The phenomenon of children living and/or working on the streets is universal, especially in developing countries in Africa, including South Africa. This study focuses on four shelters for children living and/or working on the streets in Durban. The World Bank only recently thought to engage with the plight of children living and working on the streets.
The use of the term 'runaway' is remarkable, because researchers also call children who live and/or work on the street 'runaway children' (Boyden, 1990; Burman, 1986; Ennew, 1994). The figures are an indicator of the increasing number of children living on the streets. Poverty is a major contributing factor to the phenomenon of children living and/or working on the streets (Boyden, 1990; Ennew, 1994).
Shelters in Durban
In this regard, the Child Protection Act 1983 as it stands does not fully address the needs of children living or working on the streets. Studies of shelters for children living or working on the streets in South Africa have already been conducted (Biderman-Pam and Gonnon, 1990; Bernstein and Gray 1991). Shelters needed resources and capacity to provide services and address the challenges of children living and/or working on the streets.
This connection is necessary because different shelters approach the phenomenon of children living and/or working on the streets from different perspectives, which marks their uniqueness philosophically and ideologically. There appears to be no concern about how shelters are organized and run to meet their objectives and the challenges of children living and/or working on the streets. In view of this, a plausible question would be whether the current number of shelters is sufficient to meet the challenges of the growing number of children living and/or working on the streets.
Theoretical Background
Social Exclusion Theory
It therefore assumed the conceptual perspective that the organizational structure of NGOs/ shelters involved in intervention/ reintegration of children is based on philosophical ideology regarding staff-staff and staff-resident relationships. Service providers with program designers were mainly concerned with meeting basic needs of children with little funds they received from donor agencies. The mission of shelters and their intervention programs was to model and change children's survival behaviors, empowering them to become constructive, productive, and responsible citizens.
The process of modeling and changing children's behavior depends primarily on the understanding and perception of shelter staff about children who live and/or work on the street. Interaction and experiences show the extent and level of social exclusion of children from majority society. Theories of social exclusion and/or organizational theories have been important in the study of shelters for children living and/or working on the streets.
Chapter layout Chapter One: Introduction
A discussion of research findings and data interpretation is presented here, and the chapter ends with a conclusion. This chapter concludes the study and outlines the way forward and makes recommendations arising from the study. Charting a way forward is important because a study focused on shelters for children living and/or working on the street hypothesized that the interface between shelter organization, staff as service providers, and children either fosters children's developmental capacity or recycles children's marginalized positions in company.
As a result, shelters as human service providers need government recognition through registration and societal support.
Summary
CHAPTER TWO
Chain of Inter-Related Causative Factors
- Intervention Responses
- Shelters and Children's Homes
- Reintegration or Reunification Programs
This assumption defines or minimizes other factors that cause children to live and/or work on the streets. The link will reliably link the factors driving the phenomenon of children living and/or working on the streets with global dimensions. Studies are mainly carried out as the media highlights the plight of children who live and/or work on the streets.
Children living and/or working on the streets face many complex and intertwined physical and psychological challenges. In doing so, one wonders who the children are who live and/or work on the street. In this regard, not all children living and/or working on the street were admitted to shelters and did not have access to services.
Conclusion
CHAPTER THREE
- Sample A. Shelters
- Sample B. Managers or Directors
- Sample C. Shelter Staff
- Sample D. Shelter Residents
- Recording Data
- Validity and Reliability
- Constrain and Limitation of the Study
This was to determine the flow of the investigation in phases and to ensure consistency in the research project. The researcher constantly reviewed the purpose of the study to ensure that the study remained focused. The validity of focus group discussions depends not only on the research procedures and techniques, but also on the whole process of research, including the competence of the researcher.
It was found that the time schedule of the researcher and the shelters varies to a great extent; In this regard, the focus group discussions were a catalyst for confirming the reliability of the information. The person of the researcher not only determines the design and collection of data, but also how to use the research findings.
The researcher was aware of the vulnerability and potential for abuse of children who live and/or work on the streets. The interviewees presented rather than represented the views and experiences of the shelter staff and residents. Focus group discussion sessions lasted slightly longer, but depended on the talkativeness, concentration and interest in the subjects of the participants.
The main concern and emphasis of all shelters or homes is the well-being of the children who live and/or work on the streets. This decision is based on the researcher's knowledge of the interviewee and the location of the interview, as well as the availability of interview instruments. The reception centers exist to facilitate the provision of services and the intervention and reintegration of the children into mainstream society.
Sensitivity to the participants' feelings and experiences led the researcher to assure them that all information should be treated with the utmost confidentiality.
CHAPTER FOUR OATA ANALVSIS
Introduction
- Shelters Admission
- Funding and Finances
- Shelters Activities
Even children who live and/or work on the street find it the right time to be adventurous. Funding is a crucial issue with shelters and impacts on the entire exercise of getting children living and/or working on the streets off the streets. The Childcare Act does not mention children who live and/or work on the streets and their difficult circumstances.
The law must be changed to give recognition to children who live and/or work on the streets as children in their own category. One could argue that registering shelters would get rid of the children's free choice and thus make it mandatory for all children who live and/or work on the streets to be at the shelters. Shelter managers believed that there is a need and space for shelters to be registered as shelters for children living and/or working on the streets.
However, they noted that shelter capacity left out many children living and/or working on the streets. This challenge has become common among children living and/or working on the streets and has stretched staff capacity and ability to deal with it in the shelters. Such a strategy will ensure that all children living and/or working on the streets benefit from the programs of intervention and reintegration.
The shelters offered children the opportunity to do something about the poor living conditions they faced on the streets. They found that children on the street slept irregularly and that behavior manifested itself in the shelters. Children who live and/or work on the streets are the recipients of shelter services as residents of shelters.
He further emphasized that life in shelters was different from life on the streets. On the other hand, other participants argued that the shelters were right to demand that order and discipline in the shelter. Shelters for children living and/or working on the streets as human service organizations influence and effect behavioral changes in individual children.
CHAPTER FIVE
Shelters' Routine and Regulations
Shelters need discipline as a way to transform the culture of children living and/or working on the streets. Children who live and work on the streets develop behavioral characteristics that enable them to live on the streets. By law, children living and/or working on the streets should be filtered into 'children's homes'.
This problem arises from the current different perspectives on children living and/or working on the streets. Employees repeatedly indicated that children living and/or working on the street needed help because of the difficult conditions they experienced on the street. However, according to Schurink (1993), the lives of children who live and/or work on the streets begin with problematic experiences at home, in the community and at school.
The Children's Draft Bill 2002 envisages the following points related to the phenomenon of children living and/or working on the streets:. Shelters as organizations, intervention and reintegration programs are derived from concern about the fate of children living and/or working on the streets. No single word can capture the definition of 'children living and/or working on the streets'.
The children from the shelter0 set a good example by painting the children who live and/or work on the street bus (Khoza, 2003). Intervening with children who live and/or work in the street world requires sensitivity, patience, respect. There are many NGOs and government programs in South Africa designed to find solutions to the problems of children living and/or working on the streets.
Meanwhile, there is a need to recognize and complement shelters and other organizations that intervene in the lives of children living and/or working on the streets.
Health
Social and recreation
