BY NATALIE GALLENTI
LACK of trust and hope are some of the causes of disenfranchised migrant youth according to the findings of a two year project.
The Brimbank Young Men’s Project produced by the Centre for Mulitcultural Youth targeting young men of African background released its findings late last month.
The project, funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, focussed on young men who were disengaged, or at risk of being disengaged, from education, training and employment; have had contact with the police or were experiencing other difficulties with settlement.
Interviews with program staff highlighted a number of recurring factors as key determinants for young men from refugee backgrounds becoming disengaged from education, training and employment.
The report cited a clash between the young person’s aspirations and the reality of life, education and opportunity in Australia; the person’s level of educations prior to arrival; and the refugee community’s tendency to highly value success at school and sometimes assume this guaranteed access to university and success in the professional industry, as important factors in the disengagement of young men.
“Youth frustration can be compounded by intergenerational conflicts such as pressure to maintain traditional cultural mores or achieve educationally versus peer pressure to conform to the new environment,” the report read.
Program staff cited a lack of trust and hope as the barrier to be surmounted by young men who felt the system had let them down; that nobody cared; and that there were few positives available to them within their own or the larger community.
Personal contact and help with service access were listed as important strategies in reconnecting young men to education or employment.
