For Immediate Release
November 23, 2006
Canadian Immigrant Teens fare well in International Study
OTTAWA - Results of a survey of immigrant teens in 13 countries show that the Canadian model of integration is generally the most beneficial. The study found that immigrant youth should be encouraged to retain both a sense of their own heritage cultural identity, while establishing close ties with the larger national society.
Dr. John W. Berry presented the study results to policy makers in Ottawa this morning at a Breakfast on the Hill Seminar, hosted by the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Dr. Berry, professor emeritus in the Psychology Department at Queen’s University, assured his audience that Canada is on the right course in its immigration policies.
“Despite the way some immigrants have been treated since 9/11 and problems with youth riots in countries like France and Australia, I believe that the fundamentals of our research results have not changed. If immigrants in general, and youth in particular, feel that they are being discriminated against, they will retaliate. One of the reasons Canada has, for the most part, avoided similar problems is that great efforts are made to ensure that immigrants can keep both their own heritage and contribute to Canadian society,” noted Dr. Berry in his presentation.
During the 10-year study, Dr. Berry and his colleagues interviewed over 5,000 immigrant and national youth in countries that had a tradition of immigration (Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand and Israel), as well as in other European countries with a more recent acceptance of immigrants (the UK, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Germany). The study examined the psychological, social and academic success of participants and factored in religion, age, language proficiency, perceived discrimination, length of residency, and actual diversity in the resident country.
In the broadest view to date of how immigrant youth adapt to and succeed in the home countries chosen by their parents, the study urges governments to adopt public policies that promote diversity and acceptance. The other approaches of assimilation, ethnic separation and marginalization were generally found to be more detrimental to the immigrant teens.
“Societies that promote multiculturalism tend to allow youth to integrate,” explains Dr. Berry. “Having a strong sense of their heritage - including the language, religion and culture of their parents, combined with close ties to their new country, produces, for the most part, teens who are well-adjusted, successful academically and ready to contribute to their new home.”
Dr. John W. Berry has been studying acculturation for more than 40 years and has traveled and taught in numerous countries. His main research is in the general area of cross-cultural psychology. He is a prolific author, lecturer and adviser on cultural and multicultural issues.
Breakfast on the Hill is a series of lectures featuring research on pressing issues of interest to Parliamentarians, government officials and the broader policy community. The Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences represents the largest single segment of Canada’s research and post-secondary education community - over 50,000 researchers, practitioners and graduate students in 66 scholarly associations and 71 universities. The Federation works to communicate the value of research and scholarship in the human sciences.
– 30 –
For more information, please contact:
Caitlin Kealey, Communications Officer
(613) 238-6112 ext. 353; ckealey@fedcan.ca
