Integration as a project : A qualitative study on young refugee integration with the help of a mentorship for faster integration

Previous studies show that integration projects help teenager refugees to enter Swedish society more quickly. My study looks into one of these projects called Näktergalen. The project is a collaboration between the County Administrative Board, Region Halland, Halmstad Municipality and Halmstad University. Students from the University of Halmstad are paired with teenager refugees to develop their language skills and increase respect and tolerance for each other's differences such as social and cultural backgrounds. What my study investigate is how the participants in the Näktergalen project develop their knowledge and experiences with support from the mentorship and whether the project Näktergalen contributed to a faster integration for the participants. The method used to implement the study has consisted of qualitative interviews. The interviews have been semi-structured to allow the participants talk about their views on the projects important aspects. The theory used for the study is from the Russian educator Leg Vygotsky. Vygotsky's theory is based on the fact that mankind is a biological, social, cultural and historical being. Vygotsky believes that we humans can only develop and learn new things in interaction with other people. With reference to previous research and the study's results it can be establish that projects such as the Näktergalen simplify and accelerate the integration of refugee teenagers. Likewise, the teenage refugees who were interviewed agree that integration takes place in interaction with people who do not come from the same culture. The result shows that projects like Näktergalen gives refugees a way into a social network and open up for new knowledge and experiences.