Toolkit

In PolRom, social psychologists from five European countries came together with a commitment to help decision makers and practitioners deal with antigypsyism more effectively with the help of social psychological science. This commitment was rooted in a growing concern about political processes that give way to increased discrimination, expression of hate and segregation all over Europe and obstruct efforts of inclusion. However, it also stemmed from an awareness that many bottom-up, NGO level initiatives, as well as top-down, state-level efforts of Roma inclusion do not build on the robust evidence about the effectiveness of antidiscrimination interventions that social psychology can offer (what works, why, for whom and in which contexts). Although there are many practical reasons why this is the case, an important one is that a systematic application of this knowledge to the context of Roma—non-Roma relations in Europe is missing. Therefore, this toolkit aims to provide information about antidiscrimination interventions with a clear reference to the importance of the social-political context and how this can be applied to addressing antigypsyism. We present social psychological theory of prejudice reduction interventions, review the concept of antigypsyism, explain the relevance of the social-political context, and offer best practice examples from each of the five participating countries of PolRom in the area of reducing antigypsyism in society. Additionally, the toolkit contains an annotated bibliography of scientific publications about prejudice reduction interventions and those targeting antigypsyism specifically as additional resources for designing and evaluating interventions.

Who is this toolkit for

This toolkit builds upon evidence from previous social psychological research and evidence from the PolRom project to offer directions for effective interventions and, therefore, aims to inform a broad range of professionals, stakeholders, and interested individuals.

• European, national, local policy and decision makers can benefit from this toolkit as it outlines directions for responsible antidiscrimination decision making and explains the importance of the social and political context and the role of authorities.
• Representatives of NGOs engaged in prejudice reduction, antidiscrimination interventions and Roma inclusion can rely on the toolkit to design interventions taking into account the necessary conditions of achieving change in terms of prejudice reduction and expression of solidarity with the Roma and Traveller communities and in terms of Roma engagement.
• We recommend the toolkit for representatives of donor and sponsor organisations, as it offers information about how to create environments for designing and implementing effective interventions.
• Representatives of the media who report on issues related to antigypsyism and Roma/Traveller groups more generally can benefit from this toolkit as they provide the platform for public and political discourse that in turn determines the outcome of interventions by creating supportive or inhibiting normative contexts.
• The toolkit also aims to inform all people who work with Roma and non-Roma people in schools and community centres toward non-discrimination and academics interested in understanding the psychological mechanisms and boundary conditions of antidiscrimination interventions.

You can download the full toolkit here, or scroll trough the chapters:

1. Why do we need social psychology to fight antigypsyism?
2. Psychological interventions to reduce prejudice
3. The unique characteristics of antigypsyism
4. Best practice examples
5. Recommendations

Toolkit is also available in Slovak language here.

Below you can watch videos that summarize information from the toolkit: