Thursday Nov 13th at 3-5pm (on-site)
Chair: Jari Martikainen, University of Eastern Finland
This working group presents findings from the ongoing research project Intergroup Relations and Local Encounters funded by Kone Foundation. The project employs arts-based approaches to explore how young Finnish, Middle Eastern, and Ukrainian people represent and experience each other, their lives, and their future in the Northern Savo region. The study focuses on how representations of culturally different groups and the meanings attached to place are interwoven with intergroup relations. In addition, the working group discusses the potential of visual and arts-based methods for studying these themes among young people. The theoretical framework draws on several social psychological theories, including social representations theory, social identity theory, and the social psychology of place. The four presentations included in the working group provide insight into how young people from different cultural backgrounds navigate cultural difference, construct belonging, and imagine futures within shared spaces.
Thursday Nov 13th at 3-5pm
Exploring Adolescents’ Perceptions of Cultural Groups: Contents, Structures, and Dynamics of Social Representations of Finnish, Middle Eastern, and Ukrainian people
Katja Lötjönen, University of Eastern Finland
Global migration has increased ethnic and cultural diversification at the local community level, creating novel, culturally diverse everyday contexts and reshaping understandings of groups with different cultural backgrounds. This presentation is based on a study investigating the perceptions that young people from various cultural backgrounds have of each other. We employed a structural approach to social representations utilizing the word associations method. Participants included 42 adolescents ages 13–19 from the Savo region in Finland of Finnish, Middle Eastern, or Ukrainian backgrounds. The data consisted of 577 word associations related to these three cultural groups. Qualitative content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to examine the contents, structures, and potential dynamics of social representations of these groups. Five structural elements were identified—cultural stereotypes, appearance of people, characteristics of people, characteristics of culture, and social connections—which were divided into four structural zones of social representations. While the structures of “Finnish” and “Ukrainian” indicated potential transformation in social representations, the structure of “Middle Eastern” showed stability. The findings are discussed in relation to the sociopolitical context of Finnish society.
Parallel Realities in a Common Space – How Finnish, Middle Eastern, and Ukrainian Youth Make Sense of Important Places
Hadi Farahani, University of Eastern Finland
This presentation is based on a study examining the significance of places for young people from Finnish, Middle Eastern, and Ukrainian backgrounds living in Finland. Drawing on concepts of landscape and place-attachment, it explores how young people experience and assign meaning to places in the context of time, shaped by past experiences and present interactions in a rapidly changing, uncertain world. Using photovoice, 37 participants aged 13–19 photographed three meaningful places and reflected on their significance through written narratives. The data (102 photos and texts) were analyzed through visual and verbal content analysis, constructing four key categories: 1) public places as spaces of connection and belonging; 2) nature as a source of comfort, activity, and connection; 3) home as a space of safety and security; and 4) school as a space of social connection, equality, and belonging. While shared meanings emerged across cultural backgrounds, distinct cultural nuances highlighted how time and place intertwine uniquely for each group. These findings underscore how time—past, present, and future—shapes place meanings through relationships, cultural heritage, and lived experiences, offering insights for place-sensitive youth work that fosters shared time and connection in multicultural settings amidst societal acceleration and crises.
A social representations approach to intergroup encounters: Young people’s perceptions of what it is like to meet people from other cultures
Helena Rovamo, University of Eastern Finland
This presentation discusses a study examining young people’s representations of intergroup encounters. The study is based on qualitative material collected in researcher-led art-based workshops in 2023. In the workshops, young people aged 13-19 from Finnish, Ukrainian, and Middle Eastern backgrounds produced 45 pictures and accompanying written accounts of what it is like to meet people from different cultures. The pictures and accompanying texts were analyzed using a content analysis approach. The analysis resulted in the identification of three distinct categories that most centrally illustrate the participants’ perceptions of encountering people from different cultures: Positive Representations of Encounters, Negative or Reserved Representations of Encounters, and Idealized Representations of Encounters. In addition to presenting the results, the presentation illustrates how young people from different cultural backgrounds differ in their representations of intergroup encounters. It also discusses the importance of social representations of intergroup encounters in shaping the perceptions of past and potential future intergroup encounters.
Drawn Futures: Visualizing Tomorrow Among Finland’s Diverse Youth
Jennifer De Paola, University of Eastern Finland
This presentation focuses on adolescents’ social representations of future. It is based on a study examining how adolescents (individuals aged 13–19 years) represent their future in the increasingly multicultural Finnish context. The research material consists of drawings and written narratives from 42 adolescents with Finnish, Middle Eastern, and Ukrainian backgrounds. The visual and verbal data were analyzed by content analysis. The findings show that social representations of the future were structured around three key dimensions: self, relationships with others, and the environment. We identified two competing social representations: one suggesting that the future aligns with present actions (Charted Future) and the other indicating that the future is more unpredictable (Uncharted Future). Cultural differences emerged in how the future was represented: Middle Eastern and Ukrainian participants emphasized integration, education, and careers, while these themes were less evident or largely absent among Finnish participants, who instead highlighted personal success. This presentation offers empirical insights into youth’s future thinking and demonstrates the value of arts-based methods in exploring complex, future-oriented social representations.