Moving beyond deficit ideology: a transnational perspective

Adopting a deficit ideology of youth of immigrant descent reflects the tendency to attribute the challenges faced by this group solely to perceived ‘deficiencies’ in their attitudes, behaviours and moralities, while ignoring or downplaying structural barriers and systemic oppression. Importantly, the deep roots of deficit ideologies in Europe and the U.S. are intertwined and can be traced back to scholars in the 17th century who categorised and characterised humans along racialized lines. The overarching goals of this paper, then, are to trace the roots of deficit ideology and its shifts over time to provide a historical account, encourage researcher reflexivity, and offer considerations for moving the field forward. To this end, we take a transnational perspective – drawing on Germany as a key European case and the U.S. – to examine these broader sociohistorical contexts that laid the groundwork for deficit perspectives, highlight scholars who have long challenged a deficit narrative for minoritised children, and conclude with ways forward to advance a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of youth of immigrant descent that moves beyond deficit ideologies.