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Surfing in the air: a grounded theory of the dynamics of street life and its policy implications
Author(s) -
Conticini Alessandro
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of international development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1099-1328
pISSN - 0954-1748
DOI - 10.1002/jid.1423
Subject(s) - grounded theory , originality , dynamics (music) , sociology , psychological intervention , discipline , plan (archaeology) , sort , adaptation (eye) , public relations , social science , political science , psychology , qualitative research , history , computer science , pedagogy , archaeology , information retrieval , psychiatry , neuroscience
Abstract Nearly 20 years after the emergence of a specialised literature dealing with homeless children and youth, best practices are still rare and a divide remains between our understanding of street life, and the policy and programmes that are promoted to reach out to street‐living children: a persisting dichotomy between theory and practice. While much of the literature available is still entrapped in a sort of ‘ pathology of case studies ’ unable to provide systematic information to policy makers and practitioners, this paper claims originality in presenting an inter‐disciplinary understanding of the processes of street adaptation followed by children. In doing so, the paper presents a grounded theory to predict the consequences of street life and to plan interventions accordingly. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.