Citation

Julien G. Community Work Fam. 2008; 11(4): 475-488.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13668800802432459

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A community-based action research process, over a three-year period, employed interviews and participant observations with five children living on the streets in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. Data revealed violence in the family to be a contributing factor to children's presence on the streets: it was also a feature of their lives on the streets. A complex pattern emerged of violence, hostility, and distorted social interactions amidst negative attitudes and disdainful behaviour all around them. It is argued that, although it is not easy, more people – professionals and citizens – would do well to listen to, and understand the lives of, street children in order to be motivated for change.