Training of Police in Romania On Intercultural Communication
- Written by Elena Baciu
- Published in Police/Prison Officers
- Permalink
The activity was organized within the project, Common Spaces for Integration of Roma and implemented in July 2019, in Timis county, Romania, by the two Researchers and trainers, Assoc. Prof. Teodor Mircea Alexiu, PhD and Assoc. Prof. Elena-Loreni Baciu, PhD.
The purpose of this activity was to provide an introduction, for the police representatives, in topics of intercultural communication and to prepare, in this way, the common workshops for Roma and police (D3.3.), which will take place in the next stage of the project.
The 5 training sessions of 3 hours each were organized between the 9 and 18 of July 2019, and were attended by a total of 36 police representatives from Timis county, selected and referred by the Timis County Police Inspectorate. Each training session consisted of 2 parts: (1) a presentation of the main challenges in intercultural communication and their causes; (2) thematic discussions with the participants, based on the aspects resulting from the research carried out in activity 2 (at each training session, another topic was approached), as follows:
– on July 9, 2019, between 9 and 12 o’clock, the first training session was held at the West University of Timisoara, in room 701, and was attended by 7 police representatives (from the police stations from Timisoara). Topics covered: (1) Intercultural communication and (2) Why do Roma people tend to act in groups, when interacting with the authorities? Behavioral characteristcs of Roma communities that lead to a high degree of solidarity;
– on July 10, 2019, between 9 and 12 o’clock, the second training session took place, at the West University of Timisoara, in room 701, and was attended by 5 police representatives (from the police stations from Timisoara). Topics covered: (1) Intercultural communication and (2) How and why do conflicts involving Roma involvement start? Causes that affect trust and understanding between police workers and Roma communities; – on July 11, 2019, between 9 and 12 o’clock, the third training session took place, at the West University of Timisoara, in room 701, and was attended by 5 police representatives (from the police stations from Timisoara). Topics covered: (1) Intercultural communication and (2) What do Romanians believe about the Roma persons? What do roma persons believe about themselves? Representation patternns of Roma ethnicity in the collective imaginary;
– on July 16, 2019, between 10 and 13 o’clock, the fourth training session took place, at the headquarters of the Police Department in Lugoj (Timis, county), and was attended by 6 police representatives (from the police station in Lugoj). Topics covered: (1) Intercultural communication and (2) How to understand and treat fairly the Roma persons? Approaches to consolidate the trust between the police workers and the members of the Roma community;
– on July 18, 2019, between 10 and 13 o’clock, the fifth training session took place, at the headquarters of the Police Department in Sannicolau Mare (Timis, county), and was attended by 13 police representatives (from 12 police stations in the area). Topics covered: (1) Intercultural communication and (2) How should we communicate with Roma? Useful communication skills in the interaction between police workers and members of the Roma communities.
Following these training sessions, the participants learned about interculturality, intercultural communication and its challenges, the ethnic minority particularities that can generate social and economic vulnerabilities, as well as the necessary elements for improving the communication process with the persons with Roma background.
30.07.2019
Researcher and trainer,
Assoc. Prof. Teodor Mircea Alexiu, PhD
Researcher and trainer,
Assoc. Prof. Elena-Loreni Baciu, PhD