Resumo

SIMEON, Elzahne; HERBST, Alida  e  STRYDOM, Herman. The psycho-social circumstances and needs of street children: A needs assessment. Tydskr. geesteswet. [online]. 2017, vol.57, n.2-2, pp.562-580. ISSN 2224-7912.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2224-7912/2017/v57n2-2a5.

The phenomenon of street children has become a world-wide problem, which can be attributed to many causes that are experienced in the community at large, such as economic difficulties, joblessness and family discord. These children lose out on the privileges of a healthy family life and their basic needs are in general not fulfilled. This has a detrimental effect on street children's development and often has serious psychosocial consequences, such as distrust in people, a lack of self-confidence and negative interpersonal relationships. Life on the street is characterised by various psychosocial challenges such as abuse, prostitution, substance abuse, gangsterism, crime and human rights violations. Children are often not capable of controlling these injustices against them and therefore they are dependent on other people to act on their behalf. The strengths- and empowerment perspectives were used as the theoretical foundation of the study. Limited literature is available on the psychosocial needs and circumstances of street children in South Africa. The role of social work can be seen as assisting clients to identify their own strengths and those of their communities, in order to solve their psychosocial problems and to enhance their circumstances. Empowerment can be described as a self-help activity that assists people to take control of their lives and to develop strategies to overcome their adversities. The aim of the study was to do a needs assessment of the psychosocial circumstances and needs of street children at the Thakaneng Child and Youth Care Centre in Potchefstroom in order to obtain information which can be utilised in a life skills program. Mixed-method research was utilised for the purpose of this study, where quantitative and qualitative techniques were used in combination within the exploratory and descriptive research designs. For the part of the study reported on in this article, data was collected by means of a self-structured questionnaire. From the data obtained a number of possible themes relevant to a life skills programme could be identified. The total population of Thakaneng, namely 50 street children, were recruited as participants in this study. The social worker from Thakaneng acted as a gatekeeper for the project. All applicable ethical issues were taken into consideration in this study, such as the principle of no harm, voluntary participation, written-informed consent, steps to avoid misleading participants, anonymity, confidentiality and privacy. The risks and advantages for participants in the study were ethically calculated. Validity and reliability of the quantitative data as well as trustworthiness of the qualitative data were taken into consideration. It was found that time management, self-knowledge, knowledge about mutual trust, self-assertive behaviour, and decision-making skills were the skills of which the participants were most in need. All the participants scored more than 94% on these items. The middle group (all between 86% and 92%) included needs in terms of health and a healthy lifestyle, problem-solving skills, knowledge on career choices, coping with changes, knowledge on children's rights, and future planning. Other needs among this group include belief in the self, knowledge on HIV and Aids, how to apply for a job, how to achieve aims for daily living, how to control emotions, how to develop communication skills, how to apply financial management and to learn more on interpersonal relationships. The group of needs with the lowest score (all between 74% and 80%) involved needs such as skills to handle stress, anxiety, anger, grief and bereavement, and to manage conflict. Although all these constructs measured lower than the rest, their importance is still high and thus they should be dealt with. The most important life skills were identified by means of the needs assessment and verified by both the quantitative and qualitative data as well as the literature study. These needs can be grouped into a number of topics that can eventually be incorporated into an empowerment programme for street children, namely self-knowledge, self-confidence and self-assertive behaviour; interpersonal relationships and trust; coping and dealing with emotions; future planning and decision making; health and a healthy life style; communication skills; problem solving and conflict management; time management; financial management; and specific other issues such as the danger of using drugs, the prevention of HIV and other transferable sexual diseases, and children's rights.

Palavras-chave : life skills; child and youth care centre; mixed-methods research; programme; street children; empowerment; strengths perspective; empowerment programme; psycho-social circumstances and needs.

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