Abstract
M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)
The street child that is driven by circumstances to Jive outside the
supportive structure of the family, is on his own. He doesn't have the
educational developmental opportunities that children who grow up in
families and societies do. He finds himself in a unique educational and
living environment. From an educational psychologist point of view, this
environment is abnormal. It is therefore a great challenge for the
educational psychologist to try and avoid or resolve negative effects of
the child's living environment.
The aim of the study is to investigate and describe the
experiences of the Hillbrow street child, as well as to determine
guidelines for supporting these children.
An exploratory-, descriptive-, contextual- and qualitative study was done,
with the aim of gaining insight and understanding into the life of the
street child in Hillbrow as well as his experiences of his situation. The
phenomenological interview was used to gather data. The interviews
were recorded on a tape recorder and later transcribed. The purposive
sample consists of four street children who were selected
specifically for the study. The data was processed according to a
combination of the Giorgi's & Kerlinger's methods.
The results obtained from the interviews were placed in four categories.
These categories are: The street child's continuous struggle to survive,
his need for a 'normal child life', his inability to accept responsibility and
the presence of a normative awareness within the street child.
Guidelines for supportive action towards street children by the
educational psychologist are discussed in regard to the four categories.
These categories are interdependent, as work in one category inevitably
influences the other categories. For this reason the educational
psychologist's supportive action needs to be holistic to include all four
categories.
In conclusion it is clear that the experiences of the street child are
multi-faceted. In general it appears that the street child has many
limitations and difficulties which he experiences, and that input by an
educational psychologist can have meaningful influence in his life.