BELONGING, CRIME AND RADICALISATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE SECOND-GENERATION IN BRITAIN AND FRANCE.

The second-generation (2G) have often generated passionate debates and have dominated the headlines with, for example, the riots in Britain in 2011 and in France in 2005 and more recently the Manchester terrorist attack in 2017 and the Nice terrorist attack in 2016. The common belief in these countries is that criminality among the 2G is related to a lack of belonging. Though the issue of integration of immigrants and their descendants have received considerable scholarly attention, there is no work examining the link between integration (i.e. sense of belonging or SoB) and crime. Similarly, most research on the integration of the 2G failed to consider the national integration contexts when investigating integration outcomes and processes.

Using semi-structured interviews and a subtle psychological evaluation method known as the Personal Construct Theory, this study offers a comparative qualitative analysis of the SoB of young British and French people sharing similar ethnic backgrounds and who fit the criterion of being a 2G with a criminal record.

The findings reveal two overarching types of belonging: a SoB that developed by default and a SoB that developed consciously. The latter is further categorised into a positive, neutral or reactive SoB. The reactive SoB is also further divided into a fading and negative SoB. The findings show that these different SoB are shaped by the complex interplay of three factors: national integration contexts, the 2G’s personal experiences of racism, discrimination and hostility, and the ineffective implementation and application of national models of integration.

Furthermore, the different SoB suggest that the common belief seems to be unsubstantiated. In fact, it appears that a stronger religious identity does not necessarily negate an equally stronger positive SoB or national identity. Both identities appear to be complementing each other in many instances. Many participants relied on their religions to help them combat their criminal lives. However, the participants’ Islamic knowledge generally comes from ‘unauthorised’ sources, which may expose them to radical and dogmatic religious views. Drawing on from the different types of belonging, this thesis formulated a theory on the process of identity formation, which sheds some light on the process of radicalisation.