Samina Naveed

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Between Fear and Silence: Bullying, Coping and Help-Seeking Among South Asian Adolescents Experiencing Immigration Insecurity in the UK

Between Fear and Silence investigates how immigration insecurity shapes bullying, coping, and help-seeking among South Asian adolescents in UK secondary schools. Adolescence is a period in which young people rely heavily on peer relationships and school belonging, yet those facing precarious immigration status experience “chronic legal uncertainty, fear of deportation, and mistrust of institutional systems.” These stressors intersect with identity-based bullying linked to ethnicity, language, and cultural difference, creating environments where victimisation is not only socially and psychologically harmful  but responding to such bullying is perceived as a threat to personal and family safety.

This mixed-methods study combines life-story interviews with a secondary data analysis and a survey to examine how adolescents interpret bullying, the cultural and psychological mechanisms that influence silence or disclosure, and the role of parental anxieties in shaping coping strategies. By integrating ecological, social identity, stigma, and institutional betrayal theories, the project offers a multi-level understanding of vulnerability and resilience.

The research will generate one of the first UK-based empirical accounts focused specifically on South Asian adolescents experiencing immigration insecurity. Findings will advise trauma-informed, culturally responsive school practices, highlight barriers to help-seeking, and support policy development aimed at creating safer, more inclusive educational environments for young people navigating both social and legal precarity.

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