Adjustment and Behaviour of Finnish and Southern European Immigrant Children in Stockholm: 1. The Teachers' Assessment

Abstract

The adjustment and behaviour of immigrant schoolchildren were studied by means of teacher interviews. The material consisted of 50 Finnish and 37 southern European children. For comparison, 44 Swedish migrant children were also sampled. All had settled in the County of Stockholm three years prior to the study. Swedish children who had lived in the county for more than four years served as controls. In the teachers' opinions the immigrants as a whole had adjustment difficulties more often than the controls, but the proportion of children with such difficulties was no higher than among the migrant Swedish children. Compared with the controls the immigrant children showed a higher frequency of symptoms relating to a disordered self-esteem. The immigrant children were also considered to have a lower status and to be less trustworthy than the controls. The schooling of these children demands serious attention in order to prevent discrimination and to promote a feeling of personal worth among the children.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

1. Aurelius, G. : Socio-medical aspects on the integration of immigrant children in a Swedish county. Dissertation, Dept. of Social Medicine, Huddinge University Hospital, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm 1978.

2. Aurelius, G. : Adjustment and behaviour among Finnish immigrant children in Stockholm. II. The parents' assessment. Scand J Soc Med (to be published).

3. Bagley, G. : Deviant behaviour in English and West Indian school children. Res Educ 8:47, 1972.

4. Benedict, R. 1949-quoted from Talbot, N. B. et al.: Behavioural science in pediatric medicine. Philadelphia, 1971.

5. Bohman, M. : Adopted Children and Their Families. Proprius, Stockholm, 1970.

6. Jonsson, G. & Kälvesten, A.-L. : 222 stockholmspojkar. Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm, 1964.

7. Nylander, I. & Burman, L. : Inlärningsproblem, disciplinsvårigheter och psykisk insufficiens. En undersökning med hänsyn till lärarnas syn på sina elever. Socialmed Tidskr 5:256, 1969.

8. Olweus, D. : Hackkycklingar och översittare. Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm, 1973.

9. Reports from the Central Bureau of Statistics, Stockholm, e.g. Statistical Abstract of Sweden 1977 and Statistical Reports 1971 and 1978.

10.

10. Rosenthal, R. & Jacobson, L. F. : Teacher expectations for the disadvantaged. Sci Am 218:19, 1968.

11.

11. Rowley, K. G. : Social relations between British and immigrant children. Educ Res 10:145, 1968.

12.

12. Rutter, M. , Tizard, J. & Whitmore, K. : Education, health and behaviour. Longman, London, 1970.

13.

13. Rutter, M. , Yule, W. , Berger, M. , Yule, B. , Morton, J. & Bagley, C. : Children of West Indian immigrants. I. Rates of behavioural deviance and of psychiatric disorder. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 15:241, 1974.

14.

14. Siegel, S. : Nonparametric statistics for the behavioural sciences. McGraw-Hill, London, 1956.

15.

15. Skolöverstyrelsen: Läroplan för grundskolan: Undervisning av invandrarbarn m. fl. 2. Stockholm, 1973.

16.

16. Stangvik, G. : Invandrarbarn i skolklassen. Socialmed Tidskr 6:347, 1973.

17.

17. Swedner, H. : Sociologisk metodik. Gleerups, Lund, 1970.

18.

18. von Sydow, G. : Finsk elev i svensk skola. Läkartidningen 67: 1797, 1970.

19.

19. Talbot, N. B. & Howell, M. C.: Social and behavioural causes and consequences of disease among children. In: Behavioural science in pediatric medicine (ed. Talbot, Kagan & Eisenberg). Philadelphia, 1971.