The world of poverty is a complex one with similarities seen in every society. In Brazil, poverty has created an especially dark situation in which society's most vulnerable children are forced to live or work on the streets and fend for their lives on a daily basis. In many societies, poor children are exposed to street life, but Brazil is interesting in that many of its citizens have changed their mentalities from viewing street children as creative ?urchins? to viewing them as vermin that must be discarded, often through murder, all while blaming the victim. In the world of poverty, there is extreme competition for few resources, and it is other low-income people who often support wiping children off the streets, instead of sympathizing with them. It is a huge paradox that Brazil, with some of the world's most progressive legislation regarding children, encompassed in the Statute of the Child and Adolescent of 1990, also has some of the world?s most horrendous violations of human rights against the group. A combination of market forces, the state, and international organizations must fight poverty and societal structures that leave children susceptible to violence if they, and thus Brazil?s future, are to survive.
The root cause of street children is poverty. ?Rural poverty, neglect, and enforced displacement from the land? forced huge numbers of peasants to leave the countryside for urban areas, hoping for industrial jobs especially in cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo (Jubilee Action 1998). The process of urbanization increased in the 1970s and 1980s, with 56% of Brazil?s population living in urban areas in 1970, which increased to over 75% by 1990 (Moulin and Pereira 2000, 44). Whereas in the rural areas they wer...
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In Samba, Alma Guillermoprieto describes the Carnival celebrated every year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and explores the black cultural roots from which it takes its traditions as well as its social, economic, and political context in the 1980s. From her firsthand experience and investigation into favela life and the role of samba schools, specifically of Manguiera, Guillermoprieto illustrates a complex image of race relations in Brazil. The hegemonic character of samba culture in Brazil stands as a prevalent theme in numerous facets of favela life, samba schools, and racial interactions like the increasing involvement of white Brazilians in Carnival preparation and the popularity of mulatas with white Brazilians and tourists. Rio de Janeiro’s early development as a city was largely segregated after the practice of slavery ended. The centralization of Afro-Brazilians in favelas in the hills of the city strengthened their ties to black
Larry Rohter was a journalist in Brazil for 14 years and from his experiences he offers in this book some unique insights into Brazilian history, politics, culture and more. In 10 topical chapters Rohter’s easy-to-read book provides a look at Brazilian history and the extraordinary changes the country has undergone -- and is still undergoing. Rother covers many significant issues, but several stand out more than others. Namely: the country’s history, culture, politics, and finally its economy/natural wealth.
Graham, Sandra Lauderdale. House and Street: The Domestic World of Servants and Masters in Nineteenth-Century Rio de Janeiro. (University of Texas Press, 1992)
Shantytowns are defined as urban slums “perched on hillside outskirts of most cities” (Sanabria, 2007, p.25) in Latin America. Common characteristics of shantytowns include run-down buildings, poor infrastructure, lack of space, high population, risk of disease, low education level, and a great lack of job opportunities (pp.24-6). These ghettos are home to the poor and socially-outcast, especially first and second generation migrants from rural areas (pp.24-5).
In Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange, the effects of the marginalization of socioeconomically underprivileged people are depicted through behavior and psychological tendencies. These effects on the marginalized youth portrayed in Burgess’ fictional work draw a parallel to modern-day Brazilian shantytowns, commonly known as favelas. The psychology of behavior and the conflict between the government and the people are two clear-cut examples that illustrate the parallels between both worlds regardless, of the time period they exist in. As the doctors attempt in A Clockwork Orange, what can the Brazilian government do to stop or at least diminish violence and drug abuse among the youth in favelas?
In the favela of São Paulo, Brazil, 1958, Carolina Maria de Jesus rewrote the words of a famous poet, “In this era it is necessary to say: ‘Cry, child. Life is bitter,’” (de Jesus 27). Her sentiments reflected the cruel truth of the favelas, the location where the city’s impoverished inhabited small shacks. Because of housing developments, poor families were pushed to the outskirts of the city into shanty towns. Within the favelas, the infant mortality rate was high, there was no indoor plumbing or electricity, drug lords were governing forces, drug addiction was rampant, and people were starving to death. Child of the Dark, a diary written by Carolina Maria de Jesus from 1955 to 1960, provides a unique view from inside Brazil’s favelas, discussing the perceptions of good
Child labour in the production of cocoa beans may be able to bring in money to Côte d’Ivoire, allowing it to progress economically (O’Keefe, 2016), and also bring large amounts of profit to confectionary powerhouses like Nestle (O’Keefe, 2016) and lastly, allow families to survive with the vital income that the children are providing (International Labour Organization, 2004). However, child labour not only demands hard work from children in unsafe environments often for long hours, it is also morally wrong, especially since child labour exists many of times in the worst forms in Côte d’Ivoire.
poor”( Papalia et al. 295). Thousands of children around the United States sit on street corners
When one thinks of poverty often the mental picture that comes to mind is of single parent welfare, dependent, women and unemployed, drug-addicted, alcoholic lackadaisical men. The children are often forgotten. The impact of poverty, the destruction of crime and stigmatization of the violence on the children is more devastating and irreversible than the miseducation and illiteracy that most often companies poverty. The implication is not the poverty can not be overcome but that the cycles of teenage pregnancy, welfare dependency, and dropping out of high school continues and are hard to break. The badges of poverty are just as addictive and capitiving as any disease such as alcohol or drugs.
To watch City of God is to be forced to enter, from a safe distance, the ruthless and merciless hoods of Rio de Janeiro. The captivating and poignant film guides viewers through the realistic aspects of slum life experienced by young, underprivileged youth in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, some aspects that not even most middle class Brazilians get to see. In a city where police are fraudulent, opportunities are scarce and crime is widespread, many youths believe there is no alternative to gang activity. In City of God, director Fernando Meirelles puts to the forefront of Brazilian cinema the real issues that favelas in Brazil face like poverty, extreme violence and stereotypical gender roles in a male dominated society. City of God encapsulates the hope of Rio’s impoverished blacks for social and economic ascension.
When analyzing children growing up in poverty a lot of factors come into play such as their physical, psychological and emotional development. To grow up in poverty can have long term effect on a child. What should be emphasized in analyzing the effects of poverty on children is how it has caused many children around the world to suffer from physical disorders, malnutrition, and even diminishes their capacities to function in society. Poverty has played a major role in the functioning of families and the level of social and emotional competency that children are able to reach. Children in poverty stricken families are exposed to greater and emotional risks and stress level factors.
According to new data released by the UIS, Unesco Institute for Statistics, literacy rates for adults and youths continue to rise. Despite the progress, 781 million adults still could not read or write; among youths, 126 million are illiterate (UIS). In this regard, the documentary The Harvest/La Choseca —realized in 2011— exposes the blatant exploitation of migrant’s children who working up forth teen hours a day, seven days a week, they no have alternatives other than drop out school. Zulema, Perla and Victor are sacrificing their own childhoods to help their families by earning a miserable salary, which, unfortunately, makes a difference in the daily economy of people living below the poverty line. The Harvest offers a moving insight of a next-door reality where children are desperately trying to have access to education for ‘grasping’ a normal life. Hearing Victor says that money do not bring happiness, it hurts like a punch in an eye. Victor, a child forced to work by an unequal society, knows the meaning of life better than us. Those poor children are legally working, so we are complicit in an evident violation of human rights. How can a child studying after have spent an entire day under a scorching sun? What skills they are developing picking crops in the fields? It is come the time to stop ignoble injustice covered by a hypocrite law system that treats us like a bolt in a gear. Raising
Jennifer (2007) collected her data in the favelas, located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in order to contrast the children both rich and poor, particularly aiming to come into contact with those who participate in youth gang culture (p.322). A child named Babú states, “T´a ligado?” which directly translates to, “you know what I’m saying?” (Gordon, 2007, p.322). There are many words and phrases evident in Jennifer’s (2007) ethnographic work that are common amongst children who engage in youth gang culture, words like porra, mané, and rapà (p. 329). Porra means ‘damn’ in the English language, rapà, translates to buddy, and mané directly to ‘man’ used in a different manner than the English language (Gordon, 2007, p. 329).
Poverty extends out over all continents, making it the most widespread negative factor. Out of the world’s 2.2 billion children, approximately half live in poverty according to UNICEF. Poverty claims approximately 22,000 children’s lives per day. This statistic illustrates the struggle children that live in poverty must face in order to survive. Poverty is a root cause of hunger, disease, and lack of shelter. It is concentrated in pockets in areas such as South Africa and South Asia. Children, who must...
These programmes exhibit considerable diversity in terms of objectives and programme design. They can take the form of pure income transfers, like in the case of South Africa’s Child Support Grant, whereas other countries have adopted a different approach consisting in linking income transfers with basic service provision. For example, Mexico’s Oportunidades (previously known as Progresa), and Brazil’s Bolsa Familia, which provides income transfers to poor households on condition that they regularly send their children to school and that household members attend health clinics. In fewer countries, like in the case of Chile Solidario, income transfers are combined with a wide range of interventions in health, education, employment, and housing. Our focus on social protection programmes directly focusing on childr...