The aim of the article is to outline key elements of the street children subculture in Makeevka, Ukraine, with an emphasis on the functions of a subculture and its manifestations of collectivity. The research was based on qualitative and quantitative data and was conducted from 2000 to 2009. Data analysis suggests that collectivity functions on…

This article considers friendship among street children in Accra. Drawing upon the findings of a three-year qualitative research project, the article argues that friendship is a neglected element of research yet cooperation, mutuality and exchange between friends are essential to street children's survival. Living within the extremities of the…

This article investigates the experiences, identities and aspirations of children and adolescents living on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, formed as they are around the conditions of exclusion, violence and discrimination. Significant here are experiences of "revolta"--revolt or rage--the aspiration for freedom through life on the street…

Street children in Makutano, northwest Kenya, form strong, stable social groups. Group activity functions through a well-defined structure involving leadership and close personal and economic relationships. This article shows how group solidarity is maintained through the sharing of a common subculture of spatial understandings, games, activities,…

Kenyan policy-makers use the language of children's rights to legitimize, within the new global political order, an old colonial concern about controlling the urban marginal population. The local business community's worries about the safety of Nairobi's streets stand paramount, while the growing financial and political leverage of NGOs…

Profiles Latin American street children, including interpersonal relationships and daily life, based on a bibliography of 90 articles published between 1985 and 1994. Finds that the bulk of street children are boys between 10 and 14 years with erratic school attendance. Finds little information on ethnic background. Discusses changes in societal…

Conducted in-depth interviews with street children and child protection workers in Guatemala City to better understand the process by which street children decide to initiate a legal case to seek justice for abuses suffered. Argues that the decision to take legal action is based on beliefs in basic human rights principles and perceived…

Investigated how homeless Brazilian youth experience the street and examined factors linked to positive and negative feelings about the street. Found great diversity in youths' views of the street. Findings support the value of the sentence completion task in exploring the subjective experiences of street youth. (Author)

Argues that street children's public image does not consider root causes of homelessness or children's perceptions. Notes that the relationship of children to urban life is seldom analyzed, and that references to street girls commonly link them to prostitution. Advocates a more child-centered, participatory approach to research and discusses…

Throughout its history, street children have been a major concern of Turkish society and have lately been uppermost on social workers agenda. This study examines the relationships between sociodemographic and family characteristics, family relations, street life experiences and the hopelessness of street children. The study focuses on a population…

Presents new paradigm for research with street children, using street researchers who act as novices in a new culture, taught by children, yet maintain professional integrity and identity. Discusses the transformed researcher role, countertransference, new conceptualizations of time and space, testing behaviors, value-based research, and…

This review examines the social literature on Brazilian street children to determine causal factors. Stressing the socioeconomic aspects of poverty and social exclusion, the analyses identify three basic themes: the family, high failure rates in school, and child/adolescent labor. The role of Brazil's economic crisis of the late 1970s and…

Describes how a comparative study of street children in Montevideo (Uruguay), Rio de Janeiro, and Mexico City contributes to a synergism between theory and method. Notes how theoretical approaches of symbolic interactionism, genetic structuralism, and habitus theory complement interview, participant observation, and content analysis methods;…

Interviewed Bucharest street children, most between 11 and 15 years of age. Found that most left families, not institutions. Half were from intact families characterized by many children, an incarcerated parent, physical violence, sexual abuse, or alcoholism. Most worked either begging or in casual labor, and engaged in substance abuse.…

Explores methodological issues associated with gaining access to street children and reducing the influence of the researcher's 'outsider' identity, when undertaking sociospatial research. Illustrates how meaningful results can be gleaned without the inhibitory effects of limited access and outsider influence. (Author)