The social construction of Roma housing issue: determinants of Roma and Romanians perceptions

International Competition: The Best Scientific Article of the Young Researchers. At the international level, there is a rapidly growing literature on the poor quality of Roma housing in order to formulate and implement better policies addressing this issue. On the one hand, empirical studies tend to focus predominantly on European or national level, ignoring the particularities of different local Roma communities; and on the other hand, most of these studies are concerned only with Roma perspective of the situation, not taking into account that the problem is a socially constructed one, implying conflict and negotiations between Roma and other ethnic groups perspectives. The premise of the paper is that, in Romania, general European housing polices for Roma population could be implemented better in taking into account local specificities, and accepting that the issue is a social construct between Roma autoperception and Romanians perceptions about Roma. In this paper, we conducted a secondary analysis of data based on "The Barometer Survey on Roma in Fagaras" held in February 2013. Quantitative data were collected through the oral survey technique based on standardized questionnaire, applied to four Roma communities living in the peripheral areas of Fagaras City (systematic sample, N = 400 Roma respondents aged 18 years and over) and to the central and middle city neighborhoods, majority inhabited by Romanians (systematic sample, N = 400 Romanian respondents aged 18 years and over). We asked the question what variables are the determinants of Roma and Romanians perceptions about Roma housing issue. Applying OLS regression analysis, the data provided evidence that Roma respondents perceive that the issue of Roma housing is important and therefore should be included in public authorities' agenda when they: 1) acknowledge the lack of housing utilities and amenities and reject the need for some of them, 2) think a particular solution would bring them concrete advantages, 3) internalize social stigma and express the need to reduce their residential segregation; Romanian respondents perceive that the issue of Roma housing issue is important, and therefore should be included in public authorities' agenda when they acknowledge: 1) the specific problems of two local Roma communities, 2) the wage dependency of the entire local Roma community and 3) the labor discrimination against Roma and the need to reduce Roma residential segregation.