From Here and There: Speaking about Religion with Adolescents with Migration Experience to Europe

Interacting with both refugee and expatriate youth in three specific communities from around Europe, this qualitative project seeks to discover changes in religious belief and practice in response to the process of relocation. Whether forced or voluntary migrants, internationally mobile youth face pressures as they move daily between the home culture and the host culture. This research makes use of Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to listen to diverse youth from various countries, ethnicities, and religious practices describe changes in their spirituality and religious practices following an international relocation to Europe. Insights from the participant data are then applied to existing spiritual development models. This research seeks to identify trends in adolescents across religions, countries of origin, and migration status.