Roma children's ways of describing their identity: The sample of Tepecik, Izmir

This study is about the judgments of Gypsy/Roma children in regard to the distinctive features of being Gypsy/Roma. Based upon the children?s own narratives, the aim is to examine the ways of describing their identity, the influences of the ?state of poverty? which these children live in, of their relationship with those who are non-GypsyRoma and/or of the working conditions of their parents on the construction of identity of Gypsy/Roma, and the ways of experiencing poverty and their struggles dealing with it. For these purposes, we have carried out a qualitative research, using depth interview with 24 Gypsy/Roma children who live in Tepecik in İzmir, whose ages are between 8-15 and who attend the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Child and Youth Centre. Furthermore, two focus group discussions, including in turn one 3 and other 4 children with close ages, have been made. Interviews have been analyzed by thematic analysis method. Interviews have been analyzed by thematic analysis method. Key words: Gypsy/Roma, identity, ethnicity, ethnic identity, poverty