Exploring Street Children's Use of Social Networks Against Everyday Abuse in Bangladesh

Background and Introduction.

 

Violence, abuse and exploitation are daily realities for an estimated one million street children in Bangladesh. Research from the developing regions shows that many street children are abused and exploited by law enforcement, public authorities, and adults who share the same space with them. In Bangladesh, a few studies have briefly explored the issue of abuse and almost no research has examined how street children cope against everyday abuses and exploitations. To understand the nature of abuses and youths' coping, this paper draws from social networks and social support literatures from the developed countries. Where children's abuse is concerned, Western literature tends to presuppose formal services rendered through institutional arrangements. However, such a framework is insufficient and largely inapplicable for understanding the coping of street children for whom formal services are hardly available. Indeed, social networks and social support literatures provided limited attention to how nontraditional groups use social relationships to cope with extreme circumstances. Since street children in Bangladesh enmeshed in social networks this paper starts from the premise that informal supports are critical to coping against abuse and exploitation. The overarching research question is: what is the nature of street abuses and how street children use social networks to cope with abuses?  

Methods.

The use of social networks to cope against abuse and exploitation on everyday street life is relatively unstudied and likely complex; thus, a qualitative approach was pursued with approval of the Institutional Review Board. Purposive sampling from three locations in Dhaka yielded a sample of 75 homeless children aged 10-17. For each participant, the researcher conducted a 60-90 minute in-depth qualitative interview. Network data were collected using the Hierarchical Mapping Technique (HMT). Interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed using Nvivo-9. A priori and emergent themes were identified through within and cross-interview analysis of key topical areas.

Findings.

Street youth encounter unprecedented dangers and crises as they experience abuse, injustice and exploitation in their surroundings. In a given day, a youth is likely to encounter few incidents of threat, exploitation or abuse. Youth rely mostly on social network members for a range of supports to overcome these encounters. Network members, primarily street youth from the same age group, help overcome abused friends emotionally through counseling and positive reinforcement. Travelling together, buying snacks, and invitations to play are also common mechanisms for network members helping peer victims to cope. In some instances, network members help the victim resist the perpetrators through group solidarity. Youth might also mobilize powerful adult(s) to help friends in danger risking their relationships with those adults. The support-giving tends to be gendered: girls mostly provide emotional support and boys offer instrumental support. Street children offer support to close and weak network ties, however support is more intense for close friends.

Implications.

The findings shed light on coping against abuses among an unconventional group in Bangladesh. The paper discusses these findings in the context of limited formal service availability and likely to inform organizations working with street youth in Bangladesh.