The Roma: thieves and beggars? : Public attitudes towards the Roma in Finland displayed in Finnish newspaper articles in 2006-2011
Ahola, Vilma (2011)
Ahola, Vilma
Diakonia-ammattikorkeakoulu
2011
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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2011112715718
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2011112715718
Tiivistelmä
Vilma Ahola, The Roma: thieves and beggars? Public attitudes towards the Roma in Finland displayed in Finnish newspaper articles in 2006-2011.
Language: English. Järvenpää. Autumn 2011.
Diaconia University of Applied Sciences. Degree Programme in Social Services. Degree: Bachelor of Social Services.
The aim of the study was to analyse the written text related to the Roma in Finland, displayed in Finnish newspaper articles. Moreover, the interest was particularly in the public attitudes that could be found in such text. Both Finnish Roma citizens as well as European Roma migrants were included. Discourse analysis was used as a method of analysing the data so that hypothetic assumptions of people’s attitudes and their nature could be created. Furthermore, social exclusion of the Roma as an ethnic minority was used as a perspective of analysing the attitudes. Consequently, the research questions were: What kind of public attitudes towards the Roma newspaper reports display in Finland? How do these attitudes reflect the Roma’s social exclusion and whose attitudes are they actually?
The data was collected exclusively from Helsingin Sanomat, a Finnish newspaper with national distribution and a variety of reports in relation to the Roma. Most of the reports of this topic were published after 2006; therefore the articles used as data were limited to those published between 2006 and 2011. After collecting a variety of articles, the data was further restricted from fifty to fourteen articles of different topics, from different years and authors. The data was then analysed by using the discourse analysis in answering the research questions.
When analysing the text in relation to the Roma, displayed in the newspaper articles, strong discourses were found that reflected wider public attitudes. Discourses of ethnic discrimination were found as the Roma were labelled dishonest people who placed a risk to Finnish society. These negative attitudes were reflecting the extent of exclusion and marginalization Roma people face currently. However, discourses of sympathy and solidarity were also found and ideas for improvement presented. In conclusion, the attitudes that became evident in the analysis were uncompromised, strong believes of what the Roma are and what the effects of the European Roma’s migration to Finland are. In this frame, future aspects and ideas could be suggested in relation to the responsibilities and possibilities of a professional social worker, dealing with the oppression of the Roma.
Language: English. Järvenpää. Autumn 2011.
Diaconia University of Applied Sciences. Degree Programme in Social Services. Degree: Bachelor of Social Services.
The aim of the study was to analyse the written text related to the Roma in Finland, displayed in Finnish newspaper articles. Moreover, the interest was particularly in the public attitudes that could be found in such text. Both Finnish Roma citizens as well as European Roma migrants were included. Discourse analysis was used as a method of analysing the data so that hypothetic assumptions of people’s attitudes and their nature could be created. Furthermore, social exclusion of the Roma as an ethnic minority was used as a perspective of analysing the attitudes. Consequently, the research questions were: What kind of public attitudes towards the Roma newspaper reports display in Finland? How do these attitudes reflect the Roma’s social exclusion and whose attitudes are they actually?
The data was collected exclusively from Helsingin Sanomat, a Finnish newspaper with national distribution and a variety of reports in relation to the Roma. Most of the reports of this topic were published after 2006; therefore the articles used as data were limited to those published between 2006 and 2011. After collecting a variety of articles, the data was further restricted from fifty to fourteen articles of different topics, from different years and authors. The data was then analysed by using the discourse analysis in answering the research questions.
When analysing the text in relation to the Roma, displayed in the newspaper articles, strong discourses were found that reflected wider public attitudes. Discourses of ethnic discrimination were found as the Roma were labelled dishonest people who placed a risk to Finnish society. These negative attitudes were reflecting the extent of exclusion and marginalization Roma people face currently. However, discourses of sympathy and solidarity were also found and ideas for improvement presented. In conclusion, the attitudes that became evident in the analysis were uncompromised, strong believes of what the Roma are and what the effects of the European Roma’s migration to Finland are. In this frame, future aspects and ideas could be suggested in relation to the responsibilities and possibilities of a professional social worker, dealing with the oppression of the Roma.