Victimization And Delinquency Among Young Romanian Roma In Switzerland: An Exploratory Field Study

The Roma are the largest ethnic minority in Europe, but few studies have focused on delinquency and victimization among them. This article presents the results of exploratory research on the victimization and delinquency of young Romanian Roma in two cities in the French-speaking region of Switzerland. The study follows a mixed approach that combined 130 hours of participant observation with a self-reported delinquency and victimization survey (N=27). The findings show that the most common instances of victimization involve domestic violence, thefts, and verbal assaults related to begging, while the most common offences committed are brawls and domestic violence, which is frequently bidirectional. There is a correlation between crime and victimization, although the range of victimization suffered is larger than that of offences committed. Victims rarely report incidences of victimization to the authorities, even though their perception of the Swiss police is relatively positive. Despite the small sample and the biases related to this kind of research, this work calls attention to several new elements, such as the role of social media in delinquency, the bidirectionality of intimate partner violence, and the low rate at which victimization is reported to the police. It also suggests relevant subjects for future research.