Homeless Youth on the Road and in the Streets - Book Report/Review Example

With No Direction Home: Homeless Youth on the Road and in the Streets The book written by Marni Finkelstein is based on ethnographic studies that arelogical, precise and methodical. Ethnography has been considered the very essence of discipline by many academicians and thinkers worldwide. The research was carried out in a place called the East village that is the northern portion of the Lower East Side district of New York. It answers many questions in each of the ten chapters written with a humane approach. The book, with each chapter dedicated to one aspect of the life of a kid living on the street like the circumstances under which and the reasons why these kids leave their homes, their social lives, their travel habits and the importance it holds, drug and alcohol usage that progressively metamorphosed into abuse, their victimization and street socialization and finally and most importantly their ideas, dreams, aspirations, long-term plans, their concept of the future which beckoned them to leave the streets they found themselves on and their aspirations to live a better and satisfying life ahead. The last chapter sums up the elaborate sketch of their lives and the measures than need to be taken by social organizations to reach out to them and help them the way they need to be helped. The entire book is based on the concept of anthropology because the author has studied the behavior of these kids for close to two summers in a changing socio-political and cultural environment. It has defined two groups that are largely different, though the experiences they have on the street after leaving home are extremely similar. These are the runaways and the street kids. Some kids are ‘of’ the street and some are ‘on’ the street. The difference is kids ‘on’ the street have regular contact with their family and do return home after a day’s activity on the street in stark contrast to the former group. The fieldwork that resulted in well-documented research on a sample size of fifty street children is backed by a lot of numbers, metrics and solid groundbreaking data collected on both the groups described above. The author has clearly stated that of the 50 kids studied, 10 were from the NY-NJ metropolitan area, 16 from the northeastern states, 5 from the southeast, 4 from the Midwest, 2 from the Mountain states, 8 from the West Coast, 6 from the Northwest and 5 from Canada. ‘Ethnography contributes to the understanding of issues than more quantitative approaches may mask. It is crucial in describing populations and social environments that are labeled as deviant or hidden from normal observation.’ (Ferrell and Hamm, 1998). The kids researched are in the average age range of 14-19 for obvious reasons. Kids above 21 have been avoided because the social environment refrains them from retaining the ‘adolescent’ nature that the author wanted to study. Besides, this was also the cutoff age that most services that cater to homeless youth have. This holistic approach served its purpose because there were two very important aspects of the study that differentiated this book from all other works previously attempted in the same realm of social studies. These were: the personalized study of the subjects under natural conditions and their active and willing participation in the interviews conducted that enabled the author to document very true and honest answers. ‘The questions in ethnographic interviews usually come from the informant’s culture, rather than the language of the social scientist.’ (Spradely, 1979). First, befriending a couple of informants and meeting different groups on a routine basis created a network. Second, the sampling was done by ruling out kids who were over aged or had lived on the streets lesser than three months. A controlled institution-based study indirectly tends to put a lot of pressure on these kids who have carved a niche for themselves on the streets. The author actually carried out this anthropological study by sitting down with the kids on the street and understanding their perspective of life and the reason they were where there though they ought to be. ‘Researchers must be familiar with the streets and select places where children have a higher probability of displaying the behaviors that of interest to the research.’ (Hutz and Koller, 1999). Tompkins Square Park is the heart of the East Village and has been the battleground for hippies and the protestors of the Vietnam War. The author, based on the same ethnographic technique also found that kids, both males and female ran away from home, on an average, at the age of fourteen. Kids from an ethnic background tend to stay with their families and relatives more often than not while white kids seem to have taken to the streets almost immediately after running away from their houses. The author had a tough job cut out for her because these kids never stayed in the same place for more than a few days at the most. They did not have any ID and could have easily lied about their age too. Additionally, a sincere effort had to be made to convince the kids that she was not there to treat them like money mongers, but like individuals who had a right to be loved, understood and above all, had a right to speak and tell the world what their story was. However, the longitudinal study carried out which answered several questions like the chances these kids would get off the streets and live a normal life or try and graduate was extremely fruitful. The most surprising thing was the social pressure that these kids were put through throughout their lives. They were torn between the critical decision of completing their education and getting a good job and staying uneducated and illiterate or getting stuck with a dead-end and ill-paying factor worker’s job. The emotional turmoil these kids go through in their homes where they might have parents who are abusive or prone to substance abuse themselves is heart wrenching. The kids had choices equivalent to the devil or the deep blue sea. It was either going to school and spending their time in a constructive manner or taking to the streets if they didn’t get a job soon. The verbal and emotional abuse the kids went through because of uncooperative and harsh peers and unsupportive teachers made school the last option. Besides, even if the child did well at school, he/she was labeled a nerd and an outcast. ‘To run away can be expected to eliminate these costs and provide much free time in which to pursue other rewards.’ (Nye, 1980: 281). Street kids all over the world have been looked down upon time and again. It has nothing to do with their attire or their general ‘gutter punk’ look, but more to do with their attitude that is considered low, cheap and beggarly. The kids were not happy at home, so they needed an outlet and a place where they could enjoy their freedom and allowed to be kids. The outlet was not school as described above, but the streets where they found more of their own kind. This in turn got them into trouble because the police thought they were irritating vagabonds and put them in jail or punished them for drug and alcohol abuse. Adding fuel to the fire was the necessity to ‘grow up’ fast and become ‘homeless adults’ owing to modernity, industrial capitalism and the emergence of a middle class. (Kett, 1977). This group therefore became a youth subculture in itself, a concept based on self-destruction, the absence of childhood and a traumatizing adolescence, if the kids were ever allowed to experience it-that most beautiful phase of life for most of us normal and privileged folks. Anthropologists considered this period’ a stage between childhood and adulthood differentiated by some sort of rite of passage administered by the adults in the community.’ (Bucholtz, 2002). The shifting structure of the family unit accompanied with an increase in the number of divorces over the years also affected these children to a very large extent. ‘The probability that a child will live with only one parent has increased to nearly 40-60%. (Mc. Whirter et al, 1993). The stepparents of these kids were largely uneducated, alcoholic and abusive which worsened the situation. All these kids needed was-a safe haven, a sense of security and a guide. But, all that they have been given is disapproval for each and every action from almost every member of the society and equated with delinquent and deviated behavioral patterns. (Haralambos and Holborn, 1992:580). Runaways are always blamed for maladaptive behavior, poor social skills, low scholastic achievements and high levels of alcohol and drug abuse. Anthropological studies have always been associated with only with adolescence as a phase owing to the rapid transformation and psychological development that defines it. However, a concrete fact that was largely ignored was that the youth too has a voice and their own thoughts of the world and the immediate environment surrounding them, leading to the formation of a separate subculture, different from the adults and the adolescents. It is a behavior, an attitude-embedded in a more complex and larger set of human relationships. I’ve, for some reason not known to me, have always abhorred punks and street kids and considered them to be in the wrong. But, after reading this book, I felt there was a kind of vicious circle in the lives of these unfortunate kids that lured them into the abyss they found themselves trapped in forever. I was shocked to know that maybe I would have done the very same things these kids were forced to do. ‘Survival of the fittest’ though a Darwinian theory, seemed to have become a modern-age principle to exist now. Another book that evoked the same feeling in me was ‘The Outsiders’ authored by S.E Hinton. Though this book is considered to be a book for children, the best part about both the books lies in their commonality, which is the authors’ unbiased approach to street kids and their ability to understand and relate to them. These books have clearly proved that it is more important to work ‘with’ the kids and not ‘for’ them, not for the mere sake of finishing a book based on their lives as a form of temporary entertainment or to create and direct blockbusters for the mere enjoyment of the hoi polloi. I can say, with a lot of conviction that Marni Finkelstein has written a great book that is laden with the truth about the lives of these kids, their struggles and emotional roller coaster rides, their desire to be better humans and be more acceptable to the society that judges them extremely crudely and harshly. This attempt of hers will be very successful in helping the Government become more understanding and intelligent in their approach. Read More