Identitet och identitetsskapande bland assyrisk/syrianska ungdomar i Södertälje

The key purpose of this research has been trying to understand, and study how assyrian/syriac youth create their identity under the influence of two or several different cultures. We have also looked upon how different factors such as history, religion, language, family and school play a role in the youths identity development. We have used a qualitative method in our study where we have interviewed six assyrian/syriac youth. Because of their Christian faith the assyrian/syriac group has been forced to migrate from their countries to different parts around the world. In the new countries the group has been forced to create and live in a diasporaculture. The city Södertälje in Sweden has developed to become a metropole for this ethnic group where they have founded a substantial diasporaculture. In the new countries the assyrian/syriac youth have developed an attitude towards the new country and its culture, which is a mixture of their home culture and the majority communitys. Having to integrate and adjust to two different cultures, while at the same time trying to create ones own identity can sometimes lead to conflicts within the own ethnic group and the majority community. It appeared in the study that the assyrian/syriac youth felt like a duality between the home culture and the culture of the majority community, which felt like living a dual life