Abstract
This chapter focuses specifically on the role that street children play in mastaan groups. It will explain how street children work for ‘mastaans’. These children are hired to carry weapons, sell drugs, collect extortion money, commit political violence and conduct contract killings. The chapter will argue that these children are neither victims nor offenders; they are instead ‘illicit labourers’, doing what they can to survive on the streets.
This chapter draws on the article: Atkinson-Sheppard, S. (2016) The Gangs of Bangladesh: Exploring Organised Crime, Street Gangs and ‘Illicit Child Labourers’ in Dhaka published in Criminology and Criminal Justice and reproduced with permission from SAGE Author Archiving and Re-Use policies (https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/journal-author-archiving-policies-and-re-use).
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- 1.
The names of the university and of the report have been intentionally excluded from this book to protect the anonymity of the participants and the organisations. Thus, the report is referred to as Organisation Report 2012 in the text.
- 2.
Semi-structured interview 2.
- 3.
Group interview (number 5) with the children.
- 4.
Group interview (number 1) with the children.
- 5.
Group interview (number 5) with the children.
- 6.
Group interview (number 5) with the children.
- 7.
Group interview (number 6) with the children.
- 8.
Group interview (number 6) with the children.
- 9.
Group interview (number 3) with the children.
- 10.
Group interview (number 3) with the children.
- 11.
Group interview (number 8) with the children.
- 12.
Semi-structured interview 18.
- 13.
Semi-structured interview 17 (case study of a man who lived on the streets as a child and was involved with a criminal gang).
- 14.
Semi-structured interview 5.
- 15.
Semi-structured interview 5.
- 16.
Group interview (number 1) with the children.
- 17.
Semi-structured interview 5.
- 18.
Group interview (number 2) with the children.
- 19.
Group interview (number 3) with the children.
- 20.
Semi-structured interview 11.
- 21.
Semi-structured interview 9.
References
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Atkinson-Sheppard, S. (2019). ‘Illicit Child Labourers’: Exploring Street Children’s Involvement in Organised Crime. In: The Gangs of Bangladesh. Palgrave Advances in Criminology and Criminal Justice in Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18426-1_5
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