This thesis is an exploration of the daily realities of childhood in the Johannesburg inner city, investigating how the children understand and negotiate the possible dangers and probable safeties of the inner city. Growing up in the inner city is an image few think is possible. However, throughout my research I will argue for a conceptualisation of childhood that speaks to the urban public spaces in the Johannesburg inner city and an inner city that speaks to the a new childhood in South Africa. I have used danger and safety negotiation as the bridge between studies of the Johannesburg inner city and studies of a South African childhood, and as a bridge in the gap between theories on childhood and theories on the city. I investigate the ways that the children negotiate the everyday dangers in the city and develop practices of safety, and how these practices and avoidance techniques speak to the reality of living in the inner city. The very nature of the congested inner city offers a freedom that many suburban childhoods lack, and that the children experience an independent mobility within an infamously dangerous space speaks to the changes within the inner city often hidden behind the skewed opinion of many of the Johannesburg inner city. I make a claim that the inner city offers more freedom of mobility that is expected. This mobility is a relatively simple and well practiced form of creating visibility within the pedestrian congestion of the city. These practises of visibility, I argue, is heavily reliant on the layout of the inner city and the ways in which children understand the dangers that face them. As such, their safety practices are a complex network of sharing cautionary stories and avoidance techniques. For most children, this environment is also the only space that they know and therefore, what to outsiders might seem a dangerous, chaotic and confusing space is to the children just their everyday experience. These are the stories about which I write.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2001. / Title from title screen (viewed Apr. 23, 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Social, Policy and Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education. Includes bibliography. Also available in print form.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massey University, Palmerston North, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 286-317).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 185-196). Also available on the Internet.

Undergraduate honors paper--Mount Holyoke College, 2008. Dept. of Psychology and Education. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-111).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 185-196). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Marshall University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 88 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-85).

Thesis (M.S.)--Central Connecticut State University, 2000. / Thesis advisor: Margaret M. Ferrara. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Early Childhood Education." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-52).

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Recommended Practices provide guidance to families and professionals about the most effective ways to improve learning outcomes and promote development of young children, birth through age 5, who have, or are at risk for, developmental delays or disabilities. Family: Knowing Families, Tailoring Practices, Building Capacity is the third edition of the DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series, and it offers professionals and families multiple ways to implement the family practices across the settings in which children grow and learn. The articles in this collection provide guidance by illustrating how to implement the Family Recommended Practices with fidelity and flexibility. The monograph offers a unique contribution to the field by including authentic family voices as primary or equal contribution.