Substance abuse among Roma

Abstract

Abuse of psychoactive substances is one of the key social challenges of our time, especially in the case of vulnerable groups, such as the poor, the unemployed, people with lower educational status, victims of violence, migrants, refugees and others. It can be said that the Roma population encompasses almost all of the following prerogatives of social exclusion. Given the empirical evidence on the connection with crime, economic, health and wider social consequences of the abuse of psychoactive substances worthy research efforts towards identifying characteristics in relation to their community and opportunities for prevention. The aim of the work is to identify the factors contributing to abuse of psychoactive substances in the Roma population to give specific cultural recommendations for the prevention of abuse.

Zloupotreba psihoaktivnih supstanci (PAS) predstavlja jedan od ključnih socijalnih izazova današnjice, posebno u slučajevima ranjivih kategorija stanovništva, kao što su siromašni, nezaposleni, osobe nižeg obrazovnog statusa, žrtve nasilja, migranti, izbeglice i drugi. Može se reći da romska populacija objedinjuje gotovo sve pobrojane prerogative socijalne isključenosti. S obzirom na empirijske podatke o povezanosti sa kriminalom, ekonomske, zdravstvene i šire socijalne posledice, pojava zloupotrebe PAS zavređuje istraživačke napore u pravcu uočavanja specifičnosti u odnosu na romsku zajednicu i mogućnosti prevencije. Cilj rada predstavlja identifikovanje faktora koji doprinose zloupotrebi PAS u romskoj populaciji uz izdvajanje kulturno specifičnih pretpostavki za prevenciju zloupotrebe.