3-010 - Innovative Paths Forward to Understanding Immigrant and Refugee Adolescents: European and US Perspectives

Session Type: Roundtable

Integrative Statement

Migration is a critical issue for youth development in the 21st century. In 2015, about 15% of immigrants worldwide were under the age of 20. In contrast, over half (51%) of forced immigrants (refugees) were under the age of 18 (UNHCR, 2016). Although migration provides adolescents with opportunities and environments to thrive and develop new competencies, there remain significant risks of marginalization and limited resources that pose a challenge. Disparities in socioeconomic status, education, and health between adolescents with and without an immigrant or refugee background persist around the world (OECD, 2012). In this Roundtable, scholars from Europe and the US will discuss their ideas on innovative approaches to understanding immigrant and refugee adolescent development in the contexts of family, school, community, and country. The panelists are: Dr. Peter Titzmann, University of Hannover, Germany, Dr. Maryam Kia-Keating, University of California at Santa Barbara, US, and Dr. Amy Marks, Suffolk University, US. Together, the panelists will respond to questions regarding important new(er) methods or methodologies that can move the field of immigrant and refugee adolescent development forward, how frameworks and theories from other fields can be integrated into current perspectives to stimulate new ways of thinking about immigrant and refugee adolescent development and well-being, and best ways to communicate science to educators, policy makers, and people working with immigrant and refugee adolescents. The panelists from Europe and the US, along with the audience, will discuss how these paths forward can promote more positive youth development in this growing population.

Sub Unit

• Cultural Processes

Moderator

• Linda Juang, University of Potsdam

Panelists

• Peter F. Titzmann, Leibniz University Hanover

• Theresa Betancourt, Boston College

• Amy K Marks, Suffolk University