Mortica:
You may not be whistling down the wind, but I find the difference between Social Workers and Sociolgists in the Roma community, is that the first is concerned with the rights of her subject in light of the lack of understanding of the society, and the second is concerned with their reputation in light of the lack of understanding of the subject.
I would be happy if you are ever over in the states to show you the difference between the two communities I serve. The Native American community, you find victems of social programs, programatic forced assimilation on the streets ... I know because they know I will drive them to drug free and alcohol free reserves if they want and can sober up. You don't see Roma on our streets drunk on drugs or begging. This is because our government has not, on a large scale found that they are here and have been here since the late seventeenth century.
Now, I take on your word your concern for those you serve in your work, but whistling in the wind? You have to accnowlege that as a whole social workers have been in the front lines of the forced assimilation which has blasted the societal structure of many many traditional cultures. If you doupt it, I can introduce you to the victems, here and there. Yes, you have to do a lot of clean up, but the mess was created by your side of the equation.
Cheers Larry