In recent times the number of children and youth, that have been forced to flee to Sweden due to various circumstances, has increased. The majority of said children and youth seek refuge along with their parents. In recent years, however, the count of this mentioned group, coming separately from their parents, has gradually increased. Children in such situations are called unaccompanied children. A knowledge gap in previous research, regarding the commitment of unaccompanied children, might be filled by neighborhood attentiveness to residential care homes i.e. HVB where many of these children get placed. In regards to this acknowledgement, the aim of this study has been to investigate neighborhood contacts with HVBs for unaccompanied children. Furthermore, the aim has been to investigate these contacts by using a case study with the objective of the municipality Gislaved and its HVB for unaccompanied children Furugården in Smålandsstenar. From the noted points the role that the neighborhoods might play regarding the endeavors towards integration will be highlighted. The study has been based on the theoretical frameworks of NIMBY and the Contact Hypothesis that intend to explain the significant role that the neighborhood’s impact can have on unaccompanied children’s integration. In order to meet the aim of this study, a total of 23 semi-structured and qualitative interviews have been conducted with responsible staff of the HVB along with its neighborhood i.e. its neighbors.

På senare tid har antalet barn och ungdomar som tvingats på flykt till Sverige åtskilda från sina föräldrar succesivt ökat. Dessa går under benämningen ensamkommande barn. En kunskapslucka inom tidigare forskning angående åtagandet av ensamkommande barn är den betydelse grannskapet till HVB-hem, som många av dessa barn placeras i, kan spela. Syftet med föreliggande studie har därmed varit att undersöka grannskapskontakter med boende för ensamkommande barn med hjälp av en fallstudie av ett HVB-hem i Gislaveds kommun, HVB-hemmet Furugården i Smålandsstenar, och att från dessa utgångspunkter belysa den roll grannskap kan spela för integrationssträvande. Studien har utgått från de teoretiska begreppen: NIMBY och Kontakthypotesen vilka inom studien har ämnat förklara grannskapets inverkan på ensamkommande barns integration För att uppnå studiens syfte har totalt 23 semistrukturerade intervjuer av kvalitativ karaktär genomförts med HVB-hemsansvariga och med HVB-hemmets grannskap, det vill säga grannar.