Roma Children and Social Exclusion in Lithuania: Sociological Approach to Human Development

Abstract

Within the range of various activities aimed at Roma integration in Lithuania, educational projects were the most substantial and most developed part in the 1990s. This chapter discusses why they have not brought substantial results in an overview of the main indicators of social problems related to Roma children and youth. Since 2000, the fragmented measures of Roma integration policy have not brought a breakthrough from Roma exclusion. On the contrary, the 2001 census revealed that Roma youth have less knowledge of the Lithuanian language than older generations. There have been no support mechanisms for Roma youth to enter the labour market, and the previously known problem of the drug trade in the Roma community is bringing new troublesome outcomes: Whereas Roma previously mainly dealt in drugs without using them themselves, the number of drug users is now increasing rapidly. The failure to provide social assistance through educational institutions and networks has been among the main reasons for a growing marginalization of the Roma during the last decade.