Street Youth Research Articles

Unsafe sexual behaviour associated with hazardous alcohol use among street-involved youth

ABSTRACTWhile risky sexual behaviours related to illicit drug use among street youth have been explored, the impacts of alcohol use have received less attention. This longitudinal study examined hazardous alcohol use among a population of street-involved youth, with particular attention to sexual and drug-related risk behaviours. Data were derived from the At-Risk Youth Study, a prospective cohort of street-involved youth in Vancouver, Canada. The outcome of interest was hazardous alcohol use defined by the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. We used generalized estimating equations (GEEs) analyses to identify factors associated with hazardous alcohol use. Between 2005 and 2014, 1149 drug-using youth were recruited and 629 (55%) reported hazardous alcohol use in the previous 6 months during study follow-up. In multivariable GEE analyses, unprotected sex (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.28, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.12–1.46) and homelessness (AOR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.19–1.54) were independently associated with hazardous alcohol use (all p < .001). Older age (AOR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.92–0.99), Caucasian ethnicity (AOR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.61–0.90), daily heroin use (AOR = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.42–0.67), daily crack cocaine smoking (AOR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.59–0.91), and daily crystal methamphetamine use (AOR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.42–0.64) were negatively associated with hazardous alcohol use (all p < .05). In sub-analysis, consistent dose–response patterns were observed between levels of alcohol use and unprotected sex, homelessness, and daily heroin injection. In sum, hazardous alcohol use was positively associated with unsafe sexual behaviour and negatively associated with high-intensity drug use. Interventions to address hazardous alcohol use should be central to HIV prevention efforts for street-involved youth.

Weapon-Carrying Among Young Men in Glasgow: Street Scripts and Signals in Uncertain Social Spaces

Our work contributes through a cultural criminological perspective to a contextualised knowledge of street violence and its constructed meanings; uncertainty, familiarity and strangeness in spaces of urban disadvantage as perceived by Scottish white youths are examined. Youth criminal and anti-social behaviour associated with knife-carrying is widely reported and structures political and media discourses which classify street culture. In our article we argue that a particular symbolic construction of social space, as experienced and constructed by weapon-carrying young white men in Glasgow, informs the landscape of violence judged in terms of official statistics and fear of crime. Signal crime theory as a particular type of cultural criminology affords insights about why weapons are carried. Links with a hierarchical codification of consumer culture inform the findings and resonate with the penetration of capitalism in the lives of the marginalised street youth.

Decline in HIV seroprevalence in street youth 2006-2012, St. Petersburg, Russia: moving toward an AIDS-free generation.

A 2006 survey of street youth at pre-mapped street youth locations in St. Petersburg, Russia, found extremely high HIV seroprevalence (37.4%) among 313 street youth aged 15-19 years of age, strongly associated with injection drug use, which was reported by 50.6% of participants. In response, multi-sectoral social support and prevention measures were instituted. In 2012, we conducted a follow-up survey of 15- to 19-year-old street youth using the same study procedures as in 2006. Of 311 participants, 45 (14.5%) reported injection drug use; 31 participants (10.0%, 95% confidence interval, 6.0%-16.2%) were HIV-seropositive . Predictors independently associated with HIV seropositivity included injection drug use (adjusted prevalence ratio 53.1) and transactional sex (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.3). None of the 178 participants aged 15-17 years were HIV-positive. Thirty of 31 (96.8%) HIV-seropositive individuals reported injection drug use. Street youth in St Petersburg had a 73% decrease in HIV seroprevalence from 2006 to 2012, primarily due to decreased initiation of injection drug use. This marked reduction in the HIV epidemic among street youth occurred after implementation of extensive support programs and socio-economic improvements.

Race, Street Life, and Policing: Implications for Racial Profiling

Scholarship is divided over whether youth from marginalized populations are stopped and searched by police primarily due to their illegal behaviours (functionalism), marginalized status (conflict theory), or both. We address this debate by comparing the police interactions experienced by a sample of high school students (N = 3,393) living at home with a sample of youth (N = 396) who have left home and are residing in shelters or on the streets of Toronto, Ontario. Logistic regression analysis demonstrates that after controlling for demographic and behavioural factors, black high school students are more likely than white high school students to report being stopped and searched by the police multiple times; this indicates that they are the victims of racially biased policing. In contrast, black and white street youth are equally likely to report being stopped and searched by the police on multiple occasions. We suggest that this is because all street youth, regardless of race, take part in high levels of deviant behaviour, which attracts police attention. We conclude that consensus theory is appropriate for explaining police stops and searches of street youth, whereas conflict theory is appropriate for explaining police stops and searches of black high school students.

Risk factors for HIV among Zambian street youth

ABSTRACTThe sub-Saharan African region has been disproportionately affected by HIV and Zambia has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates within this region. Moreover, new incidences of HIV infection are increasing most rapidly among those 15–24 years of age. Though young people are at high risk for HIV infection, street youth are even more vulnerable given their exposure to high-risk behaviors. The current study examines multiple levels of social influence on HIV infection among 250 street youth in Zambia. Results reveal that though the majority of youth understand what behaviors increase their risk for HIV, youth still hold many misconceptions about HIV/AIDS. Additionally, youth who do not have a home to return to and those who report parental drug misuse were significantly more likely to be HIV positive. This study underscores the need for further education among street youth regarding HIV knowledge.

Methodological reflections on research with street youth

Summary This paper examines both the epistemological and practical limitations and challenges of data collection by reflecting on the experiences of a team of both junior and senior researchers engaged in such a longitudinal study. Findings This paper argues that longitudinal research with street youth challenges the boundaries and limits of the formal constructs of research and ethics that typically guide qualitative research by grappling with field issues such as navigating reciprocity, risk and authenticity within relationships with a vulnerable group. Application This paper calls for an explicit acknowledgement of the challenges researching populations such as street youth over time in our research ethics guidelines and encourages researchers to engage in dialogue leading to more reflective, transparent and accountable framing of how we collect data in the field with vulnerable youth populations.

Implementing intensified tuberculosis case-finding among street-connected youth and young adults in Kenya.

Street-connected youth and young adults (SCY) suffer a myriad of health problems. In Kenya, SCY are at high risk for tuberculosis (TB) due to their congregate living situations. TB screening is not routinely implemented in SCY and there has been no published literature on the burden of TB in SCY in western Kenya. In 2011, the AMPATH TB Program, an experienced TB screening program, partnered with the Tumaini Center, a trusted street youth organization, to conduct intensified case finding (ICF) for pulmonary TB among SCY. Our program aimed to investigate the numbers of SCY who reported symptoms and those diagnosed with smear-positive pulmonary TB, and link SCY with TB to treatment. Of 116 SCY who were screened, 114 (98%) had a positive questionnaire; 104 (90%) provided a spot sputum sample, 39 (34%) provided a morning sputum sample, and 111 (97%) reported cough of >2 weeks. One street youth tested smear-positive for TB and was treated through to cure. Implementing TB ICF is feasible in low-resource settings through unique collaborations between health care programs and community-based organizations. In addition to identifying smear-positive TB, our program uncovered a high burden of respiratory symptoms among SCY in Eldoret, Kenya.

Book review: David C Brotherton, Youth Street Gangs: A Critical Appraisal

Book review: David C Brotherton, Youth Street Gangs: A Critical Appraisal

Multi-Level Risk and Protective Factors for Substance Use Among Zambian Street Youth

ABSTRACTBackground: High rates of substance use have been reported among youth in Zambia. This is particularly concerning given that substance use is one of the biggest risk factors placing young people at risk for HIV infection. Objectives: The purpose of the current study is to examine how multi-level risk and protective factors (i.e., community, family, peers, individual) influence alcohol and marijuana use. Methods: A total of 250 street youth in Lusaka, Zambia were interviewed in the summer of 2014 about their alcohol and marijuana use and reasons for usage. Data were analyzed using descriptive and multivariate methods. Results: Youth reported high rates of alcohol use. At the multivariate level, peer and individual level variables (e.g., using alcohol or drugs for coping or for fun) explained the most variance, followed by family level factors. Community level variables explained the least variance in all models. Conclusion/Importance: A better understanding of multi-level risk and protective factors for young people's alcohol and marijuana use could lead to the development of better intervention strategies to reduce this behavior among Zambian street youth.

Causes of Child and Youth Homelessness in Developed and Developing Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

A systematic compilation of children and youth's reported reasons for street involvement is lacking. Without empirical data on these reasons, the policies developed or implemented to mitigate street involvement are not responsive to the needs of these children and youth. To systematically analyze the self-reported reasons why children and youth around the world become street-involved and to analyze the available data by level of human development, geographic region, and sex. Electronic searches of Scopus, PsychINFO, EMBASE, POPLINE, PubMed, ERIC, and the Social Sciences Citation Index were conducted from January 1, 1990, to the third week of July 2013. We searched the peer-reviewed literature for studies that reported quantitative reasons for street involvement. The following broad search strategy was used to search the databases: "street children" OR "street youth" OR "homeless youth" OR "homeless children" OR "runaway children" OR "runaway youth" or "homeless persons." Studies were included if they met the following inclusion criteria: (1) participants were 24 years of age or younger, (2) participants met our definition of street-connected children and youth, and (3) the quantitative reasons for street involvement were reported. We reviewed 318 full texts and identified 49 eligible studies. Data were extracted by 2 independent reviewers. We fit logistic mixed-effects models to estimate the pooled prevalence of each reason and to estimate subgroup pooled prevalence by development level or geographic region. The meta-analysis was conducted from February to August 2015. We created the following categories based on the reported reasons in the literature: poverty, abuse, family conflict, delinquency, psychosocial health, and other. In total, there were 13 559 participants from 24 countries, of which 21 represented developing countries. The most commonly reported reason for street involvement was poverty, with a pooled-prevalence estimate of 39% (95% CI, 29%-51%). Forty-seven studies included in this review reported family conflict as the reason for street involvement, with a pooled prevalence of 32% (95% CI, 26%-39%). Abuse was equally reported in developing and developed countries as the reason for street involvement, with a pooled prevalence of 26% (95% CI, 18%-35%). Delinquency was the least frequently cited reason overall, with a pooled prevalence of 10% (95% CI, 5%-20%). The street-connected children and youth who provided reasons for their street involvement infrequently identified delinquent behaviors for their circumstances and highlighted the role of poverty as a driving factor. They require support and protection, and governments globally are called on to reduce the socioeconomic inequities that cause children and youth to turn to the streets in the first place, in all regions of the world.

Place attachment among children in a street situation in Pelotas, Brazil

ABSTRACTThis article explores the processes which affect street children and youths’ relationships with the place called the ‘streets’. The street as a place to live is violent and hostile. However, street dwellers aspire to see the street environment positively. In fact, being able to establish a positive relationship with the street, to become attached to it, is crucial for coping within it. In this research, longitudinal qualitative data concentrating on processes were produced time-geographically with 19 street children and youths in the Brazilian town of Pelotas. The analyses of this research reveal that attachment changes over time instead of remaining static. Examples from the streets demonstrate how the human–environment relationship is shaped by constantly changing encounters of physical, social and mental (f)actors. This article stresses the importance of individual life experiences and goals for the attachment processes and for what positively affects the attachment.

Six-year mortality in a street-recruited cohort of homeless youth in San Francisco, California.

Objectives. The mortality rate of a street-recruited homeless youth cohort in the United States has not yet been reported. We examined the six-year mortality rate for a cohort of street youth recruited from San Francisco street venues in 2004.Methods. Using data collected from a longitudinal, venue-based sample of street youth 15–24 years of age, we calculated age, race, and gender-adjusted mortality rates.Results. Of a sample of 218 participants, 11 died from enrollment in 2004 to December 31, 2010. The majority of deaths were due to suicide and/or substance abuse. The death rate was 9.6 deaths per hundred thousand person-years. The age, race and gender-adjusted standardized mortality ratio was 10.6 (95% CI [5.3–18.9]). Gender specific SMRs were 16.1 (95% CI [3.3–47.1]) for females and 9.4 (95% CI [4.0–18.4]) for males.Conclusions. Street-recruited homeless youth in San Francisco experience a mortality rate in excess of ten times that of the state’s general youth population. Services and programs, particularly housing, mental health and substance abuse interventions, are urgently needed to prevent premature mortality in this vulnerable population.

Ethics in Community-University-Artist Partnered Research: Tensions, Contradictions and Gaps Identified in an 'Arts for Social Change' Project.

Academics from diverse disciplines are recognizing not only the procedural ethical issues involved in research, but also the complexity of everyday “micro” ethical issues that arise. While ethical guidelines are being developed for research in aboriginal populations and low-and-middle-income countries, multi-partnered research initiatives examining arts-based interventions to promote social change pose a unique set of ethical dilemmas not yet fully explored. Our research team, comprising health, education, and social scientists, critical theorists, artists and community-activists launched a five-year research partnership on arts-for-social change. Funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council in Canada and based in six universities, including over 40 community-based collaborators, and informed by five main field projects (circus with street youth, theatre by people with disabilities, dance for people with Parkinson’s disease, participatory theatre with refugees and artsinfused dialogue), we set out to synthesize existing knowledge and lessons we learned. We summarized these learnings into 12 key points for reflection, grouped into three categories: community-university partnership concerns (n = 3), dilemmas related to the arts (n = 5), and team issues (n = 4). In addition to addressing previous concerns outlined in the literature (e.g., related to consent, anonymity, dangerous emotional terrain, etc.), we identified power dynamics (visible and hidden) hindering meaningful participation of community partners and university-based teams that need to be addressed within a reflective critical framework of ethical practice. We present how our team has been addressing these issues, as examples of how such concerns could be approached in community-university partnerships in arts for social change.

'Pregnancy Has Its Advantages': The Voices of Street Connected Children and Youth in Eldoret, Kenya.

ObjectiveLittle is known about the reproductive health or family planning needs of street-connected children and youth in resource-constrained countries. The study objective was to describe how street-connected children and youth (SCCY) in Eldoret, Kenya, perceive pregnancy.MethodsThis qualitative study was conducted between August 2013 and February 2014. A total of 65 SCCY aged 11–24 years were purposively sampled from the three referral points: 1) A dedicated study clinic for vulnerable children and youth at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH); 2) Primary locations in which street children reside known as “bases/barracks”; and 3) Street youth community-based organizations. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were audio recorded, transcribed, and translated into English. Content analysis was performed after thematic coding by 4 independent coders.ResultsThe majority of SCCY interviewed were male (69%) and sexually active (81.5%). None had gone beyond primary level of education. The strong desire for SCCY to go through conventional life experiences including marriage and child bearing was evident. Sub-themes around desired pregnancies included: sense of identity with other SCCY, sense of hope, male ego, lineage, source of income, and avoiding stigmatization. The desire for children was highly gendered with male SCCY more focused on their social status in the street community, while for females it was primarily for survival on the street. Female SCCY generally lacked agency around reproductive health issues and faced gender-based violence. Abortions (either assisted or self-induced), infanticide, and child abandonment were reported. Respondents described a lucrative market for babies born to SCCY and alleged that healthcare workers were known to abduct these babies following hospital deliveries.ConclusionOur findings indicate gender differences in the reasons why SCCY become pregnant and have children. We also noted gender inequalities in reproductive health decisions. SCCY friendly interventions that provide tailored reproductive health services are needed.

Exploring social inclusion strategies for public health research and practice: The use of participatory visual methods to counter stigmas surrounding street-based substance abuse in Colombia

ABSTRACTThis paper presents the participatory visual research design and findings from a qualitative assessment of the social impact of bazuco and inhalant/glue consumption among street youth in Bogotá, Colombia. The paper presents the visual methodologies our participatory action research (PAR) team employed in order to identify and overcome the stigmas and discrimination that street youth experience in society and within state-sponsored drug rehabilitation programmes. I call for critical reflection regarding the broad application of the terms ‘participation’ and ‘participatory’ in visual research and urge scholars and public health practitioners to consider the transformative potential of PAR for both the research and practice of global public health in general and rehabilitation programmes for street-based substance abuse in Colombia in particular. The paper concludes with recommendations as to how participatory visual methods can be used to promote social inclusion practices and to work against stigma and discrimination in health-related research and within health institutions.

Quality of Life and Hopelessness among Adolescent Rag Pickers of Delhi, India

Rag pickers are marginalized section of our society. India grappling the problem of shelter particularly in the urban societies besides other socio economic problems likes other Asian countries. Children living and working on streets are bound to adopt substandard life style due to lack of basic facilities. As results their quality of life includes physical health, social and psychological functioning severely destabilized and tends to develop sense of insecurity, hopelessness, depression, anxiety etc. Therefore, the study was conducted on the adolescents engaged in rag picking on the streets of Delhi to measure their quality of life and its impact on future perspective thinking. For that purpose sixty rag pickers were taken incidentally from different localities of Delhi. The participants of were male and between the age range of 12 - 18 engaged in rag picking. Sixty adolescents not engaged in rag picking and living with the parents were also taken from the same locality. WHOQOL-BREF and Beck hopelessness scales (BHS) were administered on both the groups of participants to assess their quality of life and sense of hopelessness. The finding suggested that rag picker adolescents were found suffering from significantly poor quality of life as well as higher degree of hopelessness. Findings further indicated negative relationship between quality of life and sense of hopelessness. The living conditions and quality of life of such population appear to be miserable as they usually tolerate constant hunger and suffers from malnourishment, which make them vulnerable to health related problems. For the sake of survival, adolescents working on street and perform variety of jobs including the collection of plastic, aluminium, paper, and anything else that can be resold. Sometime they are also found to be engaged in begging. Their poor quality of life expose them too many health related risk and derive them to be involved in illegal activities like drug trafficking, organ trades, prostitution and slavery especially in metropolitan cities. Such type of situations makes their life complex which in turn develops many psychological problems such as anxiety, psychological trauma, alienation, and feeling of hopelessness as a result they become psychologically vulnerable as well. Psychologically, these children are deprived of love, affection and family's sympathy. As far as quality of life is concerned it is defined in many ways and its measurement and incorporation into scientific study is not steady or easy. The World Health Organization defines Quality of Life as 'The individual's perception of his or her position in life, within the cultural context and value system he/she lives in, and in relation to his or her goals, expectations parameters and social relations. Every culture has different factors affecting quality of life and measures psychological, physical, social as well as economic well-being of the individuals. The general concept of quality of life was basically overlapping with the traditional concepts of health and functional status. An ideal health assessment, therefore, would include a measure of the person's physical health, a measure of physical, social and psychological functioning, and a measure of quality of life. Poverty is one of the most serious social concerns across the world today. Among the poor, the most vulnerable section of the society is people living on the streets. Whether they are gangs of street youth or panhandling drifters, no society is unaffected by the social problem of homelessness. The existing literature on street children or adolescents strongly suggests that there are many problems associated with life without a home. Studies have shown that homelessness is also associated with behaviour problem in

“Hitting the Streets”: Youth Street Involvement as Adaptive Well-Being

Youth involved in illegal street activities such as drug trafficking and violence are at high risk for school failure and other negative outcomes. Research often seeks to identify what is “wrong” with them, what makes them different from “normal” youth, but relatively few studies focus on variations in how youth engage in and make meaning of street activity as embedded within the contexts of their lives. In this article, Tara Brown examines how eighteen young adults in a predominantly Latina/o urban community experienced and understood their involvement in street activities. She draws on interview data from a participatory action research project that studied how and why participants were involved in street activities while they were attending K–12 schools. Framing street activities as adaptive responses aimed at well-being, she examines participants' involvement in relationship to their life circumstances, needs, and desires within the context of street life and proposes how youth may be similarly and differently oriented toward street activity. Ultimately, Brown argues that more complex understandings of youths' street involvement require deeper knowledge about its adaptive and varied nature, which can benefit educational researchers and practitioners in more effectively supporting these young people in achieving long-term well-being.

The Sociospatial Network: Risk and the Role of Place in the Transmission of Infectious Diseases.

Control of sexually transmitted infections and blood-borne pathogens is challenging due to their presence in groups exhibiting complex social interactions. In particular, sharing injection drug use equipment and selling sex (prostitution) puts people at high risk. Previous work examining the involvement of risk behaviours in social networks has suggested that social and geographic distance of persons within a group contributes to these pathogens’ endemicity. In this study, we examine the role of place in the connectedness of street people, selected by respondent driven sampling, in the transmission of blood-borne and sexually transmitted pathogens. A sample of 600 injection drug users, men who have sex with men, street youth and homeless people were recruited in Winnipeg, Canada from January to December, 2009. The residences of participants and those of their social connections were linked to each other and to locations where they engaged in risk activity. Survey responses identified 101 unique sites where respondents participated in injection drug use or sex transactions. Risk sites and respondents’ residences were geocoded, with residence representing the individuals. The sociospatial network and estimations of geographic areas most likely to be frequented were mapped with network graphs and spatially using a Geographic Information System (GIS). The network with the most nodes connected 7.7% of respondents; consideration of the sociospatial network increased this to 49.7%. The mean distance between any two locations in the network was within 3.5 kilometres. Kernel density estimation revealed key activity spaces where the five largest networks overlapped. Here, the combination of spatial and social entities in network analysis defines the overlap of vulnerable populations in risk space, over and above the person to person links. Implications of this work are far reaching, not just for understanding transmission dynamics of sexually transmitted infections by identifying activity “hotspots” and their intersection with each social network, but also for the spread of other diseases (e.g. tuberculosis) and targeting prevention services.

Drama with street youth: visual methodology dialogues across distance

As past school educators and doctoral students, the authors aim to further collaborative analytical discussions across distances through the use of technology and supported readings. They describe their journey of collaboratively analyzing two different examples of data, two film clippings from an applied theatre rehearsal with street youth, while using a visual methodology to enhance their discussions. In conclusion, they explain that their analysis of this pedagogical and methodological experiment supported them as they returned to their own respective research and writing equipped with new methodological and analytical tools that facilitated seeing their own visual data differently. Through this dialogical experiment they are advocating for a fuller recognition of a collective learning methodology in education, especially in what can be the very lonely and isolating stage of analysis in doctoral research and in the beginning stages of entering the classroom.

Studying youth in the streets of the media city – Field notes on a relational perspective

How to study the youth in the media city, where the physical and the digital lives of young people often intertwine and overlap? What kinds of spatial entitlements and forms of control young people experience in a media city? How to grasp those issues in fieldwork, in a condition in which, ‘the street’, is constructed as a conceptual and empirical locus for ethnographic research. This article attempts to reflect upon these questions by providing some theoretical and empirical reflections based on media and street ethnographic fieldwork among youth in two contemporary media cities of Helsinki and London. The article draws its inspiration from the scholarly crossroads of sociology, youth studies, urban studies and media studies, and applies the concept of relationality to that framework. We examine aspects of relationality (among and between people, spaces and the media), which researchers confront when studying young people’s lives in the media city ethnographically. In order to understand the complex meanings that the street acquires when approached from the perspective of the youth in the media city, the issues related to the boundaries, (in)visibility and control connected with the idea of relationality are discussed in more detail. Our reflections are based on the project titled Youth Street Politics in the Media Age