Vulnerable Children and Youth in Brazil

This book presents the results of researches conducted with children and youth at risk for over 20 years in Brazil. It addresses a series of topics related to children and youth living in poverty or in situations of social vulnerability, like family, sexual and dating violence; adolescent mothers and mothers who put their children for adoption; children and youth living in foster and institutional care; and adolescents involved in drug trafficking or incarcerated in juvenile detention centers. Building upon the Bioecological Theory of Human Development, this volume emphasizes the innovative knowledge about psychosocial development of vulnerable children and youth produced in Brazil and aims to present theoretical and methodological approaches developed especially for the countries of the Global South, in an attempt to overcome the scientific divide between the North and South. Northern research agenda defines as global the theories, methodologies, and application of knowledge on social policies and interventions. However, the contexts, histories, and cultural processes are essential for producing and applying research knowledge according to specific regional characteristics, organizations, and conditions. Human development is related to contextual features and cannot be directly imported from one place to another. Departing from these original theoretical and methodological approaches, the book also presents the results of evidence-based interventions, showing its effectiveness in specific contexts. All of this makes Vulnerable Children and Youth in Brazil - Innovative Approaches from the Psychology of Social Development a valuable tool for psychologists, educators, social scientists and public health professionals studying or working with children and youth at risk in different parts of the world, contributing to the understanding of human development in cultural context.      

Débora Dalbosco Dell'Aglio is a professor of the Psychology Institute of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where she coordinates the Center for Studies and Research in Adolescence (NEPA), advising master and PhD students. She holds a PhD in Psychology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and her research focuses on broad questions of human development, with special attention to the following topics: adolescence, institutionalization, coping, sexual abuse, support network, well-being, resilience, personal risk, violence exposition and contextual variables. Dr. Dell'Aglio has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and 38 chapters in edited volumes. She has also edited five books in Brazil and has a productivity grant from the Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development. Silvia H. Koller is a professor of the Psychology Institute of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where she directs the Center for Studies of At-Risk Children, Youth and Families (CEP-Rua). She holds a PhD in Education from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul and her research focuses on broad questions of development and social cognition, including risk and resilience among impoverished and homeless children and adolescents, children's rights, violence, prejudice, and positive psychology. Dr. Koller has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and 40 chapters in edited volumes in national, regional, and international outlets on these topics. She also edited more than 10 books in Brazil. She leads an active research group that has conducted numerous empirical studies and developed and/or evaluated programs that focus on promoting social justice; preventing and treating emotional, sexual and physical abuse and outcomes; training teachers and professionals who work with at-risk populations, and fostering economic and international development. Dr. Koller has received funding from the Kellogg Foundation, World Childhood Foundation (WCF), World Bank, and Brazilian agencies. Through these activities, Dr. Koller has established a major network of contacts and research collaborations throughout the five continents.

Chapter 1: Introduction: Studying Human Development in situations of vulnerability in Brazil.- Part I - Contexts of violence.- Chapter 2: Intrafamily violence: a study on vulnerability and resilience.- Chapter 3: Methodological aspects of research on violence against adolescents in Brazilian public schools.- Chapter 4: Theoretical-methodological aspects of research on violence in adolescent dating relationships.- Chapter 5: Researches on the disclosure of sexual violence: ethical and methodological paths.- Chapter 6: An integrative conceptual model for enhanced understanding of the dynamics of sexual violence against children.- Chapter 7: Prejudice and empathy in children and adolescents in situations of social vulnerability: proposition of interventions.- Part II - Risk and protective factors.- Chapter 8: Protective factors for the development of adolescents with DM1: an interface between Positive Psychology and Health Psychology.- Chapter 9: Youth positive development through sport: strategies from social projects coaches in Brazil and Spain.- Chapter 10: Emerging adulthood in Brazil: socioeconomic influences and methodological issues in the study of young adults.- Part III - Vulnerability in mother-infant relations.- Chapter 11: Longitudinal adolescent mother-infant interaction: how do they happen within vulnerable backgrounds?.- Chapter 12: Ensuring the rights of birthmothers to place their children for adoption.- Part IV - Institutional care.- Chapter 13: Children's perceptions of relational and educational practices at shelter institutions.- Chapter 14: The use of visual methods and reflexive interviews in the research with children living in foster care.- Chapter 15: Social images of children in care, their families and residential care institutions.- Part V - Conflicts with the law.- Chapter 16: The applicability of hidden resilience in the lives of adolescents involved in drug trafficking.- Chapter 17: Systematization of recording in field diary: a case of a research in Brazilian juvenile detention centers.