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Integration and Belonging Through Relationships: Immigrant Youths’ Experiences of Community-Based Mentoring
1  Department of Education and Lifelong Learning (IPL), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , Trondheim , 7491 , Norway
Academic Editor: Gregor Wolbring

Abstract:

Abstract: The integration of immigrant and refugee youth in Norway entails navigating linguistic, cultural, and social challenges that can hinder educational attainment, wellbeing, and future opportunities. Research shows that community-based mentoring has emerged as a promising strategy to support immigrant youth in their adaptation processes. This study explores how immigrant youth participants in the Vinn Vinn project experienced and perceived the role of mentoring in their social integration and overall wellbeing in three municipalities. The project, initiated by the Human Rights Academy in collaboration with Save the Children Norway, paired young immigrants (aged 16-23) with volunteer mentors who shared similar cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Drawing on twenty-two semi-strucutured interviews and complemented by targeted observations of programme activities, the findings demonstrate that mentoring facilitated social belonging, improved language and cultural competence, reduced loneliness, and provided both emotional and practical support. Anchored in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, theis study highlights how mentoring created opportunities for positive interactions across micro- and meso-level systems, bridging individual needs with wider community and institutional structures. This article contributes to the scholarship on immigrant youth integration by showing how culturally responsive, community-based mentoring can complement formal welfare services and enhance wellbeing among young immigrants in Norway.

Keywords: Immigrant youth; community-based mentoring; wellbeing; social integration; cultural adaptation; participatory youth work; Norway

 
 
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