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The Lapps, or Sami
people, experience
ten times more
discrimination than
ethnic Norwegians. This
can lead to a great deal
of psychological stress,
depression and anxiety.
"While 3.5 per cent of the Norwegian
majority population feel that they are
subject to discrimination, that num-
ber for Sami-speaking Lapps is up at
35 per cent. The Sami who live outside
the defined Sami language areas have it
even worse than that – in that case, fully
half have been discriminated against. In
addition, in recent years, Sami report
being bullied twice as often as the
Norwegian majority. Those are dramatic
numbers," says Ketil Lenert Hansen, at
the Centre for Sami Health Research .
Discrimination can come in the form of
the majority's lack of understanding and
respect for the Sami language and cul-
ture (see sidebar). Sami-speaking people
also experience significant communi-
cation problems in their interactions
with state institutions, such as the health
care services.
Hansen has studied how ethnic discri-
mination can be associated with
health-related problems in the northern
Norwegian population. He recently
received his doctoral degree in com-
munity medicine from the University
of Tromsø's Faculty of Health Sciences.
His thesis research involved an extensive
demographic and health study in areas
with Sami and Norwegian settlements.
All told, 12,265 Lapps, people of Finnish
descent living in northern Norway
(known as Kven), and ethnic Norwegians
from Sør-Trøndelag to Finnmark
counties participated in the question-
naire and health survey. Hansen's results
are startling.
"The more Sami markers you have, and
if you live outside of the defined Sami
areas, the more discrimination you will
experience in your community," says
Hansen.
High psychological stress
levels
Hansen says that the consequences of
discrimination result in many health
effects, including greater psychological
stress in the form of depression and
anxiety symptoms.
"The survey shows that Sami report ha-
ving poorer health than ethnic Norwegi-
ans. Furthermore, the findings show that
ethnic discrimination is associated with
poorer self-rated health. Sami and Kven
men report a slightly higher level of psy-
chological stress than ethnic Norwegian
men, while among the Sami and non-
Sami women, there was no difference in
Sami are stressed by bullying
22
•••
Labyrint E/11
– University of Tromsø
Illustration: Ketil Lenert Hansen, Centre for Sami Health Research