Background

In the past decades, Western European countries have become increasingly religiously diverse; furthermore, a growing share of their population is now youth with a migration background. Little is known about the role religion plays in social ties among children of native and immigrant origins.

Purpose

This study examines religious group boundaries among youth in secondary schools in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. To this end, it describes to what extent youth’s positive and negative ties in the classroom are segregated along religious lines. Furthermore, it analyzes the role of structural opportunities and religious in-group preferences in the formation of religious boundaries in the social networks of youth.

Methods

The data come from the first wave of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU), which contains more than 18,000 adolescents (aged 14–15) in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. First, we describe overall religious segregation in the social ties of youth by using the full survey data. Second, we test our hypotheses by analyzing the complete social networks of 5236 students in 247 classes.

Results

The analysis reveals that friendships are more likely between classmates with similar religious affiliations than classmates with different religious affiliations. In particular, in terms of friendships, there is clear segregation between non-religious and Christian youth on the one hand and Muslim youth on the other. This segregation is partly driven by structural forces that constrain intergroup meeting opportunities. However, group segregation goes beyond the patterns expected from opportunities alone. The results show strong preferences for intrareligious friendships and a tendency to avoid ties between Muslim and non-Muslim youth.

Conclusion and Implications

There are religious boundaries in the social relationships of youth in ethnically and religiously diverse school classes in Western Europe. In particular, social boundaries between Muslim and non-Muslim youth are the strongest. Creating opportunities for positive intergroup contact, such as the promotion of religiously diverse schools, apparently is not sufficient to avoid religious boundaries among youth. To reduce segregation along religious lines, interventions would also need to address the factors that shape youth’s preferences for intrareligious friendships.

中文翻译：

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宗教和群体间的界限：西欧不同种族和宗教的学校班级中青年之间的正负关系

背景

在过去的几十年里，西欧国家的宗教信仰日益多样化。此外，现在越来越多的人口是有移民背景的青年。人们对宗教在土著和移民儿童之间的社会联系中所起的作用知之甚少。

目的

本研究调查了英格兰、德国、荷兰和瑞典中学青年的宗教群体界限。为此，它描述了青少年在课堂上的积极和消极联系在多大程度上按照宗教界限被隔离。此外，它分析了结构性机会和宗教内群体偏好在青年社会网络中宗教边界形成中的作用。

方法

数据来自第一波欧洲四个国家移民儿童纵向调查 (CILS4EU)，其中包含英国、德国、荷兰和瑞典的 18,000 多名青少年（14-15 岁）。首先，我们使用完整的调查数据描述了青年社会关系中的整体宗教隔离。其次，我们通过分析 247 个班级 5236 名学生的完整社交网络来检验我们的假设。

结果

分析表明，与宗教信仰不同的同学相比，宗教信仰相似的同学之间更容易建立友谊。特别是在友谊方面，一方面是非宗教和基督教青年，另一方面是穆斯林青年，两者之间存在明显的隔离。这种隔离部分是由限制群体间会议机会的结构性力量驱动的。然而，群体隔离超出了仅从机会中预期的模式。结果显示出对宗教内部友谊的强烈偏好，并倾向于避免穆斯林和非穆斯林青年之间的联系。

结论和意义

在西欧不同种族和宗教的学校班级中，青年的社会关系存在宗教界限。尤其是穆斯林青年和非穆斯林青年之间的社会界限最为强烈。为积极的群体间接触创造机会，例如促进宗教多元化的学校，显然不足以避免青年之间的宗教界限。为了减少宗教隔离，干预措施还需要解决影响青年对宗教内部友谊偏好的因素。