THE YOUTH VILLAGE: A MULTICULTURAL APPROACH TO RESIDENTIAL EDUCATION AND CARE FOR IMMIGRANT YOUTH IN ISRAEL

Abstract

Migration, which has increased in the age of globalization, elicits a range of responses from the host countries, ranging from passive tolerance to active support of the newcomers. These responses affect many aspects of public life, most notably education, and the way immigrant youth are being either included or excluded. Residential care, which is known to be a powerful social instrument, is often used by societies for solving complex problems of children and young people. While many countries consider residential care an alternative of last resort, in Israel, these structural features of residential care institutions have been used for supporting young immigrants experiencing difficulties during the most crucial stage of the cross-cultural transition process. This paper presents the youth village, a unique Israeli residential educational model, highlighting the great potential of residential education and care programs for coping with the challenge of successfully integrating migrating youth. However, residential care methods and concepts are changing a lot and this influences how residential care programs are working with immigrant youth today.