Questions of poverty and culture in segregated settlements – field researched conclusions The aim of the article is to briefly present the conclusions of research carried out in 2011–2013 in separated and segregated Roma settlements in eastern Slovakia. We defined the following objectives:
- To find out whether traits deriving from the cultural dependency of the Roma ethnic minority are an ethnic characteristic of them or elements of social exclusion.
- To obtain information on the history of Roma through analyses of municipal and city chronicles from the State Regional Archive in Spišská Sobota and municipalities of the Hornád Valley.
- To seek appropriate strategies leading to an improved position of Roma.
- To approximate the expectations of settlement residents.
The individual results of the project can be summarized in three dimensions: 1) terminological, 2) research, 3) and practical.
1) Before carrying out the field research itself, it was crucial to define terms so that their operationalization would enable answering the main research question (do negative socio-pathological phenomena such as frustration, apathy, misuse of the social system, etc. stem from ethnicity/Roma culture, or are the mentioned negatives consequences of poverty/Lewis's concept?) and that they would stand on solid ethical foundations of scientific inquiry. The terminological framework was processed within anthropological theories of culture. This field was of particular interest to us especially in the first year of solving the project. The conclusions were summarized in the context of cultural discourses, where we were interested in different views on the phenomenon of culture from various directions and schools (evolutionism, diffusionism, configurationism, functionalism, structuralism, neoevolutionism, culturology and contemporary culture theory). We focused on reflections on methods and approaches that address work with people living in segregated communities (community work with its goals and stages, community center, field social work). The output of the study was a university textbook that discusses these concepts (Kozubík, M. 2011. Sociálne vylúčené spoločenstvá v kontexte kultúrnych teórií. Nitra, UKF, 2011. 99 s. ISBN 978-80-8094-957-0). In our research we did not strictly adhere to the assumptions of one school or direction. Roma culture is not a closed entity—therefore we looked at it through the lens of various mentioned directions, e.g. diffusionism (influence by dominant culture) as well as structural functionalism (each fragment of the 'culture of the settlement' has its meaning for preserving its specific character). Even the final monograph of the project's lead researcher did not do without a strong terminological background (Kozubík, M. 2013. (Ne)vinní a dilino gadžo. Bratislava: ŠEVT, 2013. 189 s. ISBN 978-80-558-0418-7). It consisted of answers to questions such as: Rom or Gypsy, or non-Roma, gadjo or Slovak, etc. For the focus of the field research it was necessary to determine with which 'zoom' we would look at Roma culture itself. Our guide was the controversial Jakoubek typology (2005), which, in addition to traditional and national Roma culture, is supplemented by Lewis's (1966) culture of poverty concept. The choice of this division came mainly from the clear definition of culture in anthropological understanding as well as the "addition" of Oscar Lewis's views. This phenomenon was already mentioned in the report "Poverty of Roma and Social Care for Them in the Slovak Republic" from 2002. This text mentions so-called double marginalization. The term means that the majority of Roma are marginalized twice: because settlements are mostly located in eastern Slovakia, which is among the parts of Slovakia most affected by a generally high unemployment rate, and because they live segregated and excluded on the peripheries of municipalities and towns. According to the authors of this report (Radičová, Vašečka, et al., 2002), all negative socio-pathological phenomena originating from settlement environments are a typical sign of reproduced poverty and not signs of ethnicity. We believe the authors overlooked a third mode of marginalization, namely that within the excluded 'colony' itself there is segregation of the poorest. We can therefore say that in settlements we encounter what can be called triple marginalization of their inhabitants. It was precisely these mentioned controversies that formed the basis for defining the aim and focus of the research.
2) The period preceding the field research consisted of collecting data from historical sources and choosing suitable locations. The contribution of that period is the analysis of city and municipal chronicles of the Prešov region. Within the localities we sought representation of both segregated and separated settlements. To make the representation of known Radičová (2001) typology complete, we decided to include also 'Roma' living integrated among the majority population. The choice fell on three locations: Poprad (integrated settlements), Kravany (a separated locality), Hranovnica (a segregated community), which were complemented by the municipality of Vikartovce and Spišské Bystré (in both segregated municipalities only supplementary survey data were collected). In the field data collection we managed to conduct more than 50 interviews, capture 32 recordings, and make 137 photographs. The greatest contribution of this part of the research was information on the local history of Roma originating from municipal and city chronicles, which formed a high-quality entry into the field itself. This was preceded by preparation of an anamnesis that preceded the interview. The anamnesis originally consisted of seven question blocks (basic demographic data, housing, employment, education, health care, culture, and questions mapping daily life). In the end we decided to abandon this plan. The reason was the tension arising from the 'ossification' of the interview—the long list of questions, recording device, and camera could be factors that would influence the interview in the segregated settlement environment. Data collection was therefore carried out through narrative interviews. This interview form does not confront the subject with standardized questions, but encourages spontaneous talking. A narrative interview assumes that subjective meaning structures exist that appear during free storytelling, not through targeted questioning. With respondents' consent, the interviews were recorded on a portable device, transcribed, and qualitatively analyzed. This analysis consisted of three main levels of coding. In first-stage (open) coding we gradually added labels corresponding to specific events, cases, and other occurrences of phenomena. The resulting categories then needed to be related to one another. For this purpose we used axial coding. Its essence lies in the so-called paradigmatic model. In axial coding we focused on determining the main category (phenomenon) more precisely by means of conditions that cause it, context (a specific set of properties), and the action and interaction strategies through which it is handled, and the consequences of these strategies. The final part of the evaluation of the research process and data analysis is the integration of concepts and categories projected into the mentioned paradigmatic model. This integration does not differ much from axial coding, but it is realized at a higher—more abstract—level of analysis in the form of a narrative. Its framework was formed by a cross-section of Roma history, their status, and life from the first mention of Roma in Slovakia up to the current picture of settlement culture. The core part of the narrative is grounded in reality, relying on situations, events, and specific cases, using all categories and subcategories.
3) Searching for an answer to the main research question can be carried out in four basic dimensions, which derive roughly from the 70 attributes described by Lewis (1966). These four specifics are:
a) in the relationship between subculture and majority society, b) in the character of the slum community, c) in the type of family, d) in attitudes, values, and character traits of individuals.
All these categories are similar for people living in poverty. Their application to the lives of people in segregated settlements is presented within selective coding. Broader contexts are discussed within the so-called conditional matrix. This refers to the international, national, regional levels as well as group and collective domains. The defined spheres are described in the context of Roma life in both the present and the past. The results are focused on the area of social work with a focus on the Roma community. They are presented according to the pattern of Navrátil (2002), who as one of the first set principles of work with the Roma national minority. The results obtained reflect the sociocultural reality of settlements.
Their use is wide-ranging: the general public may learn about daily life in the 'colony', students about the possibilities and limits of field research, and professional circles may spark a fruitful discussion. But they should primarily help the poverty-stricken settlements. Therefore, most recommendations concern the professional orientation of implementers—chiefly the occupations 3.1.16 Social services and counselling and 3.1.14 Social work. Research in the specific environment of segregated settlements offered several alternatives for improving the performance of field social work in municipalities. We list the most important ones:
The selection of field social workers and their assistants should be subjected to strict admission criteria. The decisive criterion in selection should not be completed higher education in the relevant field (field social worker), but primarily knowledge of the local environment, language, and specifics of the settlement culture. At the same time, we recommend reviewing admission standards—creating an exception to support the admission of Roma without higher education, or allowing them to study external education free of charge.
It is desirable that the selection of a specific person be approved by the mayor, the main coordinator of field social work in the locality, and, above all, by representatives of the excluded locality. In higher education in helping professions, we recommend: - University education should focus not only on elements of traditional Roma culture and history, but should also draw attention to the significant social distance and social problems of the Roma themselves. - Include subjects that would address the use of 'power' (with a focus on the institution of the special recipient) of the social worker in settlements (in practice we encounter directives and patronizing behavior from field social workers—for example Hruštič et al. (2009).
Recommendations for practitioners in the field: - Make it possible to participate in professional seminars and training that draw attention to the phenomenon of abuse of power, - introduce mandatory supervisions and preventive activities against burn-out (burnout syndrome).
If this brief account interested you, dear readers, you can read more in the book "(Ne)vinní a dilino gadžo," which we publish in full here: http://www.prohuman.sk/socialna-praca/nevinni-a-dilino-gadzo
Autor: PhDr. Michal Kozubík, PhD. Used literature
JAKOUBEK, Marek, HIRT, Tomáš: Roma settlements in eastern Slovakia from the perspective of field anthropological research 1999 – 2005. Bratislava: Open Society Foundation, 2008. ISBN 978-80-969271-5-9. LEWIS, O. 1966. The Culture of Poverty, Scientific American, sv. 215, č. 4, 1966, str. 19 – 25; (translated by Lenka Budilová, Marek Jakoubek, [online]. 2013, [cit. 2013-07-12]. Available online:< www.ksa.zcu.cz/studium/podklady/tk/kf.rtf)>. RADIČOVÁ, Iveta. 2001. Chudoba Rómov vo vzťahu k trhu práce v SR. [online]. 2001, [cit. 2006-01-17]. Dostupné na internete: . RADIČOVÁ, I. – VAŠEČKA, M. 2002. Chudoba Rómov a sociálna starostlivosť o nich v Slovenskej republike. Bratislava: Svetová banka. Nadácia SPACE. Ineko, 2002. 42 – 43 s. ISBN 80-88991-15-3.