Resilience among Unaccompanied Foreign Minors

Abstract

This paper deals with resilience in unaccompanied foreign minors (referred to as MENA in Spanish) who are in Melilla, either in reception centres or in a “street situation”. The presence of these young people in Melilla has been increasing significantly since 2014, becoming a major problem for a city of only 12.3 km2, a population of approximately 87,000 inhabitants and bordering Morocco, the country from which most of them come. The aim of this study is to identify and analyse the behaviours or elements that favour resilience in MENA. To this end, a quantitative methodology has been chosen, using a questionnaire with a sufficient degree of validity and reliability aimed at identifying the MENA with the greatest number of resilient indicators. The sample consisted of 148 MENA, chosen by probability sampling. The results show that most of them have migrated for work. Almost all of them are from urban backgrounds and come from large families. More than half have a good family relationship. They have been in Melilla for up to 12 years, are multilingual, more than half feel Moroccan and many are not in school. In 10 years’ time, most of them imagine themselves married, with a stable job and living in another Spanish city. Young people in a “street situation”, who are the most resilient, prefer to be on the street rather than in a reception centre. Three clusters corresponding to MENA profiles with different levels of resilience were identified through a two-stage analysis.