The second generation compared: belonging and crime in Britain and France

Understanding how the second-generation youth, with criminal backgrounds, construct their sense of belonging (SoB) is central to debates on integration, particularly amidst rising extremist narratives. Yet, few studies examine how a SoB intersects with crime, and even fewer consider the role of national integration contexts in shaping belonging. This study addresses these gaps by examining how British Pakistanis and French Maghrebians with criminal histories articulate their SoB, revealing differences between and within these contexts. Using a comparative qualitative design, it draws on interviews with 35 participants, aged 18-29, in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack. The findings reveal two overarching pathways: British participants primarily expressed a default attachment to Britain, whereas French participants predominantly developed a conscious SoB. This conscious belonging subdivides into positive, neutral, and reactive forms, with the latter expressed as fading or negative, particularly in France. Cross-national differences were striking: all four sub-categories of SoB appeared in France, whereas in Britain, only positive, neutral, and negative forms emerged. An impressive 84.2% (n=16) of French participants developed a conscious SoB, with fading patterns reflecting disillusionment, compared to 37.5% (n=6) of British participants. Across both contexts, local belonging emerged as a stabilising factor, mitigating experiences of exclusion. These findings challenge assumptions linking minority identity to criminality, highlighting intra- and inter-country variation in identity formation. They underscore the importance of ensuring that SoB development is not left to chance, or worse, to extremist influences, as this generation may play a pivotal role in shaping the paths of future generations.