1. Objectifs

Intentions :
This «study used a photo-elicitation technique to capture the immigrant children’s experiences of friendship formation in an urban community in [...] Canada. [They] took photographs of what was important to them about their friendships and were invited to share personal stories and experiences.» (p. iii) Theirs parents took part of the study too and their perceptions of their children’s friendship were compared to theirs.

Questions/Hypothèses :
«The following research questions [guides] this study: [W]hat are immigrant children’s experiences and perceptions of forming and maintaining friendships? [W]hat types of contextual facilitators and/or barriers do these children encounter with their friendship development? [H]ow do children’s experiences and their parents’ perceptions of children’s friendship experiences compare? [H]ow does photo-elicitation help children of immigrant background to communicate about their friendships?» (p. 29)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«A total of four immigrant children (ages 10-12), and their parents were recruited from an urban community center in Montreal. Only one parent was unable to be interviewed. [...] All of the child participants were females. Two of the sample was born in Canada to foreign-born parents, while the other two were born outside of Canada to foreign-born parents. The families were considered immigrants if at least one parent lived in Canada for less than 15 years.» (p. 34)

Instruments :
Guide d’entretien semi-directif

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

«The findings from this study revealed that most children experienced an easy time with establishing and maintaining friendships, particularly with those friendships that were immediately available in their family and community networks.» (p. iii) Moreover, the «study highlights some interesting similarities between the children’s views and parent’s views in regards to children’s friendships. In it interesting to note that both parents in the study felt that they supported their children’s choice of friends, and felt that they were open and accepting of all their children’s friends. None of the parents expressed any concerns or worries in regards to the children’s choice of friends. In general, it was evident that having friends there were ‘academically-oriented’ was of great importance to some of the families. In one family [...], both the child and the parent felt that it was important for the child to be-friend children that were smart and serious about school.» (p. 98) «Finally, it should be mentioned that the parents in the present study overwhelmingly viewed children’s engaged with friends in a positive light. [...] The difference may be due to the immigrant families’ levels of acculturation [...], or due to the fact that most of the children in the present sample developed/maintained friendships with children of a similar ethnic background and/or country of origin.» (p. 99)