Social pedagogue and Roma family

The family is one of the basic social institutions and plays a very important role in the life of each of us, especially in the life of Roma children. It is the first social environment into which a child is born and represents a kind of "connecting bridge" between the individual and society. As Z. Helus adds (2007, p. 134), "the family is the child's basic living environment. It not only surrounds the child, but is also projected into him."

Roma families differ from typically Slovak families in many ways. "Sexual relationships are established relatively early, marriages are concluded later, and the divorce rate is incomparably lower than for other residents" (K. Vodička, 2003, p. 12). At the same time, the author points to the fact that it is typical for a Roma family to have more children, a Roma woman gives birth to an average of 4.2 children, which is three times as many as other mothers, while in backward settlements an average of up to 7.8 children are born per family. This fact is also pointed out by A. Čonková (2007), who states that family planning is a very unusual phenomenon among Roma. On the other hand, Z. Kumanová (2002) emphasizes the fact that the Roma family is currently beginning to change and is characterized by a decline in the birth rate, infant mortality, the number of births by women over 35 years old, as well as the number of first-time mothers under 18 years old. We believe that the socialization of Roma plays a very important role in this case. We assume that settled Roma with a permanent residence, either in a city or in a village, who fulfill their obligations towards the state and society, are able to plan their parenthood. We expect a high number of children per mother rather among the most socially disadvantaged Roma who live in settlements on the outskirts of society.

The Roma family is patriarchal, the father has the main say in the family, the mother is responsible for running the household and raising the children, while here we can observe certain differences compared to the majority society. "A Roma mother does not talk to her child about things that interest him, she does not read him fairy tales and does not teach him to learn about the world around him. She leaves everything to the natural course" (A. Čonková, 2007, p. 10). There are no customary rules in the Roma family, children lack a daily routine, they use their free time inefficiently and do not fulfill their duties. The emotional bond between siblings as well as between children and parents is very strong. Unfortunately, today in Roma families we can see violence against children, their neglect, abandonment of the child shortly after birth or even incest, i.e. situations that in the past were unacceptable for the Roma population. On the other hand, P. Řičan (1998) points out that a Roma in a retirement home is still an exception, from which we conclude that strong ties between individual members of Roma families persist to this day.

According to S. Matulay (2000, p. 45 - 46), it is significant for the Roma family that:

• education is not individualistic, but collectivistic,
• everything is solved collectively,
• the first law when raising a child is his freedom,
• the child is not required to exert himself in the performance of school duties,
• the family protects the child, is his refuge, but also a guardrail that he must not cross,
• the family passes on its Roma values to the child.

One of the other characteristic features of the Roma family is that it acts as a whole towards its surroundings, which means that the individual acts on behalf of the family. This is also why "a mistake made by an individual is evaluated as a mistake by the whole family, an individual's act worthy of respect strengthens the prestige of the whole family" (J.P. Liégeois, 1995, p. 75).

The specifics of the Roma family is also the fact that as long as their child is scolded and punished at school, the parents are not interested in the school. If their child is praised, they show great interest. A child has a high value in a Roma family, but parents want sons more than daughters. Their upbringing is pedocentric, they get everything they ask for. Although the child is brought up in a collective, the focus of his upbringing rests on the mother, who teaches him to speak, meets his needs and teaches him the customs of the Roma family. The world of children merges with the world of adults, the result of which, according to Z. Bakošová (2005), is that there are no generational differences in the Roma family.

The order in which a child is born has a great influence on his position in the family. The parents' desire is for the first-born child to be a son, because this increases the prestige of the whole family, and at the same time, according to them, a son cannot bring as much shame to the family as a daughter: "O čhavo našti avel khere pereha" (a boy cannot come home with a belly) (Šebková, 1996, p. 53). As the author goes on to write, the eldest son has the same powers as the parents in raising younger siblings. He can punish them, give prohibitions and orders that the younger siblings must respect. In the event of the father's death, he becomes the head of the family, in the past he even had the right to decide whether the mother could remarry. If the first-born child was a daughter, the joy was mainly on the mother's side, because she saw her as a helper and nurse for her other children. Her role consisted primarily of cleaning and taking care of her younger siblings, from the moment she reached 8-9 years old (Žigová, 1996).

Social pedagogue and Roma family

Children's basic relationships and attitudes towards education are primarily influenced by their parents. However, for most Roma families, education does not have much value. The attitude of Roma parents towards school is rather negative or even hostile, which results in Roma children's lack of interest in school, unpreparedness for classes and frequent absences. Experience from the program of the Open Society Fund Prague "Start together" shows that the school's cooperation with the Roma family is an important "catalyst" for the success of Roma children in school. As part of this program, the so-called function was established. family coordinator who works at the school and ensures communication between the school and families. Its main task is to build families' trust in the school and to get them interested in the teaching process (Kovaříková, 1998, p. 15). In our opinion, this function of coordinator in Slovak schools could be provided by a social pedagogue who could build the trust of Roma parents, involve them in school life and thereby help contribute to a more effective education of Roma pupils.

We also see the application of the social pedagogue in the Roma family in educational and preventive activities aimed at preparing for marriage and parenthood, because we believe that in order for Roma children themselves to have a responsible attitude towards life and their future, they need to find this attitude in their families with their parents, who for Roma children are the most important people in their lives.

When working with a Roma family, D. Selická (2006, p. 117 - 118) points out the following methods and forms that a social pedagogue can apply:

• case method - has an individual character. A social pedagogue works with one child, diagnoses the causes that cause complications in his life, sets corrective educational measures with regard to a specific child and his family, and at the same time determines the course of intervention,
• group method – has a collective character. The individual is influenced through a small group. The goal is to have a psychosocial effect on the family. The social pedagogue establishes a social diagnosis, suggests social therapy, and possibly interventions. He uses a psychogenetic interview in his work, which examines the individual periods of childhood, adolescence and adulthood of family members,
• community method – has a complex character. Its goal is to satisfy the needs of the individual through institutions and social organizations in the immediate environment. The method includes measures, activities that are aimed at positively influencing the social environment. The goal of the method is to have a health and educational effect on citizens, to lead them to responsible marriage and parenthood, in the fight against child abuse and neglect. A social pedagogue has the opportunity to influence the community through lectures, discussions, mass media.

In working with a Roma family and their children, the following methods of socio-pedagogical assistance can also be used, which are presented by Z. Bakošová (2005):

• method of compensation for inappropriate stimuli - consists in the replacement of missing environmental stimuli that disrupt the integrity of the Roma child's personality. Shortcomings can be compensated for by offering various other alternatives, but the social pedagogue must be careful not to manipulate the client with his offer and subsequent indecision.
• method of strengthening one's own competence - this is an analysis of the child's lifestyle, which is related to his value orientation. It is appropriate if a child, young person or parent understands that he has his rights, his personal freedom and decision-making, that he himself is a co-creator of his own life, - the method of offering stimuli resulting from individual needs - requires the ability of the social pedagogue to approach the child individually,
• method of planning a positive perspective – considering that the present and not the future is important for the Roma ethnic group, the social pedagogue's effort is to show the Roma child or family positive perspectives for the future, e.g. also by pointing out the importance of education when applying to the labor market, as well as when overcoming current problems,
• method of support oriented towards self-realization – failure to satisfy self-realization needs leads to many frustrations. Through self-realization, the child confirms his identity, autonomy, and is led to independence. A social pedagogue can offer the child those opportunities for self-realization that are unknown or unavailable to him or his parents,
• preventive methods – a social educator can mainly carry out primary and secondary prevention, either in the form of education, lectures or various discussions, to which he can also invite experts from other fields, e.g. lawyers, doctors, social workers, etc.

We can state that the social pedagogue encounters a number of different methods in his work, from which he selects and chooses the most suitable one according to the severity of the problem and the typology of the client. It is precisely the high-quality personal prerequisites and professional education that enable the social pedagogue to fulfill the requirements of individual care and to choose appropriate forms and methods of educational and social action so that there is no manipulation of the client.

In his work, the social pedagogue does not focus only on helping individuals or specific families, his help is needed within the entire Roma community. The goal of his socio-pedagogical assistance in Roma settlements is to improve the living situation of its inhabitants, while Lehoczká (2005) includes among the specific goals:

• improving personal hygiene – teaching Roma families to take care of their bodies, health,
• improving children's attendance at school - to arouse children's interest in studying, desire for new knowledge. In our opinion, it is very important here to convince and explain to the children's parents themselves what significance school can have for their future, so that parents send their children to school in order for them to be educated and have better opportunities for the future.
• meaningful use of free time – the work of a social pedagogue with Roma children can be very beneficial in this case, given that it can teach them to use their free time effectively, and thus prevent the emergence of sociopathological phenomena in Roma children and youth,
• acquiring household management skills – many Roma girls become mothers at a young age, and often do not even know how to cook or take care of the household. In this regard, the social pedagogue can organize various lectures, discussions, cooking courses and child and household care for them.

One of the other possibilities, how the work of a social pedagogue can contribute to improving the quality of life of Roma families, is the education itself, or the re-education of adult Roma. D. Selická (2009) cites the need for a positive influence of parents on their children as the reason for this re-education. Therefore, he recommends continuous and systematic social-educational work with the Roma family and suggests establishing club meetings of experts with Roma parents, while the experts should be mainly from the fields of social work, pedagogy, psychology, medicine, law and economics. We consider it a very good idea that should be implemented for several reasons. One of them, in our opinion, is that in this way, Roma families could learn to handle money meaningfully and sensibly, because nowadays there are still cases when a family spends all the money on the day it receives it. They need to be able to handle finances in such a way that they can ensure regular food and clothing for their families.

The importance of the social pedagogue in working with the Roma family can also be seen in its application in the school environment, in which we can perceive the social pedagogue as a helper and advocate for both pupils, teachers and parents, but also as a mediator in resolving conflicts, a coordinator of cooperation between the school and the Roma family, family and experts and, last but not least, as an organizer of leisure and preventive activities for Roma children and youth.

Author: Mgr. Ivana Šuhajdová Used literature:

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