Abstract
In October 2006, a survey was undertaken of youth “on the streets” in the Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions of Tanzania (n = 1,923). The question of interest was if street children who live on streets full-time differ concerning reports of abuse and support, compared to reports of children who are only part-time on the streets, and to children who don’t self-identify as “street children” at all. Results show full-time street children reporting significantly more abuse than part-time counterparts, or children who were not street children (mean difference = −1.44, P < .001). Concerning support scores, non-street children and part-time street children reported significantly more support from their family than full-time street children (mean difference = 1.70, P < .001). This information identifies possible reasons why vulnerable children migrate to live on the streets in the urban areas, and contributes to the limited literature and data on this subject.
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Acknowledgments
To Francis Ormondi, of REPOA, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for his kind support with the ethics clearance process for this research.
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McAlpine, K., Henley, R., Mueller, M. et al. A Survey of Street Children in Northern Tanzania: How Abuse or Support Factors May Influence Migration to the Street. Community Ment Health J 46, 26–32 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-009-9196-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-009-9196-5