Socio-Cultural Strategy

Socio-Cultural Strategy

The Semantic Perception of Work from Labor Child perspectives (Case Study Tehran Metro)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Akbar Talebpour 1
ashraf soleimani 2
1 Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Science and Economics, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
2 Master of Social Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/scs.2025.499338.1651
Abstract
The spread of labour childs in the subway is a new problem that has led to an increase social problem. An important issue regarding the work of these children is the meaning and concept that work has for them. These meanings of work have clearly been influenced by everyday experiences, social, economic and cultural challenges. The aim of the study was to investigate the semantic perception of labour from Tehran metro labourers childs perspective, in order creating a theoretical basis for analyzing the meanings of labour from children perspectives, which was carried out by adopting a qualitative approach. 14 child labourers in Tehran metro, aged 9 upto 15, were interviewed using purposive sampling. The selection of individuals, conducting in-depth unstructured interviews, and data analysis continued until theoretical saturation. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using theme analysis method. The validity of the research was carried out using member validity, and the reliability of the research was obtained using the intra-subject agreement method. The results showed; 20 subcategories and 5 main categories including; Contingency perception (family economic status, family social status, flexibility and adaptation to work, family supportive behavior), economic perception (financialneeds, financial responsibility, adequate wages), social perception (source of social support, sociability, interpersonal interactions with officers, interpersonal interactions with passengers), personal perception (lack of need for special expertise and skills, job authonomy, child abuse,educational restrictions, unknown aspirations), and cultural perception ((family expectations, the role of work as an identity-finding factor, a sense of belonging to the workplace, unpleasant experiences) have shaped the labour meanings in subway labour children minds. These meanings have been formed under the influence of everyday experiences, socioeconomic, and cultural challenges in labour children, and understanding these meanings helps to better understand labour children needs and implement more effective policies and programs.
Keywords
Semantic Perception
Labour children
Metro
Tehran
Subjects
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Socio-Cultural Strategy
Volume 14, Issue 4 - Serial Number 58
Autumn 2025
Pages 1221-1260

  • Receive Date 11 January 2025
  • Revise Date 12 August 2025
  • Accept Date 16 August 2025