Exploring the unknown aspects of Roma community in Cyprus and the role of social work practice

ABSTRACT

The status quo of Roma communities in Europe is strongly marked by marginalisation and discrimination. Roma people tend to face social exclusion and segregation leading to lack of education, chronic unemployment and limited access to healthcare, housing and public services as well as widespread poverty. Very few studies have been conducted as far as Roma community in Cyprus are concerned and almost none has explored quality of life of this ethnic minority. Therefore, this article examines quality of life dimensions in approximately half of the population (n = 156) residing in the catchment area. Both quantitative and qualitative results showed poor standards of living, high school dropout rates and high levels of marginalisation. Social work as discipline can foster a more empowering and coordinating role as to enhance Roma’s distinctive identity and improve standards of living.

ΠΕΡΊΛΗΨΗ

Γενικότερα στην Ευρώπη παρατηρείται πως η κοινότητα των Ρομά βιώνει έντονα δυσμενείς καταστάσεις όπως κοινωνική περιθωριοποίηση, διακρίσεις και διάϕορα αρνητικά κοινωνικά στερεότυπα. Η εν λόγω ομάδα μπορεί να χαρακτηριστεί ως ιδιαίτερα ευάλωτη σε καταστάσεις κοινωνικού αποκλεισμού και ϕτώχειας που πιθανόν να οδηγήσουν σε χρόνια ανεργία, περιορισμένη πρόσβαση στη υγειονομική περίθαλψη και προβλήματα στέγασης. Στη Κύπρο πολύ λίγες μελέτες έχουν διεξαχθεί σε σχέση με τις ψυχοκοινωνικές ανάγκες της κοινότητας των Ρομά και σχεδόν καμία δεν έχει διερευνήσει εις βάθος τη ποιότητα ζωής της εν λόγω εθνοτικής μειονότητας. Ως εκ τούτου, το άρθρο αυτό είχε ως σκοπό να εξετάσει τις διαστάσεις της ποιότητα ζωής αυτών των ατόμων (n = 156). Τόσο ποσοτικά όσο και ποιοτικά αποτελέσματα έδειξαν χαμηλούς δείκτες (υγιεινή, στέγαση) διαβίωσης όπως και σημαντικά ποσοστά πρόωρης σχολικής εγκατάλειψης και υψηλά επίπεδα κοινωνικής απομόνωσης. Σε συνδυασμό με τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας γίνεται μια προσπάθεια στο συγκεκριμένο άρθρο ανάδειξης της Κοινωνικής Εργασίας ώστε να αναλάβει ένα πιο δυναμικό και συντονιστικό ρόλο ώστε να ενισχυθεί η ιδιαίτερη ταυτότητα των Ρομά αλλά και να βελτιωθεί το βιοτικό επίπεδο της συγκεκριμένης ομάδας ανθρώπων.

KEYWORDS:

• Roma
• marginalisation
• quality of life
• socio-economic conditions

ΛΈΞΕΙς ΚΛΕΙΔΙΆ:

• Ρομά
• κοινωνικός αποκλεισμός
• στερεότυπα
• ποιότητα ζωής

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Christos Panayiotopoulos is an Associate Professor in Clinical Social Work. He graduated from Manchester University, the School of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences. He has been the founder of the Undergraduate Social Work Programme at the University of Nicosia since 2005 and he is currently the coordinator of Doctorate studies in Social Work at the same institution. His main research interests lie on the well-being and mental health of children families and vulnerable groups. He is also working in projects looking at how the economic crisis has impacted on welfare services. He has published articles in international peer-reviewed journals in the field of social work and mental health and book chapters on the above issues. In addition he participates almost every year in the European Social Work Research Association Conference and in conferences related to mental health.

Mr Agamemnonas Zachariades, holder of MA in Social Work, is a part-time lecturer of Social Work at the University of Nicosia. For the past 6 years he has worked in several areas of social work research and practice. Currently, he is working in co-funded European programmes at the University Of Nicosia, either as administrator or practitioner, respectively. His research interests lie in the area of Social work, Social Policy, marginalised Groups, Asylum and Migration and Social Entrepreneurship. He has delivered presentations on the area of Asylum and migration policy at NGOs and governmental services in Cyprus and abroad.

Notes

1 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/ec/97669.pdf.

2 http://www.nam.gov.za/background/background.htm#4.

3 ‘The minorities in South-Eastern Europe. The Roma from Romania’, the Center for Documentation and Information about the Minorities in Europe (CEDIME-SE), 2000.

4 The Republic of Cyprus National Programme for the Implementation of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion (2010). Accessed on the 12 April 2012 ec.europa.eu/social/ajax/BlobServlet?docId=3709&langId=en.

5 That is, religious leaders.

6 Turkish-Cypriot Office properties is a governmental service that was set up after the Turkish invasion in 1974 and it keeps records for all properties that belong to Turkish-Cypriots who fleed after that period to the occupied part of Cyprus. Its main aim is the management and the monitoring of all the houses and plots of land that belong to Turkish-Cypriots who do not live to the Free zone.

7 Kilintziros is a Turkish rooted word used as a slunk and it has negative connotation.

8 Third European Commission against Racism and Intolerance report on Cyprus, para. 83.