Abstract
A specific feature of the Roma community is socialization on two levels - integration into their own Roma community, and integration into the majority of society. This paper focuses on a specific group of adolescents, namely the Roma youth, while the social inclusion of this youth is considered by authors an important phenomenon, from which the life of the individual further unfolds, as well as risk behaviour manifested in it, in which adolescents participate to a greater extent compared to other developmental stages.
 On the empirical level, this paper focuses on the need for social inclusion and achieved social inclusion of respondents. The research sample consisted of Roma youth living in marginalized settlements in eastern Slovakia, and respondents living outside of Roma settlements. The result was the finding that these groups of adolescents do not differ in the need of social inclusion, but the achieved social inclusion demonstrated more in Roma adolescents living outside of the settlements. By comparing these two values, it has been shown that Roma adolescents living in settlements feel pushed away, unworthy of the attention of others, and underestimated. On the other hand, Roma living outside of settlements feel harassed, oppressed, and subjected to group pressure and social conventions.
Highlights
Risk behaviour is currently a concept involving a number of different categories of behaviour that, according to Širůček et al (2007) and Lichner and Šlosár (2017), cause health, social or psychological risk to the individual or their social environment
The research sample consisted of Roma youth aged 13 to 26 years (N = 111), of whom 61 adolescents lived in marginalized settlements in eastern Slovakia, 50 respondents came from outside of Roma settlements, and these groups were statistically compared
They grow up in multi-generation families that are of great importance to them. These family ties can affect that the Roma youth living in the Roma settlement do not feel lonely and the need for social inclusion is at a comparable level to that of adolescents living outside of the Roma settlement
Summary
Risk behaviour is currently a concept involving a number of different categories of behaviour that, according to Širůček et al (2007) and Lichner and Šlosár (2017), cause health, social or psychological risk to the individual or their social environment. Such risk behaviour usually occurs during adolescence, which is very specific and has blatant elements compared to other developmental stages. Bobakova et al (2015) mentions in their publication that more than 400,000 Roma live in Slovakia, what represents 7.5% of the Slovak population. It is necessary to focus even on these adolescents which come from a minority culture that is different from the rest of the population
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