Interpreting social inclusion of young migrants in Italy

A large amount of young people coming from developing countries have arrived in Italy during the last decade, often following the migration path of their parents and family. Born in a foreign nation, they are gradually building a life project in the host society. This project depends also on the family migration project, which includes school attainment and job achievement as indicators of social inclusion. Not all these young people wish to build a future in Italy, many of them expect to move to another European nation or further abroad, to other developed countries: this means creating new relations and identities. Thus their condition appears balanced between the past (that has the strength of a weak background), the present (which, overall, amounts to a meaningful experience of sacrifice, risk and the search for success) and the future (with a plan of inclusion, both personal and familial). This paper is based on data collected during an empirical study in Lombardy a region in the North of Italy which counts the largest number of foreign students residing in Italy (one fourth of the total number) carried out in 2006 on a sample of young immigrants attending several types of secondary educational institutions. Our aim is to highlight the usefulness of some of theoretical categories provided by international studies within the sociology of migration (with reference to the issue of the second generation ) for interpreting the social condition of young immigrants in Italy. After an overview of the general framework, the role of the family and the role of school environment, with a particular consideration of the problem of school dis-tress, in determining these adolescents future social inclusion are discussed. In con-clusion, the need for a comparative analysis of data sets, drawing upon both native and immigrant student data is recommended in order to aid comprehension of the en-tire process of social inclusion.