Social Re-Presentations of Migrants: A Case Study of Social Education Students in a Multicultural Environment

Abstract

For many years, research on social psychology has tried to answer the question of why some people are more prejudiced than others. At present, immigrants are the social targets of major political and economic controversy and debate, which has frequently been the case. The present research aims to offer a comprehensive vision of the social re-presentations of immigrants as formed by the students of the degree in Social Education in a city under intense migratory stress (Autonomous city of Melilla). The methodology was carried out using a qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews with the participants. This kind of instrument allows us to know the opinions in-depth of all the participants in the investigation. A total of sixty students were involved in this research. The results indicate that students with an outward-going social profile do not reject immigrants or show negative attitudes toward them. Another aspect to highlight is the efforts made by Spain to serve this population, which, while being acceptable, are not considered sufficient.