How Do Brazilian Street Youth Experience `the Street'?

Raffaelli, Marcela; Koller, Sílvia Helena; Reppold, Caroline Tozzi; Kuschick, Mateus Berger; Krum, F.; Bandeira, Denise Ruschel

doi:10.1177/0907568201008003006

Cited by 48 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…On the other hand, having time for enjoyable activities may be perceived as a reason to be on the streets. "Push" factors, such as domestic abuse and acute poverty (Le Roux, 1996), drive children away from their homes, while "pull" factors, such as perceived independence and freedom from abuse, draw children to the streets (Baker, Panter-Brick, & Todd, 1996;Raffaelli et al, 2001). The less structured environment and the ability to be in control of one's daily activities may be "pull" factors that are important to street children's independence and identity (Aptekar, 1988;Aptekar & Ciano-Federoff, 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When life is “difficult”: A comparison of street children's and non-street children's priorities

Nalkur

2009

Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies

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Research on street children has typically described the phenomenon and examined the risks of street life to healthy development. Thus far, research has not contextualized street children's psychosocial lives by comparing them with non-street children or street children undergoing rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to assess how the life priorities of Tanzanian street children, former street children and schoolgoing children (n = 183) differ according to their living environment. The "Importance scale" was designed and validated for this study. It includes 29 four-level Likert items about relationships, activities and family, encompassing two subscales: current well-being (Cronbach's a = 0.65) and preparing for the future (Cronbach's a = 0.72). Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and contingency tables to determine group-level differences. Post-hoc Bonferroni tests determined pairwise differences. The analyses demonstrate significant differences in 14 of 29 priorities according to living context. With only three differences, former street children were more similar to school-going children than they were to street children. Street children and school-going children differed on 12 items, while street children and former street children differed on nine items. Street children considered that obtaining good advice from adults, having a dependable place to sleep and having time for enjoyable activities are most important, while former street children and school-going children pointed to education-related ambitions as most important. Findings show that after just 1 year of rehabilitative care, former street children's priorities are more similar to school-going children's, and thus rehabilitative care may be instrumental in enabling children to prioritize preparing for the future. Street children's emphasis on a safe place to sleep and adult support may reflect unmet basic needs. Former street children's high priorities on education and protecting themselves may represent healthy adaptation and a hopeful orientation to the future. High-quality rehabilitation for homeless youth can fulfill essential needs that may promote positive shifts in street children's priorities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When life is “difficult”: A comparison of street children's and non-street children's priorities

Nalkur

2009

Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies

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“…We adapted a standard life events checklist (Johnson & McCutcheon, 1980) based on previous studies of street youth (e.g. Raffaelli et al, 2000Raffaelli et al, , 2001. Respondents were asked if each of 20 events occurred in the past month (others could be written in).…”

Section: Downloaded By [George Mason University] At 05:48 20 Decembermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tel: 402 472 0737. Downloaded by [George Mason University] at 05:48 20 December 2014 Raffaelli et al, 2000;Raffaelli & Koller, 2005;Raffaelli et al, 2001). Like many developing countries, Brazil is a nation of contrasts: it is wealthy and industrialized yet has high levels of rural underdevelopment and urban poverty.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the development of Brazilian street youth

Raffaelli

Koller

Morais

2007

Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies

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Studies of Latin American street youth typically utilize non-standardized measures and focus on limited aspects of functioning. The current study evaluated standard measures adapted for use with street youth and examined physical, behavioral and psychological adjustment. Twenty-five male Brazilian youth aged 13-19 years (M=16.2) were interviewed in institutions serving street youth. Psychometric analyses confirmed that the adapted measures were appropriate for the population, and descriptive analyses indicated they captured relevant aspects of respondents' experiences. Finally, there was initial support for a conceptual model linking childhood adversity, personal resources, and current life events to health outcomes. Findings have implications for researchers and practitioners working with homeless youth in Latin America.

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“…Two stems from the Sentence Completion Task for Street Children and Adolescents (Raffaelli et al, 2001) were used to elicit youngsters' hopes for the future ("In the future, I hope…" [no futuro, espero…]) as well as their general ex-pectations of the future ("For me, the future…" [para mim, o futuro…]). The sentence completion task included 24 items assessing different domains (e.g., the street, family) relevant for street youth.…”

Section: Measures Of Future Expectationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Future expectations of Brasilian street youth

Raffaelli

Koller

2005

Journal of Adolescence

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Future expectations of youth surviving on the streets of Porto Alegre, Brasil, were examined. The sample consisted of 35 boys and 34 girls aged 10-18 (M age 14.4) who participated in a sentence completion task and semi-structured interviews. Responses to two incomplete sentences regarding the future revealed a mismatch between hoped-for and expected events. When completing the sentence, "In the future, I hope…" the majority of youth gave optimistic (but generally non-specific) responses. In contrast, the sentence "For me, the future…" elicited more pessimistic responses. Few gender or age-related differences emerged. Findings are discussed in light of prior research with general populations of adolescents as well as studies of street youth. Taken as a whole, results suggest that life on the street shapes and constrains how youth see their futures. Implications of the findings for policy makers and practitioners are addressed.

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How Do Brazilian Street Youth Experience `the Street'?

Cited by 48 publications

References 16 publications

When life is “difficult”: A comparison of street children's and non-street children's priorities

When life is “difficult”: A comparison of street children's and non-street children's priorities

Assessing the development of Brazilian street youth

Future expectations of Brasilian street youth

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