Abstract Refugees and the integration of refugees are widely debated topics in the Danish media. A prevailing view is that immigrants and refugees are not sufficiently integrated into Danish society. Therefore, the aim of this master thesis is to examine a new method to integrate young refugees into the Danish society as a proposal to ensure better integration in the future. More specific, we are investigating a new collaborative initiative called Delehusene. Delehusene is a concept where Danish students and young refugees live together in shared apartments. The idea is that by putting Danish students and refugees under the same roof they will begin to interact with one another and build up relations through social networks. The residents have a responsibility to be committed to the community of Delehusene. The establishment of the committed community is based on friendship, integration, and democratic foundation, which is ensured by the social workers through various initiatives that the residents are required to take part in, including a buddy-arrangement, learning about good neighbourliness and democracy formation.

From a philosophical hermeneutic perspective, we are investigating the integration processes at Delehusene. Inspired by Hamburger’s (1997) understanding of integration, we perceive social integration as a reciprocal process where adaptation of both the minority group and the majority group occurs. In contrast, the systemic integration is viewed as reciprocal processes occurring between ethnic groups and the civil system. To investigate the integration processes on a social and systemic level we conducted a qualitative study containing four semi-structured interviews. One of the interviews was a focus group interview including six informants; three refugees and three Danish students. The remaining three interviews were conducted individually; one interview with a Danish student, who also participated in the focus group interview, and two individual interviews with two social workers at Delehusene.

Based on the interviews it seems evident that in theory all the residents have equal opportunities to take part in the community of Delehusene, but in reality the residents with a refugee background had unequal conditions to participate compared to the Danish residents. The inequality in conditions to participate between the two categories of residents may be based on differences in the implicit knowledge about Danish values and norms. To minimize or even out this inequality the social workers employed at Delehusene plays an important role that can be viewed as twofold. Firstly, the workers support the process of making the residents enter a dialogue with one another and secondly, they help empower the Danish students to guide and help the refugees to take part in the committed community. To obtain a successful dialogue the residents’ engagement in the social networks is crucial. To achieve well-functioning social networks the residents have to establish a civil sociality, which is achieved by developing shared codes of conduct. However, the process of developing these shared codes of conduct can be threatened by various factors including the time commanding efforts that the residents must invest and the risk of misunderstandings due to different perceptions and interpretations of both verbal and nonverbal communication in diverse cultural backgrounds. In addition, the social networks can be threatened by the lack of desire to take part in the community. If the residents have a common desire, they can build up common norms and values through civil sociality. Here we are seeing different types of adaptations. The first adapting process is where the refugees adopt the norms of the Danish students, and this part is more frequently in social conditions in Delehusene. The other processes are where the residents reciprocal adapt each other’s norms. Regardless of the adapting process, the residents build up social networks, when they build up common norms and values. These social networks can provide crucial social and psychological support for the refugees. Furthermore, these social networks can for the refugees connect them to external assets, such as jobs.

We are seeing the formation of social networks in Delehusene as an important part of the process through social integration for the refugees, because it illustrates adaptations processes of minorities and majorities. Furthermore, the social network plays a part in the systemic integration, by supporting the refugees in gaining access to other parts of the society.