Abstract:
Child streetism is a deviation from normal social life in society and proper child
growth and development. It is a serious challenge which has been on the ascendancy
regardless of uncountable barrier and interventions put forward by past and present
governments and development partners like non-governmental agencies. This project
sought out to explore the phenomenon of Streetism in the Ho municipality. The study
employed a qualitative approach and phenomenological design were employed. The
objectives used for the study were to analyse the nature of streetism in the Ho
municipality, assess the push and pull factors underling streetism in the Ho
municipality and assess the consequences of streetism in the Ho municipality.
Interviews and focus group discussions were the main instruments used for the data
collection. The study also looked at the risk and the features of street children, their
activities, and sleeping places. The study took a purposive sample of street children,
the staff of the Department of Social Welfare, The Municipal Chief Executive the
Regional Coordinator of DOVVSU. The sample size for the study was thirteen,
comprising of eight (8) street children, six (6) stakeholders. The study discovered that
divorce, poverty, large family size, and urbanization contribute to streetism while the
children on the street come from neighbouring rural areas. The implications are that a
lot of human resources go down the drain, an increase in illiteracy and a threat to
societal peace as some streetists grow to become armed robbers, prostitutes, and
associated crime will be on the increase. The prescribed recomendations were;
extension of social amenities to the rural settings will not only provide entertainment
to sustain the youth interest in the rural areas but as a push factor to investors to open
up businesses. when implemented will assist in lessening the Phenomenon if not
totally rooting it out. ` The study also got the following findings; Street children exist
and it‟s a global phenomenon but predominant in large proportions in cities and towns
with daily increases. Children in the street are classified as criminals as a result of the
kind of work they do on the street. The Social Welfare Department of Ho Municipal
should periodically embark on villages „tours‟ to give a talk on the consequences of
broken homes, migration, peer group influence, and death of a parent on the child.
This will at least make an impact to reduce the dissolution of marriages which is a
major cause of streetism in the Municipality.
Description:
A Thesis in the Department of Social Studies Education,
Faculty of Social Science, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies, in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Social Studies)
in university of education, winneba,
OCTOBER, 2020