This book provides new insights on the lives of children in street situations by providing analyses from a qualitative perspective on the sociology of childhood. It proposes some insightful perspectives on the current discussion about the rights of children in street situations. It includes a unique selection of texts, which were initially published in French, written by the authors of this volume, on the lives of children in street situations in Latin America and China, that are now available to an English readership. It challenges obstacles, linked to macrosocial issues such as inequalities, images of the child, the separation of public/private spheres, urban dynamics and structural adjustments, as well as to microsocial dimensions such as identity, motivation, and activities that are constitutive of street situations. The book discusses the situations experienced by children, highlighting children’s reflexivity and strategies as social factors, and shedding new light on the debate “agency within structure”.

This book deals with street children who live in the developing world, and homeless youth who are from the developed world. They are referred to as children in street situations (CSS) to show that the problem is both in the children and in the situation they face. The book examines several aspects of the children and their street situations, including the families of origin and the homes they leave, the children’s social life, and mental health. Other aspects are the problems of published demographics, the construction of public opinion about these children and the, often violent, reactions from authorities. The book then discusses current research on children in street situations, as well as programs and policies. The book ends with recommendations about programs, policies and research.

The Sourcebook-IV provides training modules for rights-based integrated child protection service delivery systems at the secondary and tertiary prevention levels. Part 1 of the Sourcebook focuses on the preventative, comprehensive, integrated and systemic, and universal community-based and family-based service delivery systems for children; and the methods of case management and outcomes-based project cycle. Part 2 discusses children and families at risk and the role of community-based Integrated Childcare and Support Centres for providing supplementary care and support services to them at the secondary prevention level. It also focuses on children facing sociolegal problems such as deprivation of parental care, violence, and conflict with law, and the role of District-based Integrated Child Protection Centres for providing protection, justice and rehabilitation to them at the tertiary prevention level. Part 3 focuses on children in emergencies in general and in specific situations and role of Integrated Child Protection Centres in these situations. This is a necessary read for social workers, lawyers, researchers, trainers and teachers working on child rights across the world, and especially in developing countries.

More than a quarter of a century has passed since Canada promised to recognize and respect the rights of children under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ratification of the Convention cannot, however, guarantee that everyone will abandon proprietary notions about children, or that all children will be free to enjoy the substance of their rights in every social and institutional context in which they find themselves, including—and perhaps especially—within families. This disconnect remains one of the most important challenges to the recognition of children’s rights in Canada. The authors argue that social toxins are as harmful to children’s independent welfare and developmental interests as environmental toxins, and that both must be eradicated if Canada is to fulfill its commitments under the Convention. They also argue that if Canada wishes to ensure the substance of the rights outlined in the Convention are socially guaranteed, an attitudinal or cultural shift is required concerning the moral and legal status of children. This revised, expanded, and updated edition of the bestselling Challenge of Children’s Rights for Canada will be of interest to academics, policymakers, parents, teachers, social workers, and human service professionals—indeed to anyone who cares about and for children.

Contemporary social transformations, characterised by multi-dimensional globalisation and technological change, have lent new impetus to the emergence of internationally oriented and interdisciplinary childhood and youth studies. Analysis of sharpened polarisations of chances and risks within and between generations in specific life circumstances meets up with the re-conceptualisation of childhood and youth as social constructions within the life-course. As such, insulated national discourses are no longer an adequate framework to address such issues: economic and cultural globalisation processes exert dual and reciprocal influences, restructuring societies and identities from within and without. This collection offers a three-fold thematic focus: on the social construction of the life-course, privileging gendered and family transitions and transformations; on the contours of (not) belonging, in particular bringing migration and poverty into the spotlight; and on the potential of virtual worlds for creating and enabling new positive and negative forms of individual, social and political action on the part of young people. This collection thus offers a particular snapshot of the current landscape of childhood and youth studies, and it provides a set of exemplars from diverse national contexts. Each chapter can stand for itself – but the contributions are ordered thematically, not according to the corner of the world from which they derive. As the introductory chapter explores, the intention is – via a loose vectoring of theme and context – to encourage multiple opportunities for reflection on relations between the specificities and commonalities of children’s and young people’s lives today. This volume joins the growing library of scholarly resources for international and interdisciplinary childhood and youth studies; it brings together well-established and young scholars writing from an unusual range of national and cultural contexts. The collection will be of interest not simply for specialist researchers and those in related fields, but equally as a teaching and learning resource for higher education professionals and students in social sciences and education, including courses that link theory and research with policy and practice.

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject Psychology - Social Psychology, grade: 66, Nottingham Trent University, language: English, abstract: On 23 July 1993, at night, a group of men fired on a group of over 50 street children who were sleeping in the surrounding area of the Candelária Church, in Rio de Janeiro city centre. Five children and one young adult were killed almost immediately, three others were kidnapped with fatal consequences for two of them. The remaining survived a shot on his face as the gang had left him for dead. Taking in sum, seven children and one young adult where killed in this episode. However the disgrace for the survivors did not stop that night, it is believed that 39 out of the children who used to sleep in Candelária by that time have died in a violent way (AI, 2003). This butchery was carried out by “death squads”, which mainly involved members of the Military Police of Rio, that is, those who are supposed to protect the civilians. Its “origin”, in words of the accused me, was some stones thrown at a police car. The Candelária slaughter has also become famous for being the first time that a Brazilian policeman is found guilty of murdering a street child (Csillag, 1996) In the following pages I will try to explain the general situation of street children, and why they exist in Brazil, while making references to how psychological and criminological theories can explain their situation. However, first I will define “what” a street child is, and what are they major concerns [...]