New perspectives on segregation

Segregation in Sweden poses growing societal challenges in many aspects. Segregation can, for example, be manifested based on socio-economic status or ethnicity, and is prevalent in many areas such as neighbourhoods, schools and the labour market. This can have negative consequences both at the individual and so level and for society, with increased socio-economic differences, a reduced sense of community and a lower degree of trust. This anthology summarizes articles from four recently published PhD dissertations on topics connected to segregation in Sweden.

Maria Granvik Saminathen, Sara Brolin Låftman and Petra Löfstedt show that students with an immigrant background state that they have fewer psychological complaints compared to those without an immigrant background. The psychological complaints for the group were also lower in classes with a larger proportion of other students with a foreign background. The article highlights a new dimension of school segregation where students' mental health and feelings of belonging are discussed in relation to school performance and school segregation.
Elisabet Olme and Dany Kessel study how admission rules in primary schools can be expected to affect school segregation. By simulating how the students in Botkyrka municipality would be distributed based on three different selection strategies, they draw conclusions about the advantages and disadvantages of the different admission rules. Reserving seats based on the composition of the school's neighborhood was the best way to counter segregation. If the places are instead distributed on the basis of proximity more students would get their first choice.
Louisa Vogiazides and Hernan Mondani study the geographical trajectories among two large groups of refugees in the 1990s and 2000s. They find that refugees who come to Sweden tend to stay in the same type of region in which they first settled. This suggests that the Swedish placement policy for newly arrived refugees has far-reaching consequences.
Charisse Johnson-Singh, Mikael Rostila, Antonio Ponce de Leon, Yvonne Forsell and Karin Engström show that there is a connection between the risk of mental illness and increased ethnic heterogeneity. However, the connection is not driven by diversity per se, but can be explained by increased economic vulnerability in the neighborhood and individual factors such as socio-economic conditions and background.

This publication is based on PhD dissertations written by Maria Granvik Saminathen, Elisabet Olme*, Louisa Vogiazides, och Charisse Johnson-Singh. On behalf of Delmi, Embla Holmgren and Linus Liljeberg have written and compiled the edited volume.

New perspectives on segregation: school, mental health and geographical trajectories (2021:13), is part of Delmi’s Dissertation Series and is launched on December 21, 2021.

* The article written by Elisabet Olme and Dany Kessel also appears in Dany Kessel’s PhD dissertation.

Picture by Holger Ellgaard from Wikimedia Commons

New perspectives on segregation: school, mental health and geographical trajectories

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