Is Intergroup Contact Desired by Migrants? The Case of Unaccompanied Minors in Switzerland

Intergroup contact has been shown to reduce prejudice and promote positive relationships between members of different groups, as in the case of the integration of migrants. Nevertheless, extant research has not explored the crucial question of whether members of the migrant group express a desire for contact with the host group. To explore this question, we collected and collated a rare set of data to create a substantial corpus of semi-structured interviews conducted with a specific migrant group, namely unaccompanied minors (UAMs) residing in Switzerland (N = 49). Qualitative analysis revealed UAMs' strong desire for intergroup contact. We identified four reasons for this desire for contact: bonding, support, knowledge and identity enhancement; and five barriers to contact: language, intercultural differences, network impermeability, mismatch and individual characteristics. These dimensions are discussed as avenues that may help facilitate the emergence of intergroup contact, contact whose positive potential is known.