Peer-reviewed article
Childhood memories of belonging among young Romanian migrants in Italy: A qualitative life-course approach
Béatrice Scutaru ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This qualitative study uses life-course interviews with 24 young Romanian adults who migrated to Italy as children to explore how their sense of belonging changed over time. The research examines how social relationships and acceptance or exclusion in both Italy and Romania shaped migrants' feelings of belonging. The study demonstrates that belonging is dynamic and influenced by institutional and socioeconomic contexts in both countries.
Key points
- Belonging among young migrants changes significantly between childhood and young adulthood
- Social relations and acceptance or exclusion by others shape migrants' sense of belonging
- Both receiving country (Italy) and origin country (Romania) contexts influence belonging
- Institutional and socioeconomic contexts play important roles in shaping belonging
- Life-course methodologies effectively capture the dynamic nature of belonging over time
Limitations
This is a qualitative study focused on subjective experiences and memories rather than measuring specific child well-being outcomes or evaluating an intervention. It does not assess health, education, protection or development indicators.
Abstract
This article uses a life-course approach to investigate how and why migrants’ feelings of belonging change between childhood and young adulthood. Drawing on 24 in-depth retrospective interviews with young Romanian migrants who moved to Italy as children, the paper shows how young migrants’ belonging is shaped by the nature of social relations and by the level of acceptance or exclusion expressed by others in the receiving and origin countries, under specific institutional and socioeconomic contexts. Overall, the study demonstrates how life-course methodologies are an essential tool to capture the dynamic, changing nature of belonging.