At Home in the Street: Street Children of Northeast Brazil

by Tobias Hecht

Through innovative fieldwork and ethnographic writing, Hecht lays bare the received truths about the lives of Brazilian street children. This book changes the terms of the debate, asking not why there are so many homeless children in Brazil but why - given the oppressive alternative of home life in the shantytowns - there are in fact so few. Speaking in recorded sessions that participants called "radio workshops," street children asked one another questions that even the most experienced researchers would be unlikely to pose. At the center of this study are children who play, steal, sleep, dance, and die in the streets of a Brazilian city. But all around them figure activists, politicians, researchers, "home" children, and a global crisis of childhood.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, Academic, Textbooks, Read For School, Brazil

280 pages, Paperback

First published May 13, 1998

Reviews

[Karah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I anticipated a longer book. The subject of street children in Brazil entails so much suffering and paranoia for those who live this reality, it seems even more unjust to have a slim volume. I appreciate that Hecht provided the reader with follow-ups of the children. The only solution to the issue is human empathy. It would enable the government to provide more services for the poor and people would gain more energy to sustain their families and themselves. This is not of criticism of Brazil but this faces the world at large.

[Quynh Ngo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read if you're into anthropology. With a different approach from participant-observation, Hecht tried to immerse in street children's life by letting them do peer-interviews. He does a good job at introducing us to the world of street children, being critical of the NGOs that are working with them, and explaining how street children don't like living in rehabs. The stories, numbers and reasoning are all very compelling.

[Jeff Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paperback. Book about the street children in Brazil. I thought the book was most intriguing because of the candid interviews with the street children. Unfortunately, I felt like the book cast a negative and despairing light on these kids and dampened their chances for help in the future. Nonetheless, it was interesting to learn from the kids.

[Kate]

As much about the construct of childhood as about the issue of street children. I wonder how outdated this is now, since it was written in the mid-90s.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing look into the lives of street children in Brazil

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very quick read and full of dialogue from the children themselves. Nice job in the conclusion of bringing it all home - the street child problem is not just getting kids off the streets, it's gross to make them out as helpless victims and equally awful to say they'll get along fine as adults, it's a structural problem in society and needs to be remedied for ALL the poor. Seems like since this was written in the 90s there has been no real change.
I think I had this book from an Anthropology class in the late 90s @ NYU. Recently found in an ancient box in my mother's basement. I'm glad I reread it.

[Sam Funk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, and I definitely need to give it a re-read now that I am in graduate school for this work.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my Anthro class, but very interesting and very disturbing all at once.

[Erendira]

VCL acq - 03/29/10

[Tyler]

A refreshing approach to structural causes for a heinous, though oft hyperbolized, problem.