Objectives - Why this project and for whom?

The aim of this project was to provide policy makers at various levels with solid data on the experience of discrimination among youth, showing that by and large, Muslim and non-Muslim youth react very similarly to social marginalization. These verifications will assist in better design of policies, strategies, and measures in general and such addressed at reducing social exclusion more specifically.

Details - What did the project involve?

Racism and Social Marginalisation is the result of research conducted during 2008/09 in France, Spain and the UK amongst 12-18 year olds. The research team constructed a survey which aimed to explore the relationship between young people's experiences of discrimination and social marginalisation and the identification of attitudes and potential activities that may be supportive of violence. In particular, the study examined differences and similarities in the experiences and attitudes of Muslim youths compared to non-Muslim youths.

The main finding of the study suggests a strong relationship between the experiences of violence and discrimination, as those who were discriminated against were significantly more likely to have also experienced emotional and physical violence, both as a victim and as a perpetrator. In addition, those who had experienced these forms of violence were significantly more likely to feel alienated or socially marginalised. This was equally the case for Muslim and non-Muslim youths, which indicates that the experience of discrimination or violence is more significant than religious background.

Innovation - What's 'new' about the project?

This project was based on attitude survey research on the relationship between experiences of racist discrimination, social marginalisation, and the development of attitudes towards violent radicalisation in an effort to identify pathways to Muslim youth violent radicalisation. The study addressed some of the current gaps with respect to the interconnected themes of:

• experiences amongst Muslim youth of racism and discrimination;
• marginalisation, social exclusion and alienation;
• attitudes supporting the use of violence (potential for violent radicalisation).

Outputs - What did the project deliver?

The research part of this project has now been completed and the output is shown below.

Experience of discrimination, social marginalisation and violence: a comparative study of Muslim and non-Muslim youth in three EU Member States (PDF File 575 KB)

FRA Programme: WP 2007, ref: 5.2.1

Related Information

Racism is a major stumbling block to integration and community cohesion as racial abuse and discrimination can lead to social marginalisation and alienation that, in turn, could lead individuals to develop attitudes supporting the use of violence.

In order to explore the relationship between young people's experiences of discrimination and social marginalisation and the identification of attitudes and potential activities that may be supportive of violence, the FRA commissioned a survey amongst over 1,000 Muslim and non-Muslim 12-18 year olds in each of the three selected EU Member States. This was following up on two earlier FRA studies highlighting the absence of high quality data on young Muslims' experiences of integration, victimisation and discrimination.

This project has links with several other FRA projects, such as the EU-MIDIS and a project on multiple discrimination.

This project page was last updated on 17.09.12