Memória e identidade social de meninas de rua em Belém

Abstract

This research sought to identify the values and experiences shared by "street boys and girls". The research subjects frequent two areas of the city, namely the Ver-a-Peso market and the vicinity of the Bus Terminal. Our goal was to understand what references unite the group. We tested, through field research, our hypothesis that the formation of this group occurs from experiences of situations represented as abandonment, violence, and/or poverty, which leads to the constitution of a group that has "street situation" as a reference. However, the permanence on the streets also happens because these people have common values that give the individuals a feeling of self-identification with the others of the group. Through the data obtained in the twenty-two questionnaires applied, we noticed that the female and male identity is based on a sexual division of survival forms. The boys have their survival "guaranteed" through small jobs - washing and watching over cars - or through thefts and robberies. The girls look for begging, "selling their bodies" and/or the "protection" of a boy. The latter, with the activities already mentioned, "sustain" their "companions". We conclude that for the researched subjects these references work as one of the elements that allow them to remain in the group, for both they and the girls seek to have a partner with whom to stay and, for this, they follow the determinations of the feminine and masculine roles adopted by the group. We verified that these values are fundamentally socialized by the family of the subjects since most of the group has no reference from another social group, such as a school group, professional group, or political group.