Social integration

Social integration, in sociology and other social sciences, is the movement of minority groups such as ethnic minorities, refugees and underprivileged sections of a society into the mainstream of societies. Social integration requires proficiency in an accepted common language of the society, acceptance of the laws of the society and adoption of a common set of values of the society. It does not require assimilation and it does not require persons to give up all of their culture, but it may require to forgo some aspects of their culture which are inconsistent with the laws and values of the society. In tolerant and open societies, members of minority groups can often use social integration to gain full access to the opportunities, rights and services available to the members of the mainstream of society.

In the emerging world of social networking applications on the internet, social integration is a term that can be considered when members are being transparent in all of their various work, personal, faith and local community interactions.^{[citation needed]}

A 2012 research review found that working-class students were less socially integrated than middle-class students at university.

Recent research also shows that immigrants should be independent and proactive in order to achieve better social integration in their host countries. For further information, see here.

The United Nations has a Social Integration Branch, which is a part of the Division for Social Policy and Development (Department of Economic and Social Affairs). It also issues a quarterly publication named Bulletin on Social Integration Policies. The UN Alliance of Civilizations initiative works on Migration and Integration as a key for intercultural understanding. An Online Community on Migration and Integration shows Good Practices from around the world.

See also

• Cultural assimilation
• Acculturation
• TPI-theory
• Diversity