Gypsy Group Research Articles

The experiences and outcomes of Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller pregnant people in pregnancy: A scoping review.

Within Europe, Roma, Gypsy, and Traveller groups have been marginalized and discriminated against by larger society. Persecution and displacement have resulted in high rates of unemployment, reduced access to education, and poorer health, with significantly increased risk of poverty compared with the general population. In pregnancy, there appears to be a gap in the literature surrounding the experiences and outcomes of pregnant people within these ethnic groups. The aim of this study was therefore to scope published research, specifically questioning "What is the experience of Roma Gypsy and Traveller pregnant people who access maternity care?" and "What are the obstetric outcomes within these groups?" This review followed frameworks proposed by Arksey and O'Malley, Levac, and the Joanna Brigg's Institute. The PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) tool was used. The search strategy and specific terms were chosen using the population-concepts-context framework. Titles and abstracts were reviewed independently by two reviewers. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined to set clear guidance for reviewers to identify appropriate studies. Five electronic databases were searched (CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE [OVID] Web of Science and SCOPUS). A charting form was developed to record key characteristics systematically and uniformly from the studies. Five themes were identified: systemic issues, antenatal care, complications of pregnancy, birth experience, and postnatal care. Systemic issues included racism, barriers to care, and adapted antenatal care. Antenatal issues included teenage pregnancy, smoking, risk of venous thrombus embolism, dietary issues, risk of communicable diseases, domestic violence, and mental health concerns. Increased risks of congenital abnormalities, growth restriction, premature labor, and perinatal and early childhood mortality were identified. For Roma women, negative birth experiences were reported, whereas the experiences of Traveller women varied. The findings identified in this study serve to create a framework upon which healthcare providers can tailor the way in which pregnant people from a Roma, Gypsy, or Irish Traveller background are cared for. Using such a framework would hopefully begin to reduce the systematic marginalization and discrimination of these minorities.

Facilitators for increasing dental attendance of people from vulnerable groups: a rapid review of evidence relevant to the UK

AbstractObjective To rapidly review facilitators of access for vulnerable groups and to evaluate their effectiveness.Methods Data sources: MEDLINE via Ovid. Publications in English from 2000. Data selection: Research involving ‘vulnerable groups' relevant to UK health systems, with a primary outcome of increasing attendance. Data extraction: One author extracted and tabulated data. These were audited by a second author. Data synthesis: A narrative synthesis was produced.Results Data from 31 studies were available for ten vulnerable groups: people with learning, physical or sensory disabilities (n = 8); people experiencing homelessness (n = 6); prisoners (n = 4); asylum-seekers and refugees (n = 3); people living in socioeconomically deprived areas (n = 3); people with severe mental health conditions (n = 2); vulnerable children (n = 2); dependent older people (n = 1); Gypsy, Roma or Traveller groups (n = 1); and people with drug dependency (n = 1). Many facilitators involved organisational reform and more integration of health, social and other services. Other facilitators included: modification of premises; team development and skill-mix use; and awareness of needs and flexible services to meet them. Few studies evaluated effectiveness.Conclusion Although facilitators for access for vulnerable groups have been proposed, there is little evidence to support or refute their effectiveness. Efforts are needed to promote access for vulnerable groups in the UK with evaluation plans embedded.

Neurodidactic teacher training program for educational dropouts in vulnerable groups

Neurodidactic is presented as an effective teaching tool for creating an equitable society, regardless of the population. This educational methodology, which has recently been introduced in teacher training, supports students with functional diversity, special educational needs, sensory diversity (visual or auditory), and those belonging to the Gypsy ethnic group. Neurodidactics emphasizes that the teacher's role is to create synapses in the neuronal structures through activities that a student finds innovative, attractive, and motivating. To achieve this, it is necessary to identify the aspects that should be included in the training of teachers to work with students who belong to vulnerable groups and to develop effective intervention programs based on neurodidactics. The study population comprises professors of higher education at the University of Jaen (UJA) who responded to a Likert scale survey using an operationalization table. The survey was conducted to determine the professors' knowledge of neuroscience, particularly neurodidactics.

Women breadwinners in Gypsy socio-professional groups of pre-industrial Wallachia

In Wallachia, the first preserved population census was completed in 1838. It contains a detailed portrait of the Gypsy population (over 48,000 people living in 12,280 households), the largest slave population in Europe at the time. In the census, the labour of Gypsy women was largely under-registered. Occupations and skills appear mostly when women are listed as heads of a household, in about 5 percent of all cases. Overwhelmingly, these women were listed as widows, but that category may hide a variety of conditions of the affected women. The analysis of the women registered as breadwinners reveals a diversity of skills, occupations, and labours, many of them restricted to the different Romani groups. A case study of a community of domestic servants belonging to a large estate landowner shows how the life events of young Gypsy females, including migration, intersected with their slave status and their work as domestic servants.This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0.

COVID-19 vaccination decisions among Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities: A qualitative study moving beyond “vaccine hesitancy”

BackgroundMany people refuse vaccination and it is important to understand why. Here we explore the experiences of individuals from Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller groups in England to understand how and why they decided to take up or to avoid COVID-19 vaccinations. MethodsWe used a participatory, qualitative design, including wide consultations, in-depth interviews with 45 individuals from Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller, communities (32 female, 13 male), dialogue sessions, and observations, in five locations across England between October 2021 and February 2022. FindingsVaccination decisions overall were affected by distrust of health services and government, which stemmed from prior discrimination and barriers to healthcare which persisted or worsened during the pandemic. We found the situation was not adequately characterised by the standard concept of “vaccine hesitancy”. Most participants had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, usually motivated by concerns for their own and others’ health. However, many participants felt coerced into vaccination by medical professionals, employers, and government messaging. Some worried about vaccine safety, for example possible impacts on fertility. Their concerns were inadequately addressed or even dismissed by healthcare staff. InterpretationA standard "vaccine hesitancy" model is of limited use in understanding vaccine uptake in these populations, where authorities and health services have been experienced as untrustworthy in the past (with little improvement during the pandemic). Providing more information may improve vaccine uptake somewhat; however, improved trustworthiness of health services for GRT communities is essential to increase vaccine coverage. FundingThis paper reports on independent research commissioned and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Policy Research Programme. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the Department of Health and Social Care or its arm's length bodies, and other Government Departments.

Stigma of mental illness in the gypsy ethnic group

IntroductionThe Roma population constitutes the largest ethnic minority in Spain (more than 2% of the population), with our country having the third largest total population of Roma in the world. The concept of health and disease varies with the sociocultural context. It is important to know the cultural characteristics to exercise good clinical practice. The stigma surrounding mental illness is widely known, and is even stronger in the Roma community, leading to marginalization and shame.ObjectivesWe present a case of a gypsy woman misdiagnosed from the age of 8 with hebephrenic schizophrenia.MethodsPatient frequents the emergency department with symptoms of predominantly anxiety, including episodes of psychomotor agitation, self-harm, verbalization of visual hallucinations of a mystical-religious nature. In treatment with antipsychotics since diagnosis, with no therapeutic adherence. It is observed during all the episodes how the anxiolytic treatment, even, sometimes, the verbal restraint, make the symptoms subside. Psychotic symptoms over the years are ruled out.ResultsDue to the diagnosis, this patient has been relegated from the gypsy community, she has not married or had children (an important milestone in gypsy culture), this has generated an exponential increase in anxiety symptoms and home problems.ConclusionsIt is important to know the cultural traits to which the patients we treat in consultation belong, and how the disease can affect their lives, and a simple diagnosis can be a source of greater anxiety.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Evolution of the Kandyan Vina of Sri Lanka with Special Reference to the Contemporary Usage

The string instrument, the Kandyan vina (Uḍaraṭa Vīṇā), once portrayed in the book by John Davy as “Venah”, shares close resemblance with the Coconut shell fiddle instruments in India, in terms of their inherent form, structure, cultural peculiarities and playing posture. Such similarities serve to confirm that the prototypic musical instrument – the Kandyan vina, originated from the Coconut shell fiddle instruments of India. According to sources, the prototype instrument of the Kandyan vina arrived with the gypsy groups who migrated to Sri Lanka from Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu during the Kandy period of 1600-1750 AD. Since then, until 1980-1990 AD, the prototype instrument was developed by the influence of the Western musical instruments and musical intelligence, available material, creative methods inherent in the aristocratic, villagers, beggars, Veddas, and gypsy communities. Therefore, the rise of the Kandyan vina is proven to have originated within Sri Lanka as a unique native string instrument. Research objectives of this study are: firstly, to re-introduce a native string instrument according to its true historic trails; secondly, a modern Kandyan vina is constructed using the modified knowledge discovered through exploring the ancient Kandyan vina instruments; and thirdly, to assimilate knowledge of a musical instrument based on its historical literature and archaeological data from an Archaeomusicological perspective. With this in mind, Frescoes/murals, artefacts, legal documents and primary books were used as the primary sources, while journal articles and secondary books were used as secondary sources.

Living on a double-edged sword: Intergenerational perspectives of women from Gypsy groups about the influence of education on cultural identity

This work presents a multiple case study aimed at depicting the perspectives of women from Gypsy groups regarding the perceived influence of education on acculturative pathways. Data were drawn from a sample of eight semi-structured interviews with women aged between 17 and 52 years old, with different education levels. Different patterns of acculturation strategies were found across acculturation domains and generations. Despite still endorsing a separation stance to preserve cultural values, the exposure to mainstream values and expectations through education was found to shape young women's perspectives regarding gendered roles and identities. Findings contribute to the debate on the complexity of acculturation and enculturation processes and on the influence of gender issues in the systematic exclusion of Gypsy groups.

Patterns of exclusion of ethno-religious minorities: The ethno-religious hierarchy across European countries and social categories within these countries

In this contribution, we set out to rigorously test previous theoretical propositions that people tend to have consensual and cumulative rankings of exclusion of ethnic and religious outgroups, often referred to as ‘ethnic hierarchies’ constituting a shared and particular pattern of ranking different outgroups, preferably excluded from possible social interaction. Crucial questions are (1) to what extent are European natives’ levels of exclusion of Muslim, Jewish and Gypsy minority groups consensually and, moreover, hierarchically ranked? (2) to what extent is this pattern of exclusion comparable across representative samples of European countries and (3) to what extent is it comparable across relevant social categories within these countries? We take advantage of high quality cross-national European data asking representative samples of respondents whether they would not allow particular ethno-religious groups into their country, analyzed with probabilistic scalogram analysis. We found convincingly strong empirical evidence for the consensual and cumulative ranking of exclusion of typical ethno-religious outgroups: most Europeans wish to allow no Gypsies to come into their country, followed by Muslims and finally Jews as the least excluded ethno-religious outgroup. This rank order of outgroups’ exclusionism was found in 18 out of 20 different European countries. Notwithstanding differences in the level of exclusion across countries, citizens within these countries rank order these ethno-religious groups in a similar, comparable and cumulative way. Moreover, we presented evidence that this cumulative rank order is present within many different social categories within these countries. Our contribution may be one of the first to rigorously test heavily cited theoretical propositions on social and polemic representations.

Cyberbullying Analysis in Intercultural Educational Environments Using Binary Logistic Regressions

The goal of this study is to analyze how religion, ethnic group, and race influence the likelihood of becoming either a cybervictim or cyberbully in intercultural educational environments. In the research, 755 students in secondary education were analyzed in the south of Spain through the Cyberbullying Scale for students with Cultural and Religious Diversity (CSCRD). The analyses were carried out using the Statistical Package SPSS and the STATA software. The results obtained from the Kruskal–Wallis H test showed significant differences according to these aspects, for both the cybervictim and cyberbully parameters. The results stemming from binary logistic regressions confirmed such differences and regarded those students who belong to the Muslim religion, the gypsy ethnic group and the Asian race as being more likely to become cybervictims. Furthermore, these analyses showed that Gypsy and Asian students were also more likely to be cyberbullies than other groups. The main conclusions state that minority groups are more likely to suffer cyberbullying in intercultural educational environments, and that students from these groups are also more likely to become cyberbullies.

"Cadê o Cigano?": reflexões sobre gypsy jazz e ciganidades

This article discusses traces of gypsyness in gypsy jazz based on participative observations of a musical scene situated in Rio de Janeiro. Employing Brazilian cultural studies on gypsy ethnic groups and a critical revision of pertinent bibliographic references as debate framework, the genre’s main constitutive elements are introduced considering the complexity of its process of genesis as social discourse in permanent construction. Seeking to situate Gypsy jazz within the phenomenon of glocalization and the commodification of gypsy cultures, the author questions the forms with which the music industry and social agents shape contradictory connections to identity between the genre and imagined gypsynesses, frequently perpetuating distorted and discriminatory views of diverse gypsy ethnic groups. Further, proposing a broadening and deepening of the research into the genre, the article seeks considerations more attentive to the plurality of gypsy cultures, in order to create paths for an interpretative approach in which gypsy jazz is conceived as a space of transits, encounters and intercultural dialogues.

Wyobraźnia a prześladowanie. Społeczność cygańska w wierszach Federica Garcíi Lorki

Artykuł po krótkiej prezentacji historii przybycia grup cygańskich na Półwysep Iberyjski skupia się na ich obrazie wyłaniającym się z wierszy Federica Garcíi Lorki zawartych w jego dwóch znanych tomach poetyckich: Poema de cante jondo (1931) oraz Romancero gitano (1928).W wypadku pierwszego tomu oś analizy koncentruje się na próbie scharakteryzowania cygańskiego charakteru pieśni znanych jako cante jondo w odwołaniu do rozmaitych wypowiedzi publicznych i wykładów autora oraz ich poetyckiego odbicia. Analiza tomu drugiego obejmuje przede wszystkim próbę ukazania konfliktu między społecznością cygańską, charakteryzującą się wyobraźnią i inspiracją, a funkcjonariuszami Gwardii Cywilnej, reprezentującymi porządek i represyjny utylitaryzm. Na plan pierwszy wysuwa się siła wyobraźni cygańskiej, pozwalająca im przetrwać godnie największe prześladowania i represje.

P292 Inflammatory bowel disease and their implications in Roma ethnicity: A preliminary study

Abstract Background The pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is multifactorial and many factors have been involved such as genetic or environmental elements. The characteristics of IBD in different ethnic groups have been investigated to clarify the North-South gradient. We considered that Roma patients seem to have a more aggressive disease than Caucasian patients but no data to support this feeling is published. For this reason, the aim of our study is to analyse clinical characteristics of our cohort of IBD patients comparing Roma and Caucasian ethnicity Methods A retrospective cohort study was realised in both IBD Units to compare Roma and Caucasian groups. IBD patients were identified in the outpatient clinic. Demographical, clinical characteristics, pharmaceutical requirements and surgeries were collected. This group was matched by age, gender, disease and location of IBD with Caucasian patients. Results 24 Roma patients were identified in our cohort. The prevalence of Gypsy ethnic group in our cohort was 1.66%. A percentage of 41.67% were men (n = 10) meanwhile 58.33% (n = 14) were women. The average age of the patients of our cohort was 43.77 years (SD 12.82). Crohn’s disease (CD) was observed in 62.5% (n = 15), ulcerative colitis (UC) in 29.19% (n = 7) and Unclassified IBD in 8.33% (n = 2). A statistic significant difference in family history was observed in the group of Roma patients (50%, n = 12 vs. 8.34%, n = 2) (p =0.001). Regarding to therapy, the Roma group required biological treatment in 58,32% (n = 14) compare to a percentage of 25% (n = 6) (p = 0.019) in the Caucasian group. We also found more hospital admissions (5.18 (SD 4,33) vs. 2,5 (SD 1,93) (p = 0,04)) and surgical procedures (41.66%, n = 10 vs. 12.5%, n = 3) (p = 0,023). Conclusion In our cohort, the Roma IBD patients showed more familial aggregation than the Caucasian group. An aggressive disease was also found in Roma patients and the subsequent increase in biological therapy, hospital admissions and surgical procedures to control the disease. Future studies should be performing to investigate genetic or environmental factors associated with this ethnic group.

ЦЫГАНСКОЕ НАСЕЛЕНИЕ СРЕДНЕГО УРАЛА В КОНЦЕ ХVIII – НАЧАЛЕ ХХ ВЕКА

Based on the materials of the central and regional archives, the article describes the peculiarities of the formation of the Gypsy community in the Middle Urals. The migration of the Gypsy population in different historical periods, the character of their presence in the region and the features of their interaction with the authorities are traced. The source database is characterized, and poor documentation of the history of Gypsies is marked. It is noted that the period of the 19 th – early 20 th centuries was the time of the formation of the Gypsy population in the region. In the 18 th and early 19 th centuries, Gypsy camps appeared in the region only occasionally, but, starting from the second quarter of the 19 th century, their presence became permanent, their population and exploited territory grew. The basis of the Gypsy population of that period was the camps of the ethnic group of Russian gypsies. Only in the early 20 th century, did representatives of the so-called "foreign gypsies" appear in the region. They were mostly from Calderash or Lovari. The main feature of the formation of the ethnic minority of Russian Gypsies was migration from two regions – the European part of the country and Siberia. In adjacent Siberian provinces, Gypsy communities had been formed a bit earlier and were larger. The archival materials highlight the peculiarities of state policy in different regions aimed at the resettlement of nomadic camps and the limitation of the Gypsy mobility in the 19 th and early 20 th century. But this did not bring the expected effect and did not lead to the resettlement of nomadic camps during that period. In the second half of the 19 th – early 20 th centuries, Gypsies became an organic part of the Perm community: performances of Gypsies on Perm ships, Gypsy choirs in the governorate centre and towns, Gypsy sellers on fairs and markets became commonplace in the life of Russian provinces.

'Alma gitana' y 'Carmen y Lola': dos miradas transversales a la violencia contra la mujer en la etnia gitana

En este ensayo se quiere analizar cómo en dos películas, Alma gitana (1996) de Chus Gutiérrez, y Carmen y Lola (2018) de Arantxa Echevarría, se cuestiona la violencia contra la mujer en la comunidad gitana y se propone la necesidad de que las generaciones más jóvenes vayan cambiando y construyendo sus vidas desde la igualdad, sin por ello tener que desestimar totalmente la cultura ni las tradiciones de sus ancestros. Tanto Chus Gutiérrez como Arantxa Echevarría son mujeres que, sin pertenecer a la etnia gitana y partiendo de un conocimiento profundo y con gran respeto, intentan articular en sus textos fílmicos posibles respuestas constructivas para enfrentar el tema de la violencia machista en la comunidad gitana.

Study of the Interaction between HP1 Family Proteins and Untranslated Regulatory Regions of the Gypsy Retrotransposons in Drosophila melanogaster

In vitro interaction between recombinant protein paralogs (HP1a, HP1b, and HP1c) of the HP1 family and 5′-untranslated regulatory regions of the gypsy retrotransposon group in Drosophila melanogaster—gypsy, Springer, Tirant, ZAM, Rover, and 17.6—was studied. Using competitive DNA, the conditions that enable specific binding with a matrix were identified. It was found that HP1 family proteins efficiently bind to the 5′-untranslated regulatory region of retrotransposons with tandem repeats. It was found that repeats are absolutely necessary for HP1a to bind to the 5′-untranslated region of the Tirant and ZAM mobile genetic elements. The absence of repeats (ZAM) or the presence of fewer than two repeats (Tirant) makes such interaction impossible. Thus, the presence of tandem repeats in the 5′-untranslated region of the gypsy retrotransposons is an important tool for regulating their transposition by heterochromatin proteins.

Genomic Insights and the Irish Travellers: An Interview with Professor Gianpiero Cavalleri

Gianpiero Cavalleri is Associate Professor of Human Genetics at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and is the lead author of a 2017 study into the genetic structure of the Irish Traveller community . The study provided an estimate of when Irish Travellers split from the ‘settled' population in Ireland. This population-based genetic research project involved researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University College Dublin, the University of Edinburgh and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and looked into the history and structure of the Traveller population in the context of ‘settled' Irish as well as neighbouring European and Roma Gypsy groups. A full-text version of the study first published in the journal Scientific Reports can be accessed here . This interview took place at RCSI on Tuesday 21 st November 2017.

Una etnología de los gitanos, ¿es posible?

Partiendo de la constatación de que los etnólogos no poseen un discurso sobre los gitanos en general, sino sobre ciertos gitanos en particular —aquellos que ellos han encontrado y que no se llaman a sí mismos “gitanos”—, este artículo propone una aproximación etnológica de la totalidad. Esta última, a partir del examen de un corpus de canciones que un grupo de familias manuches consideran como su expresión propia. Cierto número de procedimientos caracterizan la interpretación de este repertorio e instauran un desfase en relación con la norma encarnada por los no-gitanos (los gadjé), en el cual florece el sentimiento de singularidad manuche. No obstante, ninguno de los procedimientos evidenciados son específicos; éstos podrían encontrarse en otros grupos gitanos o simplemente en otros grupos humanos.La conclusión que se impone es que la construcción de la singularidad gitana se apoya en procedimientos que aparecen como universales.

Marginal groups in marginal times: Gypsy and Traveller parents and home education in England, UK

This article examines the experiences of home education for Gypsy and Traveller groups in England, UK. We argue that home education is perceived in a particular historical ‘moment’ characterised in the media and more generally throughout society by ‘risk’. Against this backdrop this article considers Gypsy and Traveller experiences of home education and their relationships with local education authorities. Drawing on case study data with 10 Gypsy and Traveller families living on the south coast of England we argue that the marginal status of Gypsy and Traveller families exposes them to particular vulnerabilities associated with failure, incompetence and lack of concern regarding the education of their children. This is further heightened in present day ‘risk society’. Drawing on the work of Ulrich Beck, we suggest home education is both a reaction to the risks associated with modernisation and also a perceived risk in itself when equated with issues of child protection and welfare. Despite maintaining community networks and longstanding traditions of home education, Gypsy and Traveller lifestyles are still perceived as being at risk within a ‘moment’ in which home education is under scrutiny.

French Atlantic Appropriations: Montlinot, Eighteenth-Century Colonial Slavery, and Penal and Forced Labour Schemes between Europe, Africa and the Americas

This article examines the problem of labour in the late eighteenth-century French colonial world through a reading of three archived colonial projects from the 1780s and 90s, none of which ever came to fruition. The first proposed a resettlement of a group of gypsies from the Black Forest to French Guiana, subsequently the most notorious penal settlement in French history. The second suggested the removal of vagrants and ‘loose women’ from Northern France to the West African island of Bulama, and the third proposed to resettle part of the demobilized revolutionary army on either Bulama or Madagascar. These visions, which spanned French maritime possessions from the Indian Ocean to the coast of South America, aimed through the appropriation of indigenous and imported labour to further imperial goals, while ridding France of its more problematic elements. The article considers how specific projects involving appropriation of the labour of designated groups were developed in revolutionary France alongside contemporary theories of colonization, slavery, race and empire.