Why?

(Try to find out what feelings and needs are alive in the other person: empathic resonance)

Are you feeling anxious/insecure/ fearful?
Do you need safety/ protection/order?
What I’m hearing is that you are feeling anxious/insecure/ fearful by the presence of Roma in our society, because you need safety/ protection/order and that need is not fulfilled by people who don’t have a job and a well-cared house. Is that correct?

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What if?

(‘Mirror questions’: how would it be if you were standing in the shoes of that person)

Do you know Roma in your own neighbourhood? Do you know anything about their traditions and backgrounds? Do you know how they are living?

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Self-reflection

(Questions you can ask yourself in silence to support yourself in understanding the other person)

How important is safety/ protection/order for me?
When do I have the need for it?
How do I feel when this need is not fulfilled?

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Empowerment

(More information on the issue and tips how to explore the problem and continue the discussion)

The prejudices against Roma are based on certain stereotypes or extended social constructions, such as the simple fact of being from the East entailing being involved in a mafia and engaged in criminal behaviour. These rumours reveal great ignorance of aspects such as "citizenship" and about the social and political processes in the Eastern countries. Like other stereotypes, they are based on a process of generalisation and homogenisation of the out-group. Roma communities historically suffer from marginalisation in their own countries of origin, and in the rest of Europe as well. The exclusion and ghettoisation suffered by the poorest communities is one of the breeding grounds for stereotyping and discrimination against them.