Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Also available in print.

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published_or_final_version / abstract / Social Work and Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The problem of street children in Namibia corresponds with that seen in other Third World countries where the economic and socioeconomic climate favours unemployment and poverty, resulting in cultural degeneration and desperate antisocial behavioural patterns. An example of this phenomenon is the growing numbers of street children who are not an integral part of a family, supportive neighbourhood or healthy surroundings. A recovery plan based on the concrete particulars of the everyday realities of these children is urgently required to reverse the situation. It demands a clear understanding of the problem within the specific context of Namibia. This article describes the general characteristics, behavioural patterns and causes of the phenomenon in order to enable the government to prevent, manage and provide an efficient service to households in Namibia so as to defuse and respond to those factors contributing to children living on the streets.

Ph.D. (Education) / The effects of daily abuse and hardship on the streets lead street children to suffer from poor mental health resulting in them choosing ineffective and self-destructive coping strategies that then impacts their physical health and their overall sense of well-being. Facilitation of the mental health of street children subjected to daily threats to their survival is thus crucially needed. In my previous research, I indicated that street children are more vulnerable to impaired psychological health than any other group of children (Moolla, 2007:65-78; Moolla, Myburgh & Poggenpoel, 2008:597). The results of this research further confirmed that street children experience a vast array of negative feelings during their daily survival activities on the street which impact negatively on their mental and physical health. I also found that negative feelings of fear, abandonment, rejection, sadness, loss of trust, disillusionment and a sense of both hopelessness and uncertainty were experienced by all the street children in the study during their daily activities necessary for their survival. As a psycho-educational facilitator, I am equipped with the skills to provide the facilitation of the mental health of street children subjected to daily abuse and hardship on the streets. Psycho-educational facilitators are highly valuable in providing an integrated healthcare-social-psychological approach when working with vulnerable individuals. To date, they are not being utilized to benefit the community and social health services, places of care and institutions catering for the neglected and abused individuals in our society. The development of a model “Facilitating the mental health of street children” is the primary purpose of this research. The problem of street children suffering from challenges to their mental health due to their daily abuse encountered on the streets, made me realise that street children need urgent facilitation of their mental health. The fact that they made a decision to leave a usually abusive home and family environment for the street shows that street children already possess an inner resilience when it comes to self preservation. However, they frequently end up choosing destructive coping strategies which makes it more difficult for them to utilise their inner resources to enhance their lives. Thus, this model focuses on nurturing this inner resilience present in street children in order to facilitate them toward enhanced mental health. Other important aspects of this research are guidelines and recommendations for psycho-educational facilitators or any healthcare professional with regard to how they should implement the model.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Social Work in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, 2009. / This study is about the research that the writer conducted based on how service providers could be helped to render effective services with special reference to street children. It is believed that this study will be considered as a field based social development practice concerned with child protection and improvement of antisocial behaviour. This research was conducted in order to firstly, establish the existence of reunification programmes in the shelters that secure street children after having been picked up from the streets. Secondly, it intended to investigate in the event the programmes were available, who were actually involved during their evaluation, for example, service providers, government officials, families of street children and street children themselves. The study also intended to examine the effectiveness of those programmes. If they were available what remedy can be employed in order to improve the relationship between the reunified vulnerable street children and their families. During data collection in June 2006 concerning this study it emanated that six (6) 89% service providers did not have reunification programmes. Only one (1) 11% Government Place of Safety uses the monitoring forms to assess the progress of the street children during institutionallsationperiod. Even the said forms do not reach the objective of rehabilitating the children because children abscond before the end of the monitoring exercise. And without the direction file of the child's home, it is hard to track down the child and get response from the family about the progress of the child. In terms of Sec 69(i) of Social Welfare White Paper 1997 the State had planned to develop programmes concerning provision of safe environment and taking care of homeless young adults and those surviving on the streets. But these goals have not yet been achieved. The service providers even confessed that they lacked skills on how to deal with problematic children other than providing safety and security until the child decides to reunify with his or her family. The study was conducted in Durban, Empangeni, Richards Bay, Eshowe, Nqutu, Nkandla and Newcastle in the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. (Due to research confidentiality ethical reasons, the real names of institutions visited will not be revealed). Lastly, the researcher prepared standardised Reunification Program Manuals (hereinafter called Behaviour Modification Treatment Model Manual) and Participation Action Research Manuals and issued them to the service providers for future use.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects frequenting the street had on the social-emotional development of children in Cuenca, Ecuador. While the study sought to discover who these children were, it primarily observed the levels of trust these children felt in the various contexts of their lives, their level of safety, where they saw themselves in the future, what made a place feel like a home, their sense of self-esteem, and how they saw themselves contributing to their future. The research instrument used in this study was a modified youth questionnaire previously developed by Tyler and Tyler (1991) in a study with street children/youth in Bogóta, Colombia. The results are presented in 11 case studies of children who ranged in age between 7 and 12 years.

Thesis (Psy. D.)--Wheaton College, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-174).

Thesis (Psy. D.)--Wheaton College, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-174).

No description available.