Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Social Construction of Street Children: Configuration and Implications

2002; Oxford University Press; Volume: 32; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/bjsw/32.3.353

1468-263X

S. L. de Moura,

Social Work Education and Practice

Summary This article analyses the literature on street children, and identifies patterns of descrip tions, characterizations and explanations of the origin of the phenomenon. It is argued that the discourses on street children naturalize social deprivation and stigmatize poor families and children. Street life is presented as the outcome of an organic and linear chain of adverse factors including migration, economic hardship, family dysfunction and child abuse. Street children and their families are portrayed as displaying socially unacceptable attributes which place them outside mainstream society. It is also argued that the social construction of street children prompts interventions which sustain the status quo of social inequalities. It is suggested that a potential way to move forward is to employ these arguments along with other perspectives in a communal reflexive exercise, as the foundation for the co-creation of a new future for children and adoles cents.