Giving Birth to a Child by the Roma Minors Living in the Slums

Abstract

The study describes the findings of a qualitative sociological research in which the phenomenon of childbirth among the juvenile population of a city slum has been interpreted by means of Colman’s theory of capital. During the research we also relied on Kelly’s experiences gained in a similar field in an American slum. Twenty interviews have been made. Our respondents included fifteen women: twelve of them considered themselves of Gypsy origin, and three of them stated that they were non-Gypsies and, in addition, there were five men. The women were all under age when they gave birth to their first child. Based on the interviews we can state that the human and social capitals have decisive roles in the childbirth among juvenile girls living in slums. In fact, the time of childbirth cannot be delayed by investing into the human capital because, due to the specific features of the social capital of people under age living in slums (for example, the absence of multiplicity), the disadvantageous position they find themselves in the struggle for better jobs cannot be overcome. Confidence is also an important factor, particularly in the area of family relations. Distrust which, in fact, undermines the institute of family, has a decisive role in the fact that juvenile girls use their first sexual relationship and the child that is born from it, to get away from their unfavourable family circumstances. The phenomenon of juvenile pregnancy can therefore be considered a symptom of social exclusion.