ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the responses of ethnic youths when confronted with the question, ‘Who am I?’ It also discusses the various ways their origins may influence the form they give to their lives, as well as their views on their friendships, their choice of future partners, and the perception of their life-chances. The chapter considers the reactions of the (Dutch) environment, the school environment in particular, to the youths’ ethnic origins and the link between that reaction and their own self-perception. Various notions have been developed concerning the concept of ‘ethnic identity’. In the literature, a distinction is often made between ‘individual identity’ and ‘social identity’. The chapter focuses on the identity of adolescents with other ethnic origins. It sketches the history of migration from the former Dutch colonies. The chapter draws upon research carried out at two schools for secondary education geared to vocational training. The schools were selected because of the heterogeneous ethnic composition of the student population.
