Roma Identity Research Articles

Social mechanisms behind the poor health of marginalized Roma: Novel insights and implications from four ethnographic studies in Slovakia

Roma represent one of the largest ethnic groups facing marginalization worldwide. However, significant knowledge gaps persist regarding: A) the social mechanisms supporting health-endangering practices among Roma; B) the social mechanisms adversely affecting their use of health services; and C) the social determinants underlying both above pathways. To fill these gaps, we conducted a series of four explorative ethnographic studies spanning over ten years. Beginning in 2004, the series involved 260 participants, including segregated Roma and health services staff in Slovakia. Of the four studies, two addressed gap A, two addressed gap B, and all addressed gap C. Regarding pathway A, we found that Roma in segregated Roma enclaves can be socialized into ethnically framed racialized ideologies that oppose the cultural standards of local non-Roma life, including certain healthy practices. This adherence to counter-cultural ideals of Roma identity increases specific health and care challenges. Regarding pathway B, we discovered that health service frontliners frequently lack any organizational support to better understand and accommodate the current living conditions and practices of segregated Roma, as well as their own and others’ racism and professional expectations regarding equity. This lack of support leads many frontliners to become cynical about segregated Roma over their careers, resulting in health services being less effective and exacerbating health problems for both Roma and the frontliners themselves. Concerning pathway C, we found that the societal omnipresence of antigypsyism – racist and racialized anti-Roma ideas and sentiments – serves as a prominent driver of both the above pathways. We conclude that much of the unfavorable health status of Roma can be understood via a systems perspective that embraces structural racism.

Family and personal identity among Roma students in Colleges for Advanced Studies: Identity preservation and change

AbstractDuring their studies, Roma university students enter into a milieu different from their family environment and this can affect their identity. In our research, we used life story interviews (N = 108) to study Roma university students who attended Roma College for Advanced Studies (RCAS). We were interested in how their identities were formed and what role their family Roma identity strategy and the RCAS played in it. In our analysis, we divided the Roma students into five categories (separated, integrated, assimilated, negative, marginalized) and these identity strategies were also used to determine the respondents' family identity. In the sample, the largest proportion consisted of those who had an integrated personal and family Roma identity strategy. The majority of the respondents had not changed identity strategies and also interpreted their personal identity according to the family pattern. Some of the Roma university students went to RCAS specifically to strengthen their Roma identity. Overall, it can be said that the family Roma identity strategy can be linked to the development of personal identity, and the RCAS can have a role in preserving and strengthening the Roma identity of university students.

‘We're still here’: Misrecognition and the quest for dual identification of Roma people

AbstractMisrecognition describes everyday practices that deny the autonomy of minority members to define who they are and instead impose identities that may diverge from their own sense of self. Being misrecognized is particularly relevant for the historically marginalized Roma people, whose national belonging is repeatedly questioned despite centuries of co‐existence and citizenship. Our aim was to understand whether the experience of misrecognition, along with discrimination, would predict identification patterns that represent an obstacle to dual identification among Roma people in three East‐Central European countries: Hungary, Romania and Serbia. We collected data among Roma participants online and face‐to‐face with convenience sampling (N = 1,325). Latent class analysis revealed three similar classes based on national and ethnic identification scores in all subsamples: (1) disidentification, (2) Roma identification and (3) dual identification. Logistic regression analysis showed that misrecognition and discrimination predicted stronger Roma identity than dual identification in Hungary and Serbia. However, misrecognition predicted stronger dual identification in Romania, possibly as a reaffirmation strategy in response to misrecognition. Our results show that misrecognition can add to our understanding of minority group members' identification with the superordinate category of the nation as well as subgroup ethnic minority identity, and this connection could be key for advancing Roma inclusion.

A korai iskolaelhagyás vizsgálata interszekcionális megközelítésben

Hungary ranks in the bottom third of the European Union regarding early school leaving, falling further and further away from the EU average year on year. The lower educational attainment and higher drop-out rates of Roma/Gypsy youth have been confirmed by several studies. Still, the descriptions are often two-dimensional, as in international approaches. The Hungarian Youth 2020 database allowed for a wider range of explanatory variables in the analysis. In our study, we examine the educational attainment of Roma youth aged 20-29 and then compare subsamples of Roma and non-Roma dropouts. Finally, we run a binary regression model on the database with early school leaving as the dependent variable and explanatory variables as background variables that may shape the odds of early school leaving. The social and economic backgrounds of Roma and non-Roma ESL learners differed, while parental education and subjective financial situation showed a less favourable pattern for Roma. The effect of Roma identity was significant in the regression model, but the explanatory power did not reach the effect of lower parental education. In other words, ethnic background is a crucial factor in dropout, while some segments of the family background are more significant.

Racialised underclass: pathways to work for Roma students in the Czech Republic

ABSTRACT This paper examines the interplay of class and race in theeducation of Roma students in the Czech Republic. We contribute to theliterature on the role of teachers as gatekeepers to future education andemployment by looking into how they assign educational and career routes basedon what they perceive as appropriate for particular students, with students'backgrounds being the deciding criterion. Race and social class are centralpoints of reference, which may operate separately or in concert. The perceivedlow aspirations of Roma children do not only result from an association withtheir social class but are also a product of a racialised school environment,which builds on an understanding of biologised and homogenous Roma identities. We interviewed twenty pedagogues twice, at the beginning of the school year (2021/2022) and towards the end of the year, as their students were preparing to transition from compulsory to secondary education.

Unwanted Others of the City: Counter-Cultural Production of the Roma People of Urla-Turkey

ABSTRACT This article examines a case of urban displacement and its impact on the local Roma community by uncovering the discursive strategies of the local governments and the tactical responses of the local people. Based on two-year-long ethnographic research, this study aims to understand the intricate dynamics of the counter-cultural production of the Roma people as a response to gentrification policies of local governments. The rapid rise of the rent value of land has motivated the capital class to force an exile strategy on Roma and accelerated existing segregation policies. During this time, some discursive strategies to manufacture public consent about the gentrification have circulated to change the representation of the Roma identity, replacing their imagery in mainstream society by mainly signifying them as the undeserving poor. This research aims to understand how strategic discourses and actions have positioned Roma in the societal and cultural sphere and in response, how everyday tactics of the Roma engenders counter-cultural forms through intercultural communication.

Embedding an engagement exercise into an administrative data research project: An example focussing on Gypsy, Traveller and Roma young people and their families

ObjectivesThe presentation reports findings from the ADR funded project ‘Testing and demonstrating the value of the Growing Up in England dataset: Gypsy, Traveller and Roma case study’. It will (1) address the rationale for embedding an engagement exercise in this project; (2) set out methodology and findings; and (3) draw broader implications for administrative data research.
 MethodsTwo engagement workshops were co-organised with the civil society organisation Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT). Recruitment was via FFT outreach networks and young people aged 14-29 and their broader family groups were invited to attend. Participants included Romany Gypsies, Traveller and Roma young people and family groups, ensuring diversity of experiences and perspectives. Informed consent was obtained from all participants (and from parents/carers for under 18s). The purpose of the engagement exercise was to hear directly from Gypsy, Traveller and Roma young people about issues raised by our analysis of the newly linked Growing Up in England (GUiE) dataset.
 ResultsFeedback from the workshops explores the educational experiences of Gypsy, Traveller and Roma young people and their families and provides important insights into barriers to educational progression and unmet needs for support. Additionally, feedback from the workshops provides new insights into the views, perspectives and experiences of Gypsy, Traveller and Roma young people and their families relating to administrative data collection and data use. One key concern highlighted by workshop participants is that the disclosure of Gypsy, Traveller and Roma identity in administrative data collected by schools, hospitals and other public services could result in discrimination or other forms of adverse or hostile treatment.
 ConclusionsThe findings from the engagement exercise have important implications for our GUiE project and for broader reflection on public attitudes to administrative data. Additionally, the exercise enabled us to address NSDEC recommendations on engagement. However, engaging with Gypsy, Traveller and Roma young people has involved specialist input, time, funding and additional ethics review, which all require careful consideration and planning.

Residence in segregated settlements (colonies) rather than Roma identity increases the risk of unfavourable mental health in Hungarian adults.

Roma are the largest and most disadvantaged minority in Europe, but there is few research on how mental health and social support of Roma people living in segregated settlements compares to the majority population. Our aim was to compare the subjective well-being, life satisfaction, mental status, and social support of representative samples of adults living in segregated settlements (colonies) and identifying as Roma with those of the general population in Hungary. A cross-sectional study was conducted with random samples of 417 individuals from the general Hungarian adult population (55.6% female, mean age = 43.89 ± 12.61 years) and 394 adults living in segregated settlements (colonies) (73.9% female, mean age = 42.37 ± 12.39 years). Demographic questions were used as well as the WHO Well-Being Index (WBI-5), the single item Life Satisfaction Scale, the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the Oslo Social Support Scale (OSSS-3). Residents of colonies reported significantly lower levels of subjective well-being and life satisfaction than the general population. The proportion of individuals at high risk for mental morbidity was more than twice as high among colony dwellers (16.4%) as in non-colony dwellers (7.6%). Similar unfavorable differences were seen at the expense of self-identified Roma compared to self-identified Hungarians but no difference was found in terms of social support either by type of residence or ethnicity. 32.2% of colony-dwellers self-identified themselves as Hungarian. Mental health assessed by principal component was directly determined by settlement type of permanent residence, age, educational attainment, employment, financial status, and social support but not ethnic identity. The study based on representative data shows that residents of segregated settlements are in worse mental health than those not living in colonies; that housing segregation is not limited to Roma people, and that housing conditions and financial status are major social determinants of mental health for which data must be collected to avoid using self-reported Roma identity as a proxy measure of socioeconomic deprivation.

Chances of Early School Leaving—With Special Regard to the Impact of Roma Identity

Early school leaving rates among Roma are higher than in the majority population, as confirmed by several studies, but the descriptions are often two-dimensional. Intersectionality is described as a persistent situation formed by several social dimensions, and this specific position can be advantageous or disadvantageous from the aspect of educational inequalities. This study aims to explore what type of intersectional position can raise the chance of early school leaving and what is the role of the Roma ethnic identity in this. Earlier empirical analyses are rather two-dimensional, and these intersectional situations cannot be identified with them. The Hungarian Youth Survey databases provided an opportunity to conduct this type of multiple approaches. With the help of our results, the intersectional position can be described in which the chance of early school leaving is higher. The elements of this situation are embedded in economic, educational, geographical and ethnic categories at the same time. The effect of Roma ethnic identity is significant but not the strongest in our model. With the help of a comparison of the two waves of the research project, we can state that the patterns of this intersectional and disadvantageous situation are stable but not unchanged.

Romaphobia in the UK Right-Wing Press: racist and populist discourse during the Brexit referendum

ABSTRACT This article investigates contemporary expressions of racism toward Roma in the context of growing populism in the UK. We focus on how and why Romaphobia becomes widespread in times of socio-political crises, especially during the 2016 referendum when the UK voted to leave the European Union. Drawing on content analysis and Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, we provide an in-depth account of how Roma migrants have been represented in two British newspapers during the 2016 so-called “Brexit” Referendum campaign and subsequent vote. The textual and visual analysis demonstrates how racist tropes about Roma identity and culture are embedded into populist rhetoric, often taking subtle forms of expression, yet simultaneously manage to avoid accusations of racism. We argue that the scapegoating and demonisation of Roma migrants in the media contributed to shaping negative attitudes towards Eastern European immigrants and by proxy, to the EU. This plays out in a context of rising nativism and populism where Roma communities come to embody the perceived ills of the European integration project and are regarded as a threat to the fabric of the British nation. We draw attention to the danger of these representations which condemn an already vulnerable community to further socio-economic exclusion.

Between mneme and anamnesis: on the memory and forgetting of the Roma Holocaust

ABSTRACT The article argues that what is usually called ‘Roma memory of the Holocaust’ needs to be differentiated into four types, depending on the combination of two modes (mneme and anamnesis) and two genealogies of memory (bottom-up and top-down). The first type is memory unconsciously encoded in culture; the second emerges due to the unblocking of memories by external factors; the third refers to the construction of memories by the Roma movement; and the fourth accounts for individual management of memory. These types correspond with four different aspects of Roma identity: cultural (substance), social (relation), historical (process), and individual (choice).

Emerging discourses on education and motherhood with Roma women

Previous research has highlighted different factors that limit educational success and continuity in Roma children and young adults, outlining both those linked to cultural identity and those derived from structural racism, which also affect the education system. The aim of this study is to understand how gender influences education for Roma women in Spain and to identify possible changes and/or continuities for formal education and motherhood in their discourses. This research is based on a qualitative methodology, encompassing 19 interviews with Roma women aged between 18 and 67 and residents in the province of Alicante, Spain. The results show that Roma women consider education as something relevant and should not be abandoned. Success at school is not understood as an element of assimilation, nor as something incompatible with Roma identity. Quite the opposite, studying is perceived as a strategy to obtain a better job in the future, but also as a project for personal development and growth, as well as an empowerment tool, both inside and outside the community. Nonetheless, educational continuity requires not only changes in its assessment by the Roma community, but also interventions on the structural barriers that prevent balancing life and studies when a woman is already a mother.

“Rebuilding Ties that Existed Long Ago”: Experiences of Finnish Roma During Missionary Work in Estonia

Abstract This article analyses Finnish Roma experiences of interaction with Roma in Estonia, in the period after the historic fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 through to the present. The research data rely on semi-structured interviews and informal conversations, as well as indirect observations of Finnish Roma missionising activities. The results show that Roma identity was seen as a unifying factor and a source of a feeling of belonging, but not as the major factor driving mission. The driving force of the mission stems from the urge to evangelise, inherent in how Pentecostal teaching is lived and directed. This study contributes to the understanding of the interplay of ethnic identity and spirituality in Roma communities in the context of missionising, as well as the role of missionising for the missionaries themselves.

The use of a multidisciplinary approach to deconstructing stereotypes as a component of training programs aimed at establishing cooperation between national police officers and Roma

The results of theoretical substantiation, practical development and testing of a multidisciplinary approach to deconstructing stereotypes in the development of training programs aimed at improving mutual understanding and trust between the National Police and Roma communities to establish cooperation in security and crimes prevention issues are presented. The multidisciplinary approach was developed and tested within two projects implemented by the International Charitable Organization “Roma women fund “Chiricli” in 2019 and the NGO "Roma Human Rights Center" in 2021, in partnership with the Human Rights Department of the National Police of Ukraine. The overall goal of the projects was to ensure security, justice and attention to the needs of the Roma, using practical measures that meet human rights standards; establishing dialogue and mutual trust between police officers and Roma. Implementation of a multidisciplinary approach was based on the principles of adult education, which involve students in interpersonal interaction, activation of their critical thinking by turning to their own professional and personal experience; providing the necessary information on the mechanisms of ethnic and professional stereotypes, given the achievements of social and criminal psychology, research in the field of "poverty culture", Roma mentality, ethnogenesis, cultural traditions and lifestyle as a way to preserve Roma identity as traditional culture. Participants were also provided with information on current human rights issues, European standards of policing in the fight against hate crimes, and historical reasons for international attention to the rights of this group as a population that has repeatedly suffered from discrimination and genocide. The developed approach proved its effectiveness during the practical testing. It was also demonstrated that police officers' lack of prejudice and stereotypical attitudes towards Roma, and their understanding of Roma traditions, cultural characteristics and worldviews are a prerequisite for successful cooperation within the existing legal framework on security and crime prevention

Fragmentary coverage of Roma traditions in Romanian interwar periodicals

This study identifies 25 Roma traditions, fragmentarily represented in 10 texts, which were discovered by the author in Romanian interwar periodicals. Traditions are an integral part of the Roma identity (in addition to the Romani language and the Romani crafts); they are used by the Roma only in the Romani environment, in a specific historical, socio-economic and territorial context. The author conventionally divides the Roma traditions into 5 functional compartments: 1) traditions that regulate the way that Romani crafts are fulfilled; 2) traditions that regulate everyday social relations within the Romani community; 3) traditions that regulate the relations between Roma and government authorities; 4) traditions that reveal the way the Roma express themselves towards the variety of external natural and social phenomena; 5) traditions that regulate the development of the marriage ceremony among the nomadic Roma community. The main objective of this study is focused on the partial disclosure and variable description of Roma traditions, applied in a specific historical, socio-economic and territorial context, to facilitate the process of building the cultural mosaic of the Roma, which is part of the European cultural mosaic.

Ethnic identity concealment and disclosure: Contexts and strategies.

Ethnic minority group members' responses to their prejudicial treatment can take several forms. One involves identity concealment (e.g., 'passing'). In order to understand such a response, we must explore participants' understandings of the interactional context before them, their meta-perceptions of the identity others ascribe to them, and the varied meanings that identity concealment/non-disclosure may have in that context. Our analysis of interview data (N=30) obtained with Roma in Hungary reveals diverse forms of, and motivations for, the concealment of their Roma identity. Some participants reported examples of proactive identity concealment, others reported more reactive forms (in which they went along with others' mistaken assumptions concerning their identity). The motivations for identity concealment (whether proactive or reactive) included the desire to: secure material benefits; avoid conflict; take pleasure from seeing others' assumptions blinding them to the reality before them; test (and expose) majority group members' attitudes; allow themselves opportunities to experience the world in new ways. Our analysis highlights the importance of social identity researchers recognizing the diverse motivations for ethnic identity concealment: From the actors' perspective concealment is not always assimilatory, and in some contexts can be experienced as empowering.

Is the glass ceiling inaccessible? The educational situation of Roma youth in Hungary

After the turn of the millennium, European studies unanimously noted that there are significant differences between Roma and non-Roma students at all levels of education. In the last two decades of educational policy in Hungary, elements aimed at inclusion and maintaining selectivity have been mixed together. In our cross-sectional study, we present the situation of young Roma people in the educational system of Hungary in 2016. In addition to outlining the overall picture (employment and education), we also look at softer indicators, such as the educational plans and motivations of Roma youth. We use the Hungarian Youth Research 2016 database (respondents aged between 15 and 29), including Roma or dual identity youth (N=328). The probability sample of 8000 persons is representative for age, district and type of settlement (N=8000). Our results have shown that inequalities are climbing upwards. While inclusion and catching-up with non-Roma students can be detected in primary and secondary vocational education (i.e., without the baccalaureate), there is a significant gap in terms of obtaining a baccalaureate and entering tertiary education. Studying attitudes related to learning points to the fact that young Roma people have begun to see education as a value in Hungary, but at the same time they are confronted with a lack of opportunities.

The Representation of Roma in the Romanian Media During COVID-19: Performing Control Through Discursive-Performative Repertoires

This article investigates the narratives employed by the Romanian media in covering the development of COVID-19 in Roma communities in Romania. This paper aims to contribute to academic literature on Romani studies, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, by adopting as its case study the town of Ţăndărei, a small town in the south of Romania, which in early 2020 was widely reported by Romanian media during both the pre- and post-quarantine period. The contributions rest on anchoring the study in post-foundational theory and media studies to understand the performativity of Roma identity and the discursive-performative practices of control employed by the Romania media in the first half of 2020. Aroused by the influx of ethnic Romani returning from Western Europe, the Romanian mainstream media expanded its coverage through sensationalist narratives and depictions of lawlessness and criminality. These branded the ethnic minority as a scapegoat for the spreading of the virus. Relying on critical social theory, this study attempts to understand how Roma have been portrayed during the Coronavirus crisis. Simultaneously, this paper resonates with current Roma theories about media discourses maintaining and reinforcing a sense of marginality for Roma communities. To understand the dynamics of Romanian media discourses, this study employs NVivo software tools and language-in-use discourse analysis to examine the headlines and sub headlines of approximately 300 articles that have covered COVID-19 developments in Roma communities between February and July 2020. The findings from the study indicate that the media first focused on exploiting the sensationalism of the episodes involving Roma. Second, the media employed a logic of polarization to assist the authorities in retaking control of the pandemic and health crisis from Romania. The impact of the current study underlines the need to pay close attention to the dynamics of crises when activating historical patterns of stigma vis-à-vis Roma communities in Eastern Europe.

‘I don't feel insulted’: Constructions of prejudice and identity performance among Roma in Bulgaria

AbstractDrawing on studies showing that arguments about the nature of intergroup prejudice allow members of privileged groups to ‘perform’ a positive social identity, the present study explores how arguments about the nature of prejudice are produced by targets of prejudice in order to consolidate or challenge their own social identity. We conducted interviews with Bulgarian Roma and, based on a discursive psychology approach, analysed the way participants contested being assigned to a Roma‐exclusive identity category, which they treated as produced by prejudiced beliefs of the non‐Roma high‐status majority population. Positive intergroup contact was used to demonstrate the absence of prejudice and counter Roma identity threat. Auto‐stereotyping and disidentification, in turn, revealed how one's own situation is distinguished from the group. We discuss how identity performances founded on prejudice constructions work to maintain or challenge intergroup boundaries. We conclude that studies revealing prejudice constructions of minority groups can explain the sedative effect of positive intergroup contact on ethnic activism and help to reflect on integration strategies that would be compatible with social change in favour of disadvantaged minority groups.

Babi Yar and the Nazi Genocide of Roma: Memory Narratives and Memory Practices in Ukraine

AbstractThousands of Roma were killed in Ukraine by the Nazis and auxiliary police on the spot. There are more than 50,000 Roma in today’s Ukraine, represented by second and third generation decendants of the genocide survivors. The discussion on Roma identity cannot be isolated from the memory of the genocide, which makes the struggle over the past a reflexive landmark that mobilizes the Roma movement. About twenty Roma genocide memorials have been erected in Ukraine during last decade, and in 2016 the national memorial of the Roma genocide was opened in Babi Yar. However, scholars do not have a clear picture of memory narratives and memory practices of the Roma genocide in Ukraine. A comprehensive analysis of the contemporary situation is not possible without an examination of the history and memory of the Roma genocide before 1991.