Leaving street life : How can centres assist street children in leaving the street life?

Abstract: This is qualitative study about Kenyan street children. The aim of this study is to get a better understanding of the pull and push factors towards the street and towards rehabilitation centres. The question formulation is; How can rehabilitation centres assist street children in leaving the street life? 25 former street children have been interviewed in a combination of focus group and individual interviews. The theoretical framework that is used for the analysis is elucidation the perspective of childhood, the street child and the street, theories about socialisation and stigma. The result shows: Pull factors exist in both directions. The pull factors towards the street are freedom, friends in the streets and drug addictions. The pull factors towards the centre are access to education, a chance to be treated like full human beings and to be able to get a better future. The street children are active social agents who have to have a desire to leave the street, it is not possible to force them off the streets. What is offered in the centre has to be viewed as better than what they have in the streets. One way for the centres to help the street children to get the desire to leave the streets is by helping them to focus on their future. The centre can also help the street child to make the transformation to the centre easier. The most important aspects is to offer drug rehabilitation programs and make the re-socialization process easier by acknowledge the positive things the street children have learned in the street and to treat them as active social agents.