The impact of the behaviour of individuals addicted to drugs on the Romany community

The diploma thesis deals with the drug addiction issue, the circumstances that lead to drug addiction and most importantly the impact the drug addiction has on an individual. It also describes the behaviour of the drug addicted in different life situations and the impact of such behaviour; specifically the impact of behaviour of the drug addicted Romany on functioning of Romany families and communities. The aim of this thesis is to present drug-related issues of the Romany ethnic group, specific aspects of the behaviour of the drug addicted and the impact of such behaviour on their communities. Terminology related to the topic is defined and further described and drug addiction related issues of the Romany ethnic group are specified. As a part of the analysis there are semi-structured interviews which aim to describe, as authentically as possible, behaviour of the drug addicted Romany and to help people understand what kind of impact the Romany community perceive as the most urgent. Among the most important there are: the negative and condemning attitude of the older generation towards the drug addicted members; financial burden of the families of the drug addicted and prevailing negative attitude of the majority society towards the Romany as a whole, which is strengthened by the behaviour of the drug addicted and by higher rate of criminality among them