Roma Housing and Eating in 1775 and 2013: A Comparison.

We compared housing and the eating habits of Roma. Contemporary findings (2013) were compared with those from the first monothematic work on Roma (1775), which depicts their housing and eating habits, especially regarding the differences between social classes. Data were obtained from a journal (1775) and from semi-structured interviews (2013) with more than 70 Roma women and men who live in segregated and excluded settlements at the edges of villages or scattered among the majority. Data were collected in two villages and one district town in the Tatra region, where the data from the 1775 measurements originated. We used classical sociological theory to interpret the obtained data. The main findings showed differences between specific social classes then and now regarding housing, as well as the eating habits related to both conditions among the Roma in the Tatra region. The houses of rich Roma families did not differ from the houses of the majority population. The huts of the poorest inhabitants of settlements did not meet any hygiene standards. Typical Roma foods such as gója or marikla were the traditional foods of Slovak peasants living in poverty in the country. We concluded that the housing and eating habits of the citizens of poor settlements located in the eastern parts of Slovakia are still similar to those of two centuries ago. The existing social exclusion may be explained partly from this finding.

A nurse working for the Third Reich: Eva Justin, RN, PhD.

Eugenics underpinned the Nazi race theories which saw the murder of over 10 million people from "undesirable" groups, including Sinti (referred to in Nazi times as "Gypsies"), during the Holocaust. Eva Justin, from Dresden, completed a doctoral dissertation which examined a group of Sinti children of St Josef's Home in Mulfingen, Germany. She aimed to prove the racial inferiority of these children; her work was done with no informed consent, and the children were sent to Auschwitz after her experiments. The study was supported by senior Nazis, supervised by Nazi "scientists" and examined by committed Nazis. We argue that her work was biased, poorly designed, and ultimately unethical, but was in keeping with methods of the emerging disciplines of anthropology and racial hygiene, in Germany and other countries, at the time. It is not possible to say that her work caused the children to meet their deaths (of the 39 children she included, only four survived); however, she did reinforce the Nazi racial theories. It is unfortunate that one of the first nurses in the world to receive a PhD did so through research attempting to prove that a group of children were "racially inferior" in support of National Socialism.

The campaign for a National Strategy for Gypsy site provision and the role of Public Health activism in the 1960-1970s.

We trace the post-war evolution of a national approach to providing caravan sites for Gypsies and Travellers-something essential to protect the health of that population in the United Kingdom (UK). Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the late Norman Dodds MP championed in Parliament the plight of the UK's Gypsies and other nomads. He was instrumental in galvanising support for the 1968 Caravan Sites Act. The vision of influential individuals working in public and environmental health surmounted practical considerations and local opposition to implement the national programme of site provision envisioned by the Act. We detail this hitherto neglected aspect of Gypsy politics and policy development. In doing so, we highlight the transformative potential of public health and argue for a return to the comprehensive vision motivating these pioneers in the 1960s and 1970s.

Context variations and pluti-methodological issues concerning the expression of a social representation: the example of the gypsy community

Within the social representations’ field of research, the «mute zone» hypothesis considers that some objects are characterized by counter normative content that people usually do not express in standard conditions of production. Within the framework of this approach, this study aims to explore the variations in the expression about the Gypsy community following the manipulation of different contexts and the issues associated with a pluri-methodological approach of data analysis. Indeed, two methodologies have been combined. The participants were asked to express themselves in public or in private. In addition, the identity of the experimenter was also manipulated as she presented herself as a Gypsy or not. Then, through a set of analyses based on a methodological triangulation approach, we were able to observe a recurrent modulation of the participants’ answers. These analyses highlighted a greater incidence of the expression of counternormative elements when the context of expression was private and especially when the experimenter did not present herself as a Gypsy (p < .01, ηp² = .06). These results will be discussed in terms of the contribution of the methodologies employed and their comparison within the framework of the study of counternormative content (AU)

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La salud y las creencias del pueblo gitano en Europa: revisión bibliográfica / Saúde e crenças dos ciganos na Europa: uma literature revisão / Health and beliefs of the Roma in Europe: a review

Introducción: La comunidad gitana constituye la minoría étnica más importante en España, Europa central y del Este. Como grupo étnico, se caracteriza por una serie de elementos culturales comunes que configuran su contenido étnico. Los servicios sanitarios proporcionan cuidados que, en general, no atienden a consideraciones culturales. Objetivo: tener una mayor comprensión sobre el estado de salud de la etnia gitana europea y su particular visión sobre el concepto de salud-enfermedad con el objeto de proporcionar una herramienta que ayude a los profesionales de enfermería a proporcionar unos cuidados desde una perspectiva multicultural. Método: En una primera búsqueda se realizó una revisión de la bibliografía publicada en los últimos 30 años en las bases de datos Pubmed, Cuiden, Scopus, Cinalh, Índice médico español, ISOC-CSIC y multicercador URV. En una segunda búsqueda se utilizaron los metabuscadores «google.com» y «metacrawler.com». Resultados y discusión: Se encontraron 102 artículos relacionados con el tema a revisión de los cuales 13 fueron considerados clave por aportar datos de interés relevantes en el estudio de revisión. Los temas más tratados fueron los que hacían referencia a las afecciones genéticas, a la Sociología y antropología médica de la salud, a la salud infantil y a las enfermedades transmisibles (AU)

Introduction: The Roma community is the largest ethnic minority in Spain, Central and Eastern Europe. As an ethnic group is characterized by a series of cultural elements that shape its ethnic content, its own cultural baggage that distinguishes it from other groups with which it comes into contact. Provide health care services that generally do not address cultural considerations. Aim: to have a greater understanding of the health of the European Roma and his personal view on the concept of health and illness in order to provide an effective tool to help nurses to provide proper care from a multicultural perspective. Method: In the first search was conducted a review of the literature published over the past 30 years in the databases PubMed, Cuiden, Scopus, Cinalh, Index, Spanish physician, ISOC-CSIC and multicercador URV. In a second search used the metasearch «google.com» and «metacrawler.com». Results: We found 102 articles related to the subject to revision of which 13 were considered crucial for providing useful information relevant to the review study. The topics covered were referring to genetic diseases, to sociology and anthropology of health care, child health and transmissible diseases (AU)

Introdução: A comunidade cigana é a maior minoria étnica na Espanha, Europa Central e Oriental. Como um grupo étnico é caracterizado por uma série de elementos culturais que moldelam o seu conteúdo étnico, a sua própria bagagem cultural que o distingue de outros grupos com os quais entra em contato. Os serviços de saúde prestam cuidados que geralmente não abordam aspectos culturais. O objetivo desta revisão é ter um maior entendimento da saúde da Roma Europeu e sua visão pessoal sobre o conceito de saúde e doença, a fim de proporcionar uma ferramenta eficaz para ajudar os enfermeiros para prestar assistência adequada a partir de uma perspectiva multicultural. Método: Na primeira pesquisa foi realizada uma revisão da literatura publicada nos últimos 30 anos nas bases de dados PubMed, Cuiden, Scopus, Cinalh, Index, Médico Espanhol, ISOC-CSIC e multicercador-URV. Em «metacrawler.com». Resultados: Foram encontrados 102 artigos relacionados com o objecto de revisão, dos quais 13 foram considerados cruciais para proporcionar informações úteis e relevantes para o estudo de revisão. Os temas abordados foram referentes a doenças genéticas, a sociologia ea antropologia dos cuidados de saúde, saúde da criança e das doenças transmissíveis (AU)

The forest behind the bar charts: bridging quantitative and qualitative research on Roma/Tigani in contemporary Romania.

Rughinis discusses three controversial issues with regard to surveys of the Romani population: ethnonym use, self-identification versus hetero-attribution of Romani ethnicity, and the use of variables in reference to Romani settlements. She uses data sets from ten surveys of Romanian Roma between 2000 and 2008 as well as the 2002 Romanian Census to compare two types of samples, and to explore the consequences of several research choices for the quality of the data. In addition to specific methodological issues, Rughinis addresses the relevance to such surveys of qualitative research in Romani communities.

A genetic historical sketch of European Gypsies: The perspective from autosomal markers.

In this study, 123 unrelated Portuguese Gypsies were analyzed for 15 highly polymorphic autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs). Average gene diversity across the 15 markers was 76.7%, which is lower than that observed in the non-Gypsy Portuguese population. Subsets of STRs were used to perform comparisons with other Gypsy and corresponding host populations. Interestingly, diversity reduction in Gypsy groups compared to their non-Gypsy surrounding populations apparently varied according to an East-West gradient, which parallels their dispersion in Europe as well as a decrease in complexity of their internal structure. Analysis of genetic distances revealed that the average level of genetic differentiation between Gypsy groups was much larger than that observed between the corresponding non-Gypsy populations. The high rate of heterogeneity among Gypsies can be explained by strong genetic drift and limited intergroup gene flow. However, when genetic relationships were addressed through principal component analysis, all Gypsy populations clustered together and was clearly distinguished from other populations, a pattern that suggests their common origin. Concerning the putative ancestral genetic component, admixture analysis did not reveal strong Indian ancestry in the current Gypsy gene pools, in contrast to the high admixture estimates for either Europeans or Western Asians.

Negotiating the "state of exception": Gypsies' encounter with the judiciary in Germany and Italy, 1860-1914.

The tensions between judicial and executive authorities regarding so-called Gypsies in fin de siècle Germany and Italy reveals an inherent contradiction between the universalist dictates of the modern Rechtsstaat and the requirements of building a national state free of perceived outsiders. The frustration of executive authorities with judicial authorities who insisted on protecting the universalist individual enshrined in law pushed executive authorities to utilize the 'state of exception' to achieve their vision of the national community. Rather than choosing to create illiberal laws that would expressly exclude Gypsies from the national body, and would resolve the tension with the judiciary, authorities in Germany and Italy instead chose to go around the law by treating Gypsies as an exception not subject to the law. The state of exception not only deprived those labelled as Gypsies of a method of resistance, since many were able to use unwilling courts to protect them from over-zealous executive authorities, but also created a group of stateless people, persecuted and lacking basic human rights.

A Romani mitochondrial haplotype in England 500 years before their recorded arrival in Britain.

The nomadic Romani (gypsy) people are known for their deep-rooted traditions, but most of their history is recorded from external sources. We find evidence for a Romani genetic lineage in England long before their recorded arrival there. The most likely explanations are that either the historical record is wrong, or that early liaisons between Norse and Romani people during their coincident presence in ninth to tenth century Byzantium led to the spread of the haplotype to England.

Extermination of the Gypsies in Estonia during World War II- popular images and official policies.

A discussion of Nazi anti-Gypsy policy in Estonia needs to center on local interpretation and implementation of RSHA and RKO orders. Contradictions between various German instructions, which often discriminated among sedentary and itinerating Gypsies, created a state of confusion that increased chances for survival. Since in Estonia Sonderkommando 1a of the German Security Police exercised oversight rather than itself carrying out atrocities, the destruction of the Gypsy community in Estonia proceeded at a pace slower than elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Interested in exploiting slave labor, the German Security Police in Estonia did not consider liquidation of the Gypsies a priority. Acculturated to traditional anti-Gypsy prejudices and burdened by their own wartime travails, the majority of Estonians remained indifferent when Estonian police deported Gypsies.

Doctor-patient relations in Nazi Germany and the fate of psychiatric patients.

German psychiatrists actively engaged in the forced sterilization and killing of psychiatrically disabled children and adult patients. Academic psychiatrists embraced the Nazi philosophy and led the way in the "final solution" for psychiatric patients. This took place in a climate of widespread racism, virulent anti-Semitism, disillusionment with utopian social reforms, loss of medical confidentiality, devaluation of autonomy, intoxication with collectivism, injured national pride, and economic crisis. In this paper I review the impact on the physician-patient relationship of scientific, socio-economic, and political developments in the fifty years leading up to Hitler's rise to power, and explore potential implications for health care in the U.S.