The ethnic composition of the neighbourhood and ethnic minorities' social contacts: three unresolved issues

H.D. Flap, J.J. Dagevos, M. Vervoort

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademic

85 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

It is frequently supposed that the ethnic composition of a neighbourhood affects ethnic minorities’ social contacts with natives, co-ethnics and other ethnic minorities. Research to date, however, falls short in several ways. First of all, previous studies often did not consider social contacts with co-ethnics and other ethnic minorities. Second, although different mechanisms (i.e. meeting opportunities, ethnic competition theory, ‘third parties’ and constrict theory) point to different dimensions of the ethnic composition of the neighbourhood (the percentage of ethnic minorities, the percentage of co-ethnics, and ethnic diversity), there is a lack of research that systematically studies these different dimensions of the ethnic composition of the neighbourhood in relation to ethnic minorities’ social contacts. Third, other relevant neighbourhood characteristics (economic disadvantage and residential mobility) are often neglected. The present study sought to address these three unresolved issues. Results of multivariate multilevel analyses of survey data on ethnic minorities in the Netherlands (N=4,216) show that both the percentage of ethnic minorities and the degree of ethnic diversity relate to less contact with natives, but more contact with co-ethnics and other ethnic minorities. The percentage of co-ethnics is only related to more contact with co-ethnics. Results and policy implications are discussed.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-20
Number of pages20
JournalEuropean Sociological Review
Volume15
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • NETHERLANDS
  • SEGREGATION
  • DIVERSITY
  • NETWORKS
  • FRIENDSHIPS
  • INTEGRATION
  • IMMIGRANTS
  • COMMUNITY
  • EDUCATION
  • DYNAMICS

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