NCJ Number
129201
Editor(s)
N A Boxill
Date Published
1990
Length
165 pages
Annotation
This compendium of articles on homeless children considers the impact of homelessness on children, interaction between mothers and children in a shelter, issues of vulnerability and poverty among the homeless, and street children in Latin America.
Abstract
In the first chapter, an environmental psychologist goes beyond the pedantic question of impact and explores the meaning of personal space in the lives of children. The emotional and circumstantial context of a child's behavior is stressed. The second chapter documents specific psychological effects of shelter living on childhood behavior patterns. Attention is focused on apparent developmental delays and on observed coping, adaptive, and aggressive behavior patterns. The results of an 8-city study of homeless children are reported in the third chapter. The information is intended to help social workers who are often on the front line of intervention programs. The fourth chapter constructs a new context for understanding mother-child relationships among homeless women and their children. The fifth chapter discusses the physical health status of homeless children, while the next two chapters examine program and policy options for the homeless. Lifestyles of street children in Bogota, Colombia, and in Guatemala City are described in the final chapter. References and tables