Role of Media in Construction of Identity and Integration of Young Migrant Adolescents from Former Yugoslavia in Slovenian Society

ABSTRACT
Article answers on the question, what is the role of the media in the construction of identity and integration of young migrant adolescents from former Yugoslavia in Slovenian society. The theoretical section conceptualizes the relationship among socialization, integration, identity and media use by adolescents. The main section represents results of in-depth interviews with migrant adolescents from the former Yugoslavia. They show that media play an important role in the integration of migrant adolescents. Interviewees regularly use the Internet for maintaining old and establishing new intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic relations, receiving validation for their views and actions, and acceptance by their peers. Media play a conflicting role in the identification with a new society. On the one hand, their negative representation of the migrants deepens the gap between majority and ethnic minorities; on the other hand, the personal inter-ethnic communication on the Internet reduces this gap.
KEY WORDS: adolescents, immigration, polymedia, Slovenia, countries of former Yugoslavia

Text is published on SLO pages.