Unaccompanied migrant adolescents and youth: from discrimination to recognition of knowledge

Abstract

The article presents an applied research on the reality of Unaccompanied Migrant Minors. Throughout more than 20 years of the phenomenon in Spain and numerous studies about it, it’s difficult to hide studies about the social representation of migrations.
A qualitative and participatory methodology was used, with the interview and the group workshops as instruments for data collection.
As results we present the narratives and experiences of adolescents and young people who migrated alone; the representations, discourses and knowledge (co) existing about them; and finally, we explain how an experience of self-organization has become a space of knowledge and recognition of their reality and how participation and self-organization can influence political awareness and the claim of the rights of migrants. We conclude by highlighting the importance of a paradigm shift in the social sciences.