Mutual Perceptions and Interethnic Strategies among French, Italian, and Haitian Adolescents of a Multiethnic School in Montreal

Processes through which interethnic relations and identity are constructed in a natural situation were studied among French, Italian, and Haitian adolescents of a multiethnic high school in Montreal. Grounded theory was the methodology chosen to study how the microsocial and macrosocial contexts influence the development of attitudes and strategies of individuals and groups. The research was conducted mainly through interviews of groups offriends (n = 4 to 6) of the same ethnic origin, gender, and age. The sample (N = 169) was almost equally distributed among gender, age groups (12 to 13, 14 to 15, and 16 to 17 years old), and the three most important ethnic groups of the school (58 French, 53 Italians, 58 Haitians). A marked evolution in attitudes and strategies was noted from the first to the fifth year of high school in all groups. The dominant taboo concerning ethnic differences noted among the 12-and 13-year-olds burst into an open celebration of these differences during the third year of high school to end on a sharp division between subgroups open or closed to ethnic differences in the fifth year of high school. A diversity of positions were to be found within each ethnic group. Gender and social class seemed to play different roles within each ethnic group in determining attitudes and strategies.