Children of Migrants in the Russian Federation Less Attached to Their Ethnicity and More Maladjusted to Society, New Study Finds

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 10 – Many Russians assume the children of migrants are likely to engage in anti-social behavior because of their strong attachment to the ethnic group of which they are a part. But in fact, the reverse is true: children of migrants typically are less well-integrated into their nations and more likely to misbehave, a study published in Naked Science finds.

            In fact, the authors of this study at the Moscow State Psychological-Pedagogical University say, migrant children who are well integrated into their own nations are less likely to misbehave than those who are not (naked-science.ru/article/column/etnicheskaya-prinadlezhno and nazaccent.ru/content/44365-uchyonye-vyyasnili-kak-etnicheskaya-prinadlezhnost-pomogaet-detyam-migrantov-preodolevat-stress/).

            Given that the Russian government often carries out policies designed to wean migrant children away from their ethnic community, the study suggests, Moscow is creating its own problems; and the best way forward is to encourage migrant children to maintain close ties with their ethnic communities.

            That is not a message the Putin regime is likely to welcome or to follow. Instead, it will likely seek to weaken the ethnic identities of the children of migrants. But in so doing, it will be creating a situation in which anti-social behavior will increasingly be the norm. What is important, the study suggests, is that Russians understand where the problem really lies.