A Study of Shelters for Street Children from an Organizational ...

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW AND DEFINITIONS
2.1 Chain of Inter-Related Causative Factors
A review of literature on the phenomenon of children living and/or working on the
streets reveals that the phenomenon is nationally and locally perceived and handled,
thus the phenomenon and its challenges are treated either on a national, local, and
individual, levels (Bilankulu, 2000; Ogunsanya, 2002; Osbome, 1995; Ratau, 2001;
Rudwick, 1996). The focus interprets street child as: (a) an individual who has
developed psycho-social challenges; (b) linked to the child, is the child's individual
family/community who have become dysfunctional due to factors beyond their control;
(c) on the local level are the extemal structural factors which impact on the
families/communities but are derived from and perceived within the national level of
any society e.g. 'The Street Children of Hillbrow' (Swart, 1990); I Street Children In
Durban: Past Present and Future' (Bedford, 1995); 'The Altemative Africa: Children
living and/or working on the streets In Ghana' (Shanhan, 1999), etc.
Contextualizing the phenomenon of children living and/or working on the streets in this
manner, on one hand, highlights the inherent peculiarities of every situation and
circumstance that cannot be replicated elsewhere. But, on the other hand, the
localization of the phenomenon of children living and/or working on the streets
reasonably could be argued and assumed that were all the factors, which trigger the
phenomenon, dealt with locally, the phenomenon would cease to exist and the plight of
children adequately met. But this is not the case because factors that trigger the
phenomenon have a global dimension, which research tends to overlook by laying
emphasis on the local situation and on individual child, family or community. E.g., one
contributing factor, which impacts heavily on the causes of the phenomenon, and is
widespread, is poverty. Poverty impacts on individual families, communities, and
societies at large. Poverty, according to some researchers, is structural and the World
Bank state that eradication of poverty requires not only the efforts of single national
govemments, but a global collaboration and coordination (http://www.worldbank.org:
24/5/2003). Poverty has to be seen within the global context, which is complex.
Research indicates that the phenomenon of children living and/or working on the
streets, rather than decreasing, is increasing, as poverty afflicts more families and
15