Drawing on case study research with Somalis in Sheffield and Aarhus the research explored the the complex influences on young Somali refugee and asylum seeker's identity formations according to different arrival scenarios. Interviews explored: (1) identification with public narratives not of their own making in terms of: childhood and ‘age’; gender; race and asylum seeking; and associated (under)achievement at school;(2) identities on the move: histories of mobility; attachments to and imaginings of place; (3) social relationships within, and personal experiences of, home, school and community; this also involved life mapping exercises; (4) Perceptions/ experiences of integration and/or social exclusion and aspirations for the future. For parent(s)/guardian(s), the same interview agendas were used in relation to their children/wards but also addressed inter-generational identity practices and tensions. This project investigates issues often associated with flows of asylum seekers such as hostility and racism by focusing on Somali young people in Sheffield. The group encompasses labor migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and transnational European migrants, each subject to different policy conditions of reception and integration, and having different forms of identification. The research has therefore investigated the complex ways that children's identities are spatially constituted through their diverse histories of mobility and are accomplished in specific geographical sites. The findings will highlight the identity practices that make a difference to young asylum seekers' integration in order to develop policies to support their social inclusion.

Data collection consists of 18 transcripts of face-to-face interviews with parents/guardians and 44 transcripts of interviews with children. The sample is the outcome of purposive selection. Collection is composed by : (1) Questionnaire Survey:a administered to all children in year groups 7, 9, 11 and where there were 6th forms, year 13 in eight secondary schools and one FE College in Sheffield; and (2) Semi-structured in-depth interviews: with 44 young Somalis and where possible their parents/guardians (n=18). For the questionnaire survey: schools were selected in consultation with Sheffield City Council’s Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS), on the basis of their BME (and Somali) numbers and include Sheffield schools in the DfES Black Pupil’s Achievement Programme. 3313 young people were surveyed. To accommodate linguistic abilities/literacy levels the questionnaire was designed in age/language appropriate formats in consultation with our steering group and piloted in a school that was not part of the survey. For the semi-structured in-depth Interviews: the research identified close links between Somalis living in Sheffield and those in Aarhus, Denmark, with strong patterns of secondary migration from Aarhus to Sheffield. Interviews were therefore undertaken with Somali children and parent(s)/guardian(s) in Aarhus. The fieldwork in both places was conducted by the same researcher who is bi-lingual in English and Danish and has an intimate knowledge of both societies, as well as experience of working with the Somali community in both cities. In a few cases interviews were conducted in Somali through an interpreter.