The unease of differences. Immigration and school in Tuscany: theory and practice

Abstract

The article starts with a theoretical and methodological introduction talking about the need for new directions to be taken in Criminology Research, in the light of the major social, cultural and anthropological changes occurring in the Postmodern Era (with particular reference to the phenomena of multiculturalism and of the redefinition of the concept of identity). The second part of the article reports the results of a survey carried out in secondary schools in Tuscany, aimed at analysing the forms of proximity/distance patterns between the native student population and the population of students born in Italy but belonging to immigrant communities. This study has the purpose of checking the actual degree of ethno-cultural integration of the new generations, as well as identifying any possible optimizations of this process in schools and society.