Conflict behaviour and coping strategies in ethnic minorities in Flanders and Brussels.

Survey analyses as well as additional qualitative research among ethnic minorities in Belgium regarding family formation and value patterns, have already shown that certain topics were conflict loaded, both on familylevel as on community level. E.g. partner choice can demonstrate this very well. Quite often marriages are arranged, so free choice is rather limited. Ethnically mixed marriages are still quite rare and marriages with partnersfrom the country of origin has shown its functionality as a way of chain-migration. To what extent this topic is experienced as causing conflicts or how and why conflicts are avoided, as well as how parties involved cope with it, is being researched in this project, using group discussion techniques and individual and joint indepth-interviews. Apart from family formation in the strict sense, there's focussed particularly on extended families, i.c. the freshly married couple cohabitating with the groom's family, as the virilocal tradition requires. Here special attention is given to the way the youngsters experience the expectations and limitations from their families and community. In what way conflicts are generated or avoided is focussed upon, as well as upon the implications for raising and educating the children and integrating in Belgian society.