young connected migrants who actively contribute to the formation of a transnational “digital diaspora” (Gajjala, 2018) involving a constant exchange of information.…”

“…In Bizkaia, as reported by Mendoza Pérez and Morgade Salgado (2018a), 80% of unaccompanied foreign minors were male teenagers, aged 15 to 17, from Morocco; 9% were from Algeria; and 11% were from various countries in West Africa. In addition, it should be noted that in some cases they did have a support network (Mendoza Pérez & Morgade Salgado, 2019). In 2014, numerous children from Syria and Nigeria began to arrive in Spain, and this flux has increased progressively.…”

“…Third, researchers have highlighted that digital media offer basic functions that facilitate integration and participation (Leurs & Ponzanesi, 2011; Twigt, 2018; UNHCR, 2016). Digital media are not only helpful in learning the language of the host country (Alam & Imran, 2015), but also constitute a space that provides important insights into self-performance and identity construction (Leurs & Ponzanesi, 2011; Mendoza Pérez & Morgade Salgado, 2018a, 2019). As we have argued (Mendoza Pérez & Morgade Salgado, 2018a), social networks can be understood as spaces where individuals in specific materially embodied contexts perform symbolic/discursive self-presentation.…”