"It's not about the passport" : the perception of Finnish citizens with a foreign background in the wake of the Refugee Crisis

2017

This study examines whether the perception of Finnish citizens with a foreign background has changed in the wake of the refugee crisis. To analyse the situation, focus groups with a total of 18 participants with both Finnish citizenship and a foreign background were conducted to establish whether they felt the treatment towards them had changed over the last years. Berry’s model of acculturation and the Interactive Acculturation Model by Bourhis et al. were used to analyse the results and explain acculturation strategies and orientations. The study resulted in two key findings: Finnish citizens with a migration background felt that the perception towards them had changed, but this did not i…