Abstract

The goal of this paper is to present action research on the collapsed relations between the Roma minority and the majority population in a single location. The topic of this research emerged as the result of a request from organizations operating in socially deprived areas where the inhabitants anticipated that they might become the target of retaliatory attacks by extremists. Local organizations, along with the police and other institutions, were unable to prevent the resulting spread of panic; the goal of the qualitative research was, therefore, to uncover the mechanism through which panic emerges and spreads, and offer suggestions on how to prevent similar events in the future. The paper presents a reflexive methodology and the initial convictions of the researcher.