Violent language in the environment of street children singer-beggars

Abstract

Background Street children singer-beggars are differently treated psychologically and socially by many people on the street since they are considered to disturb the environment. They grow up with different perspectives from children of their age and social interactions unsuitable for their growth. Abusive language, repeated acts of violence, and antisocial attitudes have shaped their different personalities and characteristics in accordance with their age. Objective This study was conducted to observe the lives of street children singer-beggars through their understanding of adult communication and explain their verbal language and its meaning in their communication. Participants and Setting: The participants were 15 singer-beggars as informants who spent 8 h or more on the streets. They were selected through interview and observation in eight months based on the following characteristics as criteria:(1) having an age range between 12 and 17 years old, (2) having been in elementary school, (3) spending more than 8 h on the streets and having been taken to the streets on average three years, and (4) coming from very poor families. In addition to singing in the streets, they were working as porters and junk collectors and sellers. All of them smoke, enjoy alcoholic beverages, and inhale toxic materials (rubber cement glue). Researchers engaged in their daily lives intensively like playing music on the bus and in crowds. Method The study employs social phenomenology approach seeking to explore and describe the life experiences of street children who make a living by singing and begging. Results Result showed that all children (100%) reported that their communication pattern was conducted with four dominant groups, namely, parents, fellow singers, security officers, and street thugs. Furthermore, 80% of key informants said that communication occurred between setting and omission of verbal and nonverbal violence and physical violence. All key informants constructed 18 phrases related to violence or conflicts on the streets, seven phrases for calling people, 14 phrases related to deviant actions, and 24 phrases for begging or singing on the street. Conclusion Communication acts of street children singer-beggars happened dynamically, specifically, and purposively. They formed communication patterns by constructing a language that showed suffering, brutality, attack, seduction, survival effort, and unity of groups and languages. This experience needed to be considered in helping children return to their families and child protection homes and schools for their welfare. Results showed that protection of children from the streets by government protection agencies must be conducted based on street children's point of view that allows them to get out of the streets.

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