Abstract
This chapter explores the development of participatory research with street children and considers how to ensure that their voices are properly represented in research. Through an initial discussion of the emergence of children as active agents, the chapter explores the impact of including children more readily in research for street children. Their particular position offers a unique insight into children’s lives, simply because of their more independent status, yet their position has also made it harder for researchers to access their lives. The importance of participation as a central methodological process is discussed before focusing on a new research initiative that seeks to challenge research boundaries by engaging street children as researchers and experts on their own lives. The remainder of the chapter introduces the “Growing Up on the Streets” research project and critically explores some of the practical and ethical challenges this process has presented. The chapter concludes by urging others to work more in partnership with young people, who may be excluded from traditional forms of research, adapting techniques to facilitate the greater involvement of street children and other marginalized young people, in expressing their views and representing themselves through their own stories in research arenas.
References
Abebe, T., & Bessell, S. (2014). Advancing ethical research with children: Critical reflections on ethical guidelines. Children’s Geographies, 12(1), 126–133.
Aptekar, L., & Stoeklin, D. (2014). Street children and homeless youth: A cross-cultural perspective. New York: Springer.
Barker, J., & Smith, F. (2001). Power, positionality and practicality: Carrying out fieldwork with children. Ethics Place and Environment, 4(2), 142–147.
Beazley, H. (2002). Vagrants wearing make-up: Negotiating spaces on the streets of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Urban Studies, 39(9), 1665–1683.
Beazley, H., & Ennew, J. (2006). Participatory methods and approaches: Tackling the two tyrannies. In V. Desai & R. Potter (Eds.), Doing development research (pp. 189–199). London: Sage.
Beazley, H., Bessell, S., Ennew, J., & Waterson, R. (2009). Editorial: The right to be properly researched – Research with children in a messy, real world. Children’s Geographies, 7(4), 365–378.
Beazley, H., Bessell, S., & Waterson, R. (2014). Sustaining the energy: A celebration of the life of Judith Ennew. Children’s Geographies, 12(1), 118–125.
Bemak, F. (1996). Street researchers: A new paradigm redefining future research with street children. Childhood: A Journal of Global Child Research, 3(2), 147–156.
Blazek, M. (2011). Young people and gender in transition in Slovakia, PhD Thesis, University of Dundee, Dundee.
Blazek, M., & Hanrova, P. (2012). Emerging relationships and diverse motivations and benefits in participatory video with young people. Children’s Geographies, 10, 151–168.
Bordonaro, L. (2012). Agency does not mean freedom cape Verdean street children and the politics of children’s agency. Children’s Geographies, 10, 413–426.
Boyden, J., & Ennew, J. (1997). Children in focus – A manual for participatory action research with children. Stockholm: Radda Barnen/Swedish Save the Children.
Cahill, C. (2004). Defying gravity? Raising consciousness through collective research. Children’s Geographies, 2(2), 273–286.
Chambers, R. (1994). The origins and practice of participatory rural appraisal. World Development, 22(7), 953–969.
Connolly, M. (1990). Adrift in the city: A comparative study of street children in Bogota, Colombia and Guatemala City. In N. Boxill (Ed.), Homeless children: The watchers and the waiters. London: The Hawthorn Press.
Connolly, M., & Ennew, J. (1996). Introduction: Children out of place. Childhood, 3(2), 131–145.
Conticini, A. (2004). We are the kings: Managing, protecting and promoting livelihoods on the streets of Dhaka. Conference paper: Livelihoods on the margins conference, SOAS, London, 8–9 July 2004.
Ennew, J. (2001). Street and working children: A guide to planning, development manual 4. London: Save the Children.
Ennew, J., & Swart-Kruger, J. (2003). Homes, places and spaces in the construction of street children and street youth. Children Youth and Environments, 13(1), 1–19.
Freire, P. (1970) The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Penguin Books. London.
Hadfield-Hill, S., & Horton, J. (2014). Children’s experiences of participating in research: Emotional moments together? Children’s Geographies, 12(2), 135–153.
Hart, R. (1997). Children’s participation: The theory and practice of involving young citizens in community development and environmental care. London: Earthscan.
Haynes, K., & Tanner, T. (2013). Empowering young people and strengthening resilience: Youth-centred participatory video as a tool for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Children’s Geographies, 13(3), 357–371.
Hecht, T. (1998). At home in the street: Street-children of North-East Brazil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Holloway, S., & Valentine, G. (2000). Children’s geographies: Playing, living, learning. London: Routledge.
Holt, L. (2004). The ‘voices’ of children: De-centring empowering research relations. Children’s Geographies, 2(1), 13–27.
Horton, J., & Kraftl, P. (2009). What (else) matters? Policy contexts, emotional geographies. Environment & Planning A, 41(12), 2984–3002.
James, A., Jenks, C., & Prout, A. (1998). Theorising childhood. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Kellett, M. (2011). Empowering children and young people as researchers: Overcoming barriers and building capacity. Child Indicators Research Journal, 4(2), 205–219.
Kindon, S., Pain, R., & Kesby, M. (Eds.). (2007). Connecting people, participation and place: Participatory action research approaches and methods. London: Routledge.
Lucchini, R. (1996). Theory, method and triangulation in the study of street children. Childhood: A Journal of Global Child Research, 3(2), 167–170.
Mayall, B. (2012). An afterword: Some reflections on a seminar series. Children’s Geographies, 10(3), 347–355.
Mistry, J., Biganate, E., & Berardi, A. (2014). Why are we doing it? Exploring participant motivations within a participatory video project. Area. doi:10.1111/area.12105. online early.
Morrow, V. (2008). Ethical dilemmas in research with children and young people about their social environments. Children’s Geographies, 6(1), 49–61.
Naussbaum, M. (2000). Creating capabilities: The human development approach. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
O’Kane, C. (2004). Responding to key challenges and ethical issues. In Children and young people as citizens: Partners for social change. Kathmandu: Save the Children Alliance.
Pain, R., & Francis, P. (2003). Reflections on participatory research. Area, 35(1), 46–54.
Poretti, M., Hanson, K., Darbellay, F., & Berchtold, A. (2014). The rise and fall of icons of “stolen childhood” since the adoption of the UN convention on the rights of the child. Childhood, 21(1), 22–38.
Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Bourdillon, M., Robson, E., Munthali, A., & Abane, A. (2010). Children as research collaborators: Issues and reflections from a mobility study in sub-Saharan Africa. American Journal of Community Psychology, 46, 215–227.
Punch, S. (2002). Research with children: The same or different form adults? Childhood, 9(3), 321–341.
Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Shand, W. (2014). Growing up on the Street: Understanding the lives of street children and youth in Africa. In M. Tiwari & S. Ibrahim (Eds.), The capability approach: From theory to practice. Hants: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sibley, D. (1991). Children’s geographies: Some problems of representation. Area, 23(4), 269–270.
Swart, J. (1990). Malunde: The street children of Hillbrow, Johannesburg. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
Thomas de Benitez, S. (2011). State of the world’s street children: Research. London: Consortium for Street Children.
Valentine, G. (1999). Being seen and heard? The ethical complexities of working with children and young people at home and at school. Ethics Place and Environment, 2(2), 141–155.
van Blerk, L. (2012). Berg-en-See street boys: Merging street and family relationships in cape town, South Africa. Children’s Geographies: Special Issue Family Relationships, 10(3), 321–335.
van Blerk, L. (2013). New street geographies: The impact of urban governance on the mobilities of cape town street youth. Urban Studies Special Issue Urban Youth Mobilities, 50(3), 556–573.
van Blerk, L. (2014). Street-connected children in Africa: Rights and participation. In A. Twum-Danso Imoh & N. Ansell (Eds.), Children’s lives in an era of children’s rights: The progress of the convention on the rights of the child in Africa. London: Routledge.
van Blerk, L., & Ansell, N. (2007). Participatory feedback and dissemination with and for children: Reflections from research with young migrants in southern Africa’. Children’s Geographies, 5(3), 313–324.
Young, L. (2003). The place of street children in Kampala, Uganda: Marginalisation, resistance and acceptance in the urban environment. Environment & Planning D: Society and Space, 21(5), 607–628.
Young, L., & Barrett, H. (2001a). Issues of access and identity: Adapting research methods with Kampala street children. Childhood: A Journal of Global Child Research, 8(3), 383–395.
Young, L., & Barrett, H. (2001b). Adapting visual methods: Action research with Kampala street children. Area, 33(2), 141–152.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this entry
Cite this entry
van Blerk, L., Shand, W., Shanahan, P. (2015). Street Children as Researchers: Critical Reflections on a Participatory Methodological Process in the “Growing Up on the Streets” Research Project in Africa. In: Evans, R., Holt, L., Skelton, T. (eds) Methodological Approaches. Geographies of Children and Young People, vol 2. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-89-7_6-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-89-7_6-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Online ISBN: 978-981-4585-89-7
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Social SciencesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences
Publish with us
Chapter history
-
Latest
Street Children as Researchers: Critical Reflections on a Participatory Methodological Process in the “Growing Up on the Streets” Research Project in Africa- Published:
- 23 February 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-89-7_6-2
-
Original
Street Children as Researchers: Critical Reflections on a Participatory Methodological Process in the “Growing Up on the Streets” Research Project in Africa- Published:
- 31 December 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-89-7_6-1