| dc.description.abstract | The problem of street children formerly referred to as
"Parking boys and girls" is a fairly recent phenomenon that has
invited a lot of criticism from various quarters with political
leaders taking the lead. Prominent civil servants have also
blamed and condemned such children as an embarrassment to the~c~
country. The more these leaders condemn the problem, the more ~ -s
chronic it becomes. lu
sP
The social contraction of meanings about street children in
Nairobi are changing ana-ambiguous such that a cultural
perspective must take into account such ambiguity and some
understanding of how street children are defined by the wider
society.
This research involves a fairly comprehensive study of the
street children with major emphasis on the reasons behind their
presence on the streets, whether they prefer street life to home
life, the kinds of activities they are involved in while on the
streets, their health status, rural-urban linkages, their
aspirations, their sleeping patterns, how they feed, selfperception
and description, street problems and generally the
impact of street life on the children. '
The way street children perceive themselves is compared and
contrasted with focus group characterization with a view to
creating a better understanding of street children. This
investigation provides an ethno ra hic understanding of the I~
street children problem. Finally, recommen ations and
suggestions have been made on how to tackle the problem of street | en |
