Problems of Street Children A Sociological Study of Urban Sindh PHD Thesis-Libre

THE PROBLEMS OF STREET CHILDREN:
A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF URBAN SINDH
A DESERTATION SUBMITTED
BY
AMIR ALI ABRO
FOR
THE DEGREE OF DOCTORATE IN PHILOSOPHY
IN
SOCIOLOGY
Dr. GHULAM MUHAMMAD BURFAT

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
RESEARCH SUPERVISOR
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF KARACHI
2012
In the name of
Allah the Almighty
The Most Gracious and

Compassionate One.
Dedication
I dedicate this thesis to The Street Children of Urban Sindh. It has been a great experience
working with them and I sincerely hope that this research work will provide valuable information
for the decision-makers in the relevant government sectors that seek to improve the conditions of
Street Children in Urban Sindh.
Certificate
Certified that the content and form of this thesis entitled Problems of street children: A
sociological study of urban Sindh, submitted by Amir Ali Abro have been found satisfactory for
the requirement of the Ph.D in sociology.
Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Burfat

Assistant Professor
Research supervisor
Department of Sociology
University of Karachi
April 2012
ABSTRACT
Once a child leaves the family home for whatever reason to live on the street, he is
labeled as a street child. Despite the absence of authentic surveys, the number of street children in
urban sindh is estimated to be no less than 50,000. Street children are the causalities of economic
woes, war, poverty, loss of traditional values, domestic violence and physical and psychological
abuses. They seldom have a choice in becoming a straw in the wind and going to school is always
out of question. For kicks, these young souls turn to narcotics or to sniffing rubber solvent. Many
street children gather money by begging, selling flowers, washing cars, shoe-shining, working in
small hotels, selling water and newspapers or other items or via prostitution, receiving only a small
cut from the money that gets collected. The city police, especially the traffic police cops, also share
their earnings. Then there are the Afghan kids, who pick plastic, glass, metal and other knick-knack
from the garbage thrown out on the streets, and sell them to the shopkeepers. The street children
usually conclude the days activity by indulging in sex in dark corners or other hidden places and
then go back to their dera, where they eat and sleep. The street children usually form groups to
secure themselves from exploitation and abuse, which is common. Several institutions, National and
International organisations have conducted research on the street children of Pakistan. But Pakistan
Government has not shown any significant progress in tackling the issue. The performance of
Government shows that neither our legislators nor administrators have taken any effective or viable
steps to root out the crimes linked to street children. Undoubtedly, the media can play a much
greater role to help send street children to school, instead of leaving them to the vagaries of the
crime world, and in the hands of abusers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This dissertation primarily attempts to offer insights into the problems of street children in
four cities of Sindh province and analysis of their socio-economic-cultural situation. In conclusion,
apart from summary of the research and results, recommendations have been made for the
government, non-government organisations and future researchers for the well being of street
children.
I am very grateful to my Research Supervisor Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Burfat without

whose help, encouragement and supervision it would have been difficult to complete my thesis. He
has been very supportive and co-operative to me in completing this thesis. I greatly appreciate his
experience and knowledge in Sociology and the time he has given me for completing this thesis.
One must glean information and further criticism from all possible quarters and in this
context my thanks are due to Prof. Dr. Fateh Mohammad Burfat who not only encouraged me to do
my PhD but has also given both help and moral support during times of particular need.
I would also like to express my gratitude and appreciation for help and encouragement
received directly or indirectly from Mr. Sanaullah Rind, research scholar, Quaid-i-Azam University,
Islamabad.
It is really those who are near to me that must bear the full force of my own inadequacies, so
I must appreciate my mother, my wife, my children and my Brothers for their devotion and patience
towards me. Without their sincere love and support this research could not have come to productive.
Last but not the least, I also owe thanks to Mr. Hamid Henry for his generous sharing of
views and secretarial and technical assistance, in one way or the other, during compilation of this
report.
CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
DEDICATION
iii
CERTIFICAT
iv
ABSTRACT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
vii
LIST OF TABLES
xiv
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
01
1.1.
Prologue
01
1.2.
Definition of the street children
11
1.3.
Background of the study
14
1.4.
Significance of the study
15
1.5.
Some major factors which lead to the phenomenon
17
1.5.1. Economic and Social Factors
17
1.5.2. Cultural Factors
18
1.5.3. Social Factors
20
1.5.4. Dysfunctional Families
21
1.5.5. Urbanization
22
1.5.6. Migration
22
1.5.7. The Media
22
1.5.8. Peers Influence
23
1.6.
1.7.
1.8.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
24
1.6.1.
General Objectives
24
1.6.2. Specific Objectives
24
HYPOTHESES
25
1.7.1. Independent Variables
26
1.7.2. Dependent Variables
27
Key Terms
27
CHAPTER 2
2.1.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
29
Theoretical Perspectives
31
2.1.1. Structural-Functionalism
31
2.1.2. Conflict Theory
32
2.1.3. Symbolic Interactionism
33
2.2.
International studies
35
2.3.
National studies
50
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
74
3.1.
Type of study
74
3.2.
Universe of study
74
3.2.1. Urban sindh
76
3.2.1.1
Karachi
77
3.2.1.2
Hyderabad
89
3.2.1.3
Sukkur
80
3.2.1.4.
Larkana
80
10
3.3.
Sample
81
3.4.
Sampling
82
3.5.
Method of data collection
82
3.6.
Interview schedule for street children
83
3.7.
Pre-testing
83
3.8.
Focus group discussions
84
3.9.
Interview process
85
3.10. Coding
85
3.11. Ethical considerations
86
3.12. Gaining consent
86
3.13.
87
Confidentiality
CHAPTER 4
PRESENTATION AND DATA ANALYSIS
88
4.1.
Quantitative Analysis
88
4.2.
Descriptive Analysis
88
4.3.
Frequency Distribution Tables
89
4.3.3 Demographic Information
89
4.3.4
106
Socio Economic and Resources problems
4.3.5 Social Behavior and Socio Psychological Problems
113
4.3.6 Risk Behaviors and Drug use Problems
125
4.3.7
Health and Awareness Problems
131
4.3.8
Education, Skills, Trainings and Rehabilitation
137
4.4.
Contingency Tables
146
11
4.5
Qualitative Analysis/Group Discussions
172
4.6.
Results and Discussions
174
4.6.1.
The Demographic Problems
174
4.6.2. Socio - Economical and resources Problems
178
4.6.3. Social Behaviours and Socio- psychological problems
179
4.6.4. Risk behaviors and Drug Use Problems
181
4.6.5. Health and Awareness Problems
183
4.6.6. Education, Skills, Trainings and Rehabilitation
184
4.6.7
Concluding Remarks
CHAPTER 5
186
SUMMARY, RESULTS, CONCLUSION

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY AND
187
SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER STUDIES

5.1.
Summary
187
5.2.
Results
189
5.2.1. Demographic Information & Problems
189
5.2.2. Socio Economic and Resources problems
190
5.2.3. Social Behavior and Socio psychological Problems
191
5.2.4. Risk Behaviors and Drug use Problems
192
5.2.5. Health and awareness problems
192
5.2.6. Education, skills, Trainings and Rehabilitation
193
5.3.
Conclusion
194
5.4.
Recommendations
195
5.4.1. For Government/State
195
12
5.4.2. For Non Profit Organizations
198
5.4.3. For Print and Electronic Media
199
5.4.4. For Parents
199
5.4.5. For Street Children
200
5.5.
200
Limitations of the study and Suggestions for Further Studies.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
202
ANNEXURES
208
13
LIST OF TABLES
Frequency Distribution Tables
Table 1:
City wise distribution
89
Table 2:
Respondents working condition
90
Table 3:
Respondents Birth Province
91
Table 4:
Respondents living area
92
Table 5:
Respondents mother tongue
93
Table 6:
Respondents parents living area
94
Table 7:
Respondents family members number
95
Table 8:
Respondents having step mother or not
96
Table 9:
Respondents parents living together or not?
97
Table 10:
Respondents parents education
98
Table 11:
Respondents Religion
99
Table 12:
Respondents age when they started life as street child
100
Table 13:
Total number of children in respondents group
102
Table 14:
Respondents contact with their families
103
Table15:
Respondents willing to go back to their families or not?
104
Table 16:
Respondents view whether there is any role of their parents in making them
street children.
105
Table 17:
Respondents family economic status
106
Table 18:
Respondents income resources
107
Table 19:
Respondents are getting money from their parents or not?
109
Table 20:
Usage of income by respondents
110
Table 21:
How do respondents get food?
111
14
Table 22:
Do respondents support their family?
112
Table 23:
With whom respondents feel most comfortable?
113
Table 24:
Do respondents have beloveds male or female?
114
Table 25:
What respondents do when they feel angry?
115
Table 26:
Do respondents provide sex
117
Table 27:
Do respondents feel strangeness as others are?
118
Table 28:
How respondents recreate themselves?
119
Table 29:
Where respondents spend most of their time?
121
Table 30:
Do respondents have any sexual relations?
123
Table 31:
Respondents are hassled by police or other adults or not?
124
Table 32:
Do respondents fight with each other?
125
Table 33:
Do respondents feel guiltiness while taking drugs?
126
Table 34:
Is there any availability of treatment for using drugs?
127
Table 35:
Do respondents like to take liquids and drugs, alcohol, hashish,

Marijuana leaf and opium?
128
Table 36:
Do respondents like to take pan, Gutika & cigarette etc?
129
Table 37:
Do respondents like to take glue, petrol and other drugs?
130
Table 38:
Respondents views about their health conditions
131
Table 39:
Do respondents suffer from any allergies?
132
Table 40:
Do respondents have any physical disability?
133
Table 41:
What are respondents sexual practices?
134
Table 42:
Do respondents feel any stress about their body development?
135
Table 43:
Do respondents worried about their growth in size and appearance?
136
Table 44:
Respondents education
137
15
Table 45:
Do respondents need any skill for their future planning?
138
Table 46:
Are respondents involved still in any educational activity?
139
Table 47:
Do respondents have any skill for a job?
140
Table 48:
Do respondents like to go back to their schools?
141
Table 49:
Do respondents need any support for their future planning?
142
Table 50:
Respondents views that how they can stop taking drugs?
143
Table 51:
Respondents views that how can we stop the increasing

number of street children?
144
Contingency Tables
146
Contingency Table 1
146
Contingency Table 2
148
Contingency Table 3
150
Contingency Table 4
152
Contingency Table 5
154
Contingency Table 6
156
Contingency Table 7
158
Contingency Table 8
160
Contingency Table 9
162
Contingency Table 10
164
166
168
170
16
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Prologue
Children need care by adults for good health, physical growth, personality development and
progress. But due to a number of reasons a huge number of children population of the world is not
being taken care of by adults. Consequently, majority of these children are compelled to live on the
streets. The term street children is used for those children for whom the street is a reference
point and has a central role in their lives. (Benitez, S.T. 2007) Any boy or girl for whom the street,
in the widest sense of the word, has become his or her habitual or source of livelihood, and who is
inadequately protected, supervised or directed by responsible adults (United Nations).
In the 21st century, policymakers, non - government organisations and the public at large
express a deep concern about street children. World over, this problem gets meager media coverage
and the issue is inadequately addressed at national and international levels. It is high time that
academics, welfare organisations and communities and society take this issue seriously and struggle
for an appropriate solution.
Before introducing the phenomenon of street children, it is a pre-requisite to understand
child in totality and the types of children in a given social system. Moreover, it would be helpful
to set a criterion for defining Children. According to United Nations, any boy or girl below the
age of 18 years is child (CRC. 2000 UNICEF) This central line on the basis of age is given by
United Nations and according to this all the below 18 years individuals in the world population are
children. They are facing numerous problems in their respective social, economic and cultural set
ups. In order to
17
set a criterion to understand the types of children in various cultures we can classify them on
the following three basic factors.
i. Level of attachment with parents
ii. Place where they are living/or spend most of their time
iii. Financial resources at hand to meet livelihood expenditure
To differentiate children on the above basic factors we can find various groups of children so as
to make it easier to determine their problems, conditions, needs and vulnerabilities. Keeping in view
the fact that this study on street children aims at getting answers to their problems, conditions, needs
and vulnerabilities, we can find all major types of street children who are the focus of all
stakeholders working on the street children. In this context we can identify following groups of
children.
1. Children living with parents, having good attachment with them.
a. Live in their own/rented houses with no income generation responsibility.
b. Live in their own/rented houses but work at various places to earn income for house
hold expenditure.
c. Having no homes, live on streets with parents, work with parents under their
supervision and have a role in income generation.
2. Children living in institutions/industries/work places day and night and having strong
relationship with parents.
a. Live in hostels, Madrissas and other religious places but go to streets in search of
daily food, etc.
18
b. Live in industries and work places, where they are sent by parents for supplementing
family income. This category also includes apprentices and children in bonded labor
who work under the supervision of a skilled person (Ustad).
c. Refugees and others live in a common place called Dera under the supervision of
the owner. Having good relationship with parents they are sent on the streets as
Garbage Picker by their parents.
3. Not working; wandering on the streets at day time, go back to home at night; having good
relationship with parents.
a. All those who are dropped out from schools, not attending their classes regularly,
wandering on streets or passing time at gardens and go back to their homes at night.
b. Come on street by pull and push factors, having no interest in education, habitual to
watch movies, passing time at restaurants, drug abusing, gambling, video games, etc.
4. Living on the streets with no/rare relations with parents.
a. Leave homes due to broken families, step mothers or fathers, family behavior,
domestic violence, corporal punishment, false hope at streets, hope of freedom, peer
pressure, etc. They keep rare relations with parents.
b. Leave home due to poverty, desire to earn extra money, death of parents, left by
parents, dont like their parents, having no or rare relations with parents.
c. Come on streets due to natural disasters, man-made disasters (war) etc. having
no/rare relations with parents.
Keeping in mind the above classification we can easily identify the most vulnerable children
and serve them in a better way. Observing the various situations we can say that only parents can
19
provide the most appropriate care, if they are available or able to do it. Good habitation also plays
an effective role in protecting children from various abuses in the society.
At this stage, question arises as to why these situations are emerging in which more than
50% of population (Children) are facing various vulnerabilities in developing countries like
Pakistan.
With the advent of the 21st century, human population is going through the cycles of feast
and famine, especially in under developed countries and in developing nations like Pakistan. This
population explosion not only gives rise to a lot of physical/environ- mental stresses such as
shortage of food supply, fuel and energy, different types of pollutions etc., but also the
psychological ones. These can be anxiety, tension, worry, depression and several other
psychopathologies due to deprivation of need fulfillment and coping with technological
advancement. Such frustrations would be damaging for inter personal relationship and the
consequences have to be borne by both the individual and society disrupting the over all growth
pattern. (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2004)
Children in particular are highly susceptible to these highly volatile situations. They face
denial of their basic rights. The inequalities they face due to behavior of adults are unimaginable;
however the manifestations are the same in any setting. The circumstances faced are same all over
the world. Parents, friends and the physical environment, all play an active role in the development
of a child's personality. Any neglect, deprivation, indifferent parental behavior possibly due to a
disrupted relationship can cause serious and irreversible damage to the developing personality,
pushing the child into deviant behavior. Many societies witnessed an influx of children ending up
on the streets due to indifferent attitudes of their parents, family break-up or poverty. Alarmingly,
the numbers have been constantly growing into significant epidemiological proportions. Societies
20
have failed significantly in doing enough to follow through and to create secure environments for
these displaced children known or defined as Street Children. (United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime 2004)
The phenomenon of street children is becoming a global one, and street children are now
often part of the urban scene in Asian countries. Street-living children represent a marginalised,
vulnerable, and victimised segment of society. The United Nations has estimated the population of
street children worldwide at 150 million, with the number rising daily. (Tufail, P. 2005)
The term street children is used all over the world for this phenomenon but in different
countries different terms are also used, like out of place, homeless children, runaway, etc.
The concept is more probably same, but due to variety of cultures, level of problems, social
systems, trends of society and economical conditions of the respective countries the phenomenon
could not be focused properly, even a definite group of children cannot be finalised.
The term street children is a cross-cultural term. There is a tendency to resist the use of
the term in developed countries, and replace it with, runaways (children who have run away, or
left home or residential care) or simply homeless young people. Children grouped within the
category of street children range in age from three to thirteen. About forty percent of these
children are homeless, this is the largest percentage of homeless children in recorded history and it
is growing. The remaining sixty percent work on the streets to support their families. They are
unable to attend school because of financial and social constraints, and are considered to live in
especially difficult circumstances. Many of these children do not have access to proper shelter,
food, or education. Street children are often defined as a mobile population and are considered to
be out of place as many do not have a place to call their home. The idea that these children are
out of place speaks of the societal oppression that these children face. The vulnerability of these
21
children and their life circumstances cannot be properly summed up in the title of street children.
(Tufail, P. 2005)
Despite the importance of the issue, there are hardly any official statistics regarding these
street children in Pakistan. The available statistics of a UN report reveals that almost 70,000
children are living on the streets in Pakistan, of which almost 12,000 are wandering through the
streets of Karachi. Of these 12,000, nearly 56 percent have run away from home due to domestic
violence; 20 percent due to hostile behavior of parents, and 12 percent due to their parents drug
addiction. Some 64 percent of the children on the streets in Karachi, belong to Karachi itself and the
rest are from other parts of the country. Besides other reasons, poverty is one of the major factors
which compel them to live on the streets. (Iqubal, F. 2004). Karachi is the biggest metropolitan
city of the country with a population of 15 million comprising of people from all over the country
and even from abroad. The process of urbanization is rapidly taking place in Karachi. Comparing
with other cities of the country a huge number of street children is found on the streets of Karachi.
The alarming figures of street children in Pakistan imply that homelessness has not received
due attention with a view to combat child poverty and misery they represent. This lack of urgency
may be attributed to the fact that many of the countries in which the street children phenomenon is
one of the countries cultural landscape rather than being a major social problem needing immediate
attention and concrete solutions. Other problems aside from poverty of the street children exist such
as physical abuse from police officers. Some government forces tend to treat street children like
criminals.
A large number of street children are found at Mazars (Sufi Saints Shrines), major traffic
signals, hotels and shopping malls. Recently, a new trend has emerged: children are found begging
on the streets and cleaning wind screens of the vehicles with wiper and claiming money for this
22
service. In most cases they are girls; and most importantly their parents, especially mothers, sit
behind the street supervising them. These street girls are treated inhumanly and are subject to
physical and emotional abuse. On the streets of Karachi most visible children are garbage pickers. A
large number of them are Afghan refugees. They work under the supervision of Dera Master
(Abode Master). The children come out of Dera in groups in the early morning till evening. As
night falls they go back to the Dera. They sell garbage and other wastes they collect from the
streets. It is also observed that Dera Master remains in direct contact with the parents, father or
other relatives and do not pay all the money to a child but keeps it with himself and give it to their
parents, whenever they visit Dera to get it or to see their kids.
Hyderabad a city north to Karachi is another big city of Urban Sindh where the situation of
street children is similar to that in Karachi. There is no scientific study available on the street
children of Hyderabad conducted by government or a non-governmental organisation. The number
of street children in Hyderabad is less than that of Karachi comparing the size of population of both
the cities. Most of the street children are found near places called Qadam Gah, near Hyderabad
railway station, AL Habib Hotel and Ghari Khata. There is no drop out centre for street children
here and no service from UNICEF Protection Chapter that exists in the city. In this city, the number
of street children is small or we can say rare. Most of the children are drug addicted (inhaling
chemicals: Samad Bond/Glue), smoke cigarette, chew chhalia, pan and supari. They have active
sexual behavior like Karachis street children.
A book, written on solvent abuse among street children in Pakistan, states:
inhaled
chemicals are rapidly absorbed through the lungs into the bloodstream and quickly distributed to the
brain and other organs. Research has shown that the chemical substances found in inhalants produce
acute effects similar to sub-anesthetics concentrations of general anesthetics, as well as to the
23
effects of classical CNS depressant drugs, such as alcohol and the barbiturates. This is characterised
by a rapid high that resembles alcohol intoxication with initial excitation followed by drowsiness,
dis-inhibition, lightheadedness and agitation. Nearly all abused inhalants (other than nitrites)
produce a pleasurable effect by depressing the CNS. (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes
2004)
Sukkur and Larkana are two other urban cities of Sindh province that fall at third and fourth
number according to area and population in urban Sindh. In these two cities the number of street
children is less. They differ from Karachi and Hyderabad Street Children in terms of habits, drug
addiction and sexual behavior. They do not inhale the chemical Samd Bond but chew pan and
chalia and smoke cigarette. Street children of these cities are sexually active but not like Karachi.
The culture of the area impacts hardly on the situation of street children. In traditional
Sindhi culture, like any other culture in the world, parents feel their responsibilities to take care of
their children, let alone, leave them alone. Firstly, the root cause of the phenomenon of street
children here is poverty, and secondly the presence of Afghan refugees on the streets. The large
number of garbage pickers in both these cities hail from Baghri (Hindu) community. Shoe
polishing, garbage picking, begging and selling things are the major sources of income of street
children of these two cities. As far as the problems of street children are concerned there is no major
difference in overall Urban Sindh. At the government level or from NGOs sector no proper research
work has been conducted, except a centre for street children established by a local NGO in Larkana
city in collaboration with UNICEF.
A research survey conducted by Asian Development Bank revealed that children can end up
on the street for a wide range of reasons, from the necessity to help feed their families to the need to
escape a hostile home life. Whatever propels them onto the street, their presence is a stark, worrying
24
sign of deeper social problems. (ADB, 2003, Manila) Another significant factor of street children in
Pakistan is that a large number of children move in the country from city to city by train and
through buses. During their movement they are abused too much by passengers, police, conductors,
railway stations staff and hawkers. At the bus terminals there are some hotels where a large number
of children are used for prostitution especially male children. At work places, children are also
sexually abused. Stories about sex abuse of children appear in newspapers daily.
As far as the legal protection to the street children in Sindh is concerned, a study or review
of child related laws, policies and standards was conducted by Barrister Zafrullah Khan. The
study/review was sponsored by UNICEF Sindh in consultation with Social Welfare Department,
Government of Sindh. In this review, 20 child related laws have been listed.
In the executive summary, the review states that there is no standard and policies to be
observed in respect of the children in the province of Sindh. We have tried to develop some
minimum standards in respect of children who are in police stations, prisons, orphanages and
Madrissas. (Khan, Z. 2007)
In broad terms, street children phenomenon exists in Urban Sindh and the situation is not
much different from the other Asian countries. But the bigger cities have variety of street children
and their problems are multiple in nature. To change the life of street children, especially in
Karachi, there is a need of planning and implementation of projects and policies by Government as
well as private sector. To facilitate street children and give them food, shelter at day time and
awareness about various social and medical problems we need to have a system whereby we can
stop the increasing number of street children in the country, rehabilitate the existing street children
and send them back to their homes.
25
As far as statistics of street children is concerned we must add a column in our excel tables
to indicate as to how many street children have been sent to their homes and how many started their
normal lives. Instead of facilitating them with condoms and training for use of condoms and
contraceptive, we may try to teach them social and psychological hazards of sexuality and ask them
to stop those activities parallel to training about hazards of drug abuse. We have to change their life
style teaching them positive learning and social behavior promotion.
1.2. Definition of the Street Children
To define any character, person, phenomenon or problem, construction of basic
characteristics is essential. But in the case of street children there is no definite definition, for each
country, stakeholder, public, or private sector use its own or one of available definitions according
to their need and requirement. Due to this behavior proper statistics of street children could not be
obtained. Only estimated number or estimated statistics is used. This conflicted situation is also
accepted by various researchers of the world and organisations.
The definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policymakers use
UNICEFs concept of boys and girls aged under 18 for whom the street (including unoccupied
dwellings and wasteland) has become home and/or their source of livelihood, and who are
inadequately protected or supervised. Definitions continue to evolve to try to capture the fluidity
and differences in childrens circumstances, including terms such as street-connected children and
children in street situations. (Benitez, S.T. 2007)
Lewis Aptekar from San Jose State University, San Jose, California, also having relationship
with Trans-Cultural Psychosocial Institute Free University, Amsterdam and Behailu Abebe TransCultural Psychosocial Institute Addis Ababa University Ethiopia, who has extensively worked on
the phenomenon of street children, says that There is not, and perhaps cannot be, a clear definition
26
of street children, but the way they are depicted contributes to their problems. There are several
reasons for this. First, definitions often have political purposes. When international organizations
cite large numbers of street children they are, even if inadvertently, also making a claim to a larger
financial allotment. Thus when one reads a UNICEF report claiming that world wide the number of
children in the streets is over 300 million (UNICEF, 1990) one is struck by the huge size of the
problem, and the need to act immediately and with fervor. This can be damaging to the children
because inflated numbers (professional written studies numbers of homeless street children
worldwide indicate less than a tenth of this figure. (Aptekar, L. 2000.) That tends to inflame the
publics fear. The second reason for the lack of a clear definition of street children, and which
contributes to the problems they face, is related to cultural ethnocentrism. (Aptekar, L. 2000.)
Terms on, of, or in the streets were very popular in the 1980s for definition of street
children, but in new realities there are there are three broad approaches to definitions are evident in
research to day first Acceptance of development of UNICEFs on and of the street categories,
second alternative terms or definitions and third Rejection of the designation of young people on the
street as a social problem. (Benitez, S.T. 2011)
Due to scattered on the street children and different points of thoughts the term street
children could not define properly. The meaning and definition of street children is contested
among academics, policymakers, practitioners, politicians and general public with varied
individuals and groups have their own preferred definition. Street children are not usually counted,
nor subject to census, so, their exact numbers unknown in Pakistan. Different organizations produce
local estimates; even conservative figures indicate that there are a significant number of street
children in Pakistan. (Tufail, P.2005).
27
When any organization at public or private sector is working on the street children it is
necessary to have some clear charter about the population of street children. It is very difficult to
work fruitfully without understand the concept To understand the concept of street children, a
working definition should be given. The term street children refers to include street-working
children, who may maintain strong relationships with their families of origin, and street-living
children who have very limited or no contact with their families and have no or temporary shelter
without consistent employment. (Tufail, P. 2005)
UN defines street children as Any boy or girlfor whom the street in the widest sense of
the word, has become his or her habitual abode/or source of livelihood, and who is inadequately
protected, supervised or directed by responsible adults. UNICEF categorizes street children as
under:
Children who have to work on the streets because their families need money to survive.
Children from poor families who sleep on the streets; some come from underprivileged parts
of the country into the city, others have run away.
Orphans and abandoned children whose parents have died because of illness or war, or to
whom it was simply impossible to look after their children.
Contesting various definitions and selection of proper way caused confusion in my research.
Therefore, at the stage of research work I compelled to adopt recent and more inclusive operational
understanding of street children as children for whom the street is a reference point and has a
central role in their lives. That is also adopted by State of the Worlds Street Children: Violence.
(Benitez, S.T. 2007)
1.3. Background of the Study
28
This universe can be divided into two major parts living and non-living. In living part,
human being stands as the most important creation of nature. Among living beings, children are the
basic unit of human population of the world, but unfortunately these living stars of universe bear
numerous difficulties in the world, even large number of these difficulties is created by adults, policy
makers, even by their own parents. Street children are the most abandoned group of these vulnerable
children that exist all over the world.
Street children or street kids are homeless children who live on the street in particular, those
that are not taken care of by parents or other adults, they live in abandoned buildings, containers
automobiles, parks, or on the street itself.
In Urban Sindh, street children can be defined as those who earn their lively hood on the city
streets and stay there, for most or all, of the day. They may or may not have parents or legal
guardians. Street children can be broadly defined into two groups:
1.
Those who spend the day on the streets but return home at night.
2.
Those who spend all the time in the streets, it being their home, where they eat, sleep,
make friends, work and play.
Also, another type of street children comes in classification of children of the streets are
those who come on streets at the beginning of their life and having no any other home or having no
knowledge about their parents. The number of children belongs to this group is not large.
In order to survive, these children do odd jobs, drifting from one place to another. They can
be found washing cars, selling newspapers, street vending, scavenging, shining
29
shoes, running errands, carrying bags and begging in between. Some drift into prostitution to
make extra money. There are some who only steal and prostitute them.
1.4. Significance of the Study
Children are the future leaders of our nation. By neglecting this special group of children,
who are at the high risk of health and physical abuse, we are making most of them prone, at the age
of adulthood, to engage in anti-social activities. Also by denying their basic rights and hampering
their process of growth we are restricting the development of our country and humanity.
The number of street children is constantly increasing. (De Benitez, S.T 2011)
This is a kind of situation that needs close attention and investigation. Millions of children around
the world live in situations that put them at risk of exploitation, abuse and discrimination. The most
marginalised children, those who often experience human rights abuses, need special protection to
promote their physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social developments. There are about 100 to
150 million street children found worldwide and their number is increasing rapidly.
Street children are a global issue. However, the phenomenon of street children in Pakistan
poses complex social challenges, as these children are at the high risk of a myriad of medical,
physical and psychological problems. (Anwar, M 2002)
The reasons for which children abandon their homes to live on the streets can be
summarised in a series of Push and Pull factors.
The significance of this study is not only to get authentic data about the number of these
destitute children in Urban Sindh, but also to find out causes, their socio psychological capacity,
role of stakeholders, and various hidden aspects of lives of this
30
special group of children as well as to give a complete methodology for rehabilitation

process of these children.
Therefore, research upon sociological comprehensive aspects is most important to enhance
the rehabilitation programs for street children after finding out various problems of street children,
especially drug abuse, child sex abuse, physical abuse, infectious diseases HCV, HBS, AIDS etc.
According to scenario of Urban Sindh, street children can be defined as those who earn their
living on the city streets and stay there forever or all of the day or work in various places under or
without supervision. In Urban Sindh the following four major groups of children are found:
1. Children living with their parents and have good attachment with them.
2. Children living in the institutions, factories and work places day and night and have strong
relationship with their parents.
3. Children spending day time on the streets, doing no work, go back to home in the night and
have good relationship with their parents.
4. Children living on the streets and have no or rare relationship with their parents.
According to biological, psychological and sociological aspects these children are equal to
the entire world and deserve equal rights universally.
This study is based upon sociological research on the problems of street children of Urban
Sindh, in which various aspects of focused children have been unearthed.
31
1.5. Some Major Factors which Lead to the Phenomenon

1.5.1. Economic Factors
In the south Asia Pakistan is among the developing country according to World Bank 33% of the
population live below the poverty line with US$1 per day income (World Bank 2003) and its 43%
population of total population is under the age of 15 years (Government of Pakistan 2004). Pakistan
is a developing country in South Asia with a population of 172 million and a per capita gross national income
of US$ 420 (World Bank 2003). According to various studies in the world regarding street children
phenomena poverty is root cause, therefore, the negative consequences concerning the social and
economic development push social system to inequality. Economic crises and instability of social
institutions often are the key factors for failure of social institutions.
As economy plays a vital role in human life, poverty stands one of the basic causes of street
children phenomenon. Understandably, each family unit needs sufficient economic resources to
make both ends meet, including employment, healthcare, education, shelter and more specifically
nurturing of children. However, in the urban Sindh a large number of families are poor. They lack
sufficient resources to give proper care to their children who become subject of negligence on the
part of the parents. This negligence makes them flee from their homes and become part of those
groups who make streets their abode. So environment pull factors not only exist in their homes but
on the streets too.
A huge number of street children of urban Sindh belong to poor families. In some cases their
families belong to their cities of origin i.e., Karachi or Hyderabad or migrated from other cities of
the country. Another group of street children is pushed towards streets because of natural disasters
like earthquake or man-made calamity like war against
32
terror. Street children under this category belong to internally displaced families from
northern areas of Pakistan who moved to urban cities of Sindh after 2005 deadly earthquake.
Another economical factor of street children phenomenon attributed to devastating floods in 2010 in
Pakistan which rendered homeless almost 10 million people across the country. After losing their
homes, animals, livelihood and crops many moved to cities of urban Sindh in situation of utter
helplessness and poverty. As a result of these floods a huge demographic disturbance occurred and
number of street children increased. This group also includes children of refugee families who left
Afghanistan after 1979 Russian attack and then after 2001 in the wake of US invasion of their
country.
Lastly, the most important psychological factor that pushes poor children towards streets is
economic vulnerability. When the children feel that their parents are unable to provide them
required livelihood through their income they leave their homes and families to earn a livelihood
themselves and end up adopting streets as their work place and living. However, in limited cases
children choose to work on streets in order to supplement income of their families.
1.5.2. Cultural Factors
The breakdown of cultural norms has brought about changes and shifts in the society. This may lead
members of the society to respond to the changes in a negative manner. The urban cities of sindh is
bunch of different cultures especially Karachi, different ethnic groups lives here with their own
cultural context that impact on increasing number of street children, the standards for adults and
children male and female are different in different populations living in urban sindh that also
increase the break down family norms. Cultures existing cultural norms and religious beliefs dictate
different attitudes to
33
words males and females in Pakistan (Tufail, P. 2004). The rapid changes in cultural factors,
through media and other sources, make social system unstable and likely to lead the social system
towards failure.
During research on street children phenomenon in urban Sindh, it has been observed that most of
them have come from poor families of other provinces. Many are Afghani, Bengali and children
from ethnic communities of rural Sindh, migrated to cities and living in Jhonpries.
Culture indeed plays a pivotal role in human life as backbone of a society, its ethics and life
style. While attempting to understand the street children phenomenon against the backdrop of
cultural perspective, it has been noted that in different cultures families do not tend to promote their
lives in line with the emerging life qualities. For example, they do not send their children for
schooling; they do not like to live in clean and pakka houses; they do not improve or change their
profession and continue garbage picking, selling things on roads with children, shoe polishing, car
washing or even depends upon income earned by their children. In such cultures, males keep more
than one wife sometime three to four wives. Step fathers or step mothers do not care family
children and a void occurs in terms of emotional attachment in the family. Resultantly, children
subject to lack of parental love and alienation prefer to run away from homes and adopt street life.
In different cultures, public places like general bus stands, railway stations and small hotels
in the markets are used for male children prostitution. Children who are earlier victims of sexual
abuse are used by the Hotel Managers to contact and bring new
34
children for male prostitution. (Baloch, G.M. 2009). The practice acts as pull factor in the street
children phenomenon.
1.5.3. Social Factors
Every phenomenon of social system exists or developed with various perspectives, in this
way street children phenomenon has its own social perspective in urban Sindh. Most of the
population of the street children in urban Sindh comes from rural areas. Poverty, broken families
and lack of healthy interaction between parents and children are main causes for children to move
towards urban areas or to start life as street children. A part of street children in urban areas belongs
to cities and city life. Children move from rural areas towards cities bring with them a different
perspective and life style. Therefore, social perspective in the street children phenomenon is
different from street children having urban and rural background.
In the urban cities mostly nuclear family system is adopted without any castes system. In the
midst of alienation, interaction between families and even among neighbors is very rare. No one
bother about the problems of his neighbors and/or relative families. In case of family breakdown
children tend to flee away to start street life. In that case such children do not get any counseling or
help from the society. Side by side, in the urban areas there are some ethnic groups e.g. Baghri and
Kohli are also available who migrated from rural areas and have been living in kacha huts
(Jhonpries) since long time. They have unstructured social system and there exists no or very loose
emotional relationships in between families and parents and children. They do not care for their
children and their education and health. Most of the males have three or more wives.
Children work to supplement family income. Most of the street children come from these ethnic
groups.
35
Another group of street children is represented by all those children who come from other
provinces moving from one city to another after losing parents or breakdown of their families. In
this group Afghan refugee children are also included. In this group, children of Internally Displaced
People (IDPs) are also included who had to abandon their houses, without or with their families, in
the wake of natural or man-made disasters.
Differences in economic and social status may contribute to the growing number of street
children in cities. Exclusion of people with low-class status is very common and usually scars a
person, especially at a young age. This may soon lead to desperate acts of delinquency and often
violence or breeds negative behaviors for the society in children. Even some children leave their
homes for streets for fulfilling their false expectations to fill the status gap.
Although most of the children under bonded labour sleep and eat within the compound of their
factory, the work place is seasonal and children often turn to the streets of the nearest urban center
to survive during periods of unemployment.(Tufail, P.2004).
1.5.4. Dysfunctional Families
Family plays an important role in socialisation of the individuals but in dysfunctional
families, however, the case is different. Tendencies for the children changed and family cannot
control the tendencies of children towards the delinquencies and leaving home. This may act as
push factor towards the streets for the children. Abusive practices affect children in all circumstances
in Pakistan, most commonly in families, where it is manifested as neglect, verbal abuse, physical abuse,
sexual abuse, and infanticide. (Tufail, P. 2004).
1.5.5. Urbanisation
Pakistans high population growth rate and rapid urbanisation have given rise to more and
more children working and living on the streets. (Muhammad,T and N. zafar 2006). High
urbanisation ratio tends to foster change in the social system of any urban city than rural areas.
36
People from the rural areas have stronger social bonds and mainly rely on family and community
control but after shifting to cities people break ties with their social system. And in new location
they cannot support their families; therefore their children cannot get proper lock after and come on
the streets to fulfill their needs.
1.5.6. Migration
Immigrants have a very different culture from the people of which they would want to
become part. Therefore, their actions and activities are seen as very different by the native people.
For example, in urban cities of Sindh, there are a huge number of Afghani and Bengali immigrants
who work on the streets and their behavior leads to instability of society of the urban Sindh. Even a
large number of street working children come from these groups. The study done by Azad
foundation about street children in Karachi shows that 79% of the study population was Pakistani
children, followed by Afghani (10%), Bengali (08%) and Burmese (03%). The maximum
proportions of children were Punjabi speaking (41%), followed by Pushtoon (29%) children. 9% of
the children interviewed were Sindhi and Urdu speaking, while only 8% had Balochi as their
primary language. (Azad foundation 2004)
1.5.7. The Media
Media gives out different viewpoints of violent behaviors to viewers, especially children.
The use of violence to uphold justice is often the topic of programs that many
children watch. The society tolerates this type of violence since it seems to be on the
positive side of the situation. However, studies have shown that these violent behaviours portrayed
in the media often influence impressionable children ages between eight and twelve. For example
movies which show violent acts excite viewers, and the aggressive effect can then be transferred to
37
daily living, pushing an individual or children to be involved in violent physical activity on the
streets. a desire to gain anticipated freedom and independence, or because they had been attracted by
images of the city in popular media such as cinema and television. Pressure from peer groups also
appeared to be a factor, especially for those who were not attending school for one reason or another.
(Tufail. P. 2005)
1.5.8. Peers Influence

Peer groups provide a shelter for children or adolescents. Having peer groups is necessary
in order to gain an identity and to train the self for the real society. However, unlike adult groups,
peer groups offer equality and equal opportunity to elevate ones status in the system. Delinquent
peer groups can offer a surrogate family for a child lacking in that aspect. In addition, a delinquent
group can greatly provide a sense of security to the children and this act as pull factor towards the
streets for children. Peer pressure is another important factor, particularly in case of boys with
alternative sexual identities.
Many street children indicated that peers acted as supportive means for their existence on
the street and helped develop their ability to cope with street life, with regard to food, shelter,
entertainment, earning money and protection especially during their early days on the street. (United
Nations Office for drug control and crime prevention 2001)
1.6. Objectives of the Study

The present study is an attempt to study and examine the phenomenon of street children with
sociological perspective in urban Sindh as well as socio-economic conditions of street children and
38
their families, causes of the problem and its solution. The present study was expanded with the
following general and specific objectives.
1.6.1. General Objectives
The general objective of the study is to provide information about street children, their
problems, and conditions in which they live. The study would also aim to help the policymakers to
formulate child friendly policies in the country particularly in Sindh.
1.6.2. Specific Objectives
Implicitly in the above general objectives, the following were the specific objectives of the
study:
i. To define Street Children in the light of cultural and sociological conditions of urban Sindh.
ii. To identify and compile data on street children in urban Sindh.
iii. To identify demographic characteristics of street children in urban Sindh.
iv. To investigate causes of the presence of street children in urban Sindh.
v. To investigate Socio-economic and Psychological problems of street children living in urban
Sindh.
vi. To find out relationship between family conditions of street children and opinions about their
parents.
vii. To find out nature and causes of drug abuse among street children living in urban Sindh.
viii. To find out nature and causes of health issues faced by street children in urban Sindh.
ix. To suggest programs for rehabilitation and reintegration of street children in the mainstream
society in urban Sindh.
1.7. Hypotheses
i.
Causes of being on streets are related with socioeconomic conditions of families of street
children in urban sindh.
39
ii.
Living on the streets by children at early age is related to second marriage of their parents.
iii.
Feeling living comfortably is related to causes of being on streets by street children in urban
Sindh.
iv.
There is impact of living situations of street children on their income sources in urban Sindh.
v.
There is impact of cities where street children are living, on drug abused by street children in
urban Sindh.
vi.
Health of street children is related to the type of work they do for income in urban Sindh.
vii.
Health of street children is related to Drugs they are getting.
viii.
Taking of substances like alcohol, hashish, marijuana, opium is related to education of their
parents.
ix.
Living area of street children in urban Sindh has impact on their sexual relationship.
x.
Working conditions of street children has impact on sexual relationship of street children in
urban Sindh.
xi.
There is impact of drugs used by street children for suffering from allergies in urban Sindh.
xii.
Living area of street children has impact on education of street children in urban Sindh.
xiii.
Interest of street children in education is related to, how they are spending most of their time
in urban Sindh.
1.7.1. Independent Variables

i. Education
ii. Living Conditions
iii. Economical conditions of parents.
iv. Interaction with parents
v. Number of Group members
vi. Income resources
vii. Size of Family
40
1.7.2. Dependent Variables

i. Socio-cultural conditions of the area
ii. Socio-economic conditions of families of the street children
iii. Living area
iv. Mother tongue
v. Number of family members
vi. Parents status
vii. Parents education
viii. Income Resources
ix. Sexual activeness
x. Increasing ratio of street children
xi. Desire of freedom
xii. Parents behavior with their children
xiii. Attachments with parents and groups
xiv. Drug abuse in street children
xv. Environment where street children live
xvi. Socio-psychological problems of street children
xvii. Awareness among street children and their families
xviii. Public and private partnership for rehabilitation
1.8. Key Terms
41
Street children: is a term used to refer to children who live on the streets of a city. They are
basically deprived of family care and protection. Most children on the streets are between the
ages of about 5 and 18.
Urban Sindh: Densely populated cities of Sindh, a province of Pakistan as Karachi, Hyderabad,
Sukkur and Larkana.
Drug abuse: Excessive use of drugs as habitual person like tacking Hashish, Opium, tranquilizer,
Glue, Samand bond etc.
Health: The state of being free of physical or psychological disease, illness, or malfunction:
Working Condition: street children are living and working in different environments. All those
who are working individually, selling things, polishing shoes, washing cars etc are called working
without supervision, and all street children who are living and working at any Dera, Hotel, factory,
etc where there is master is called as street children working under supervision.
Dera: the place where street children are living in groups is called Dera (Abode) in urban cities and
that area is used to be supervised or owned by any adult or Master.
Ustad: A person who is dera master, (supervisor) where street children are living or working.
42
CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
According to the traditional model of social sciences, the social scientists begin with theory
(Babbie, E. 2004). Theory is an attempt to describe and explain the real world or we can say that
theories enable us to understand and explain the nature of the social world.
Auguste Comte was the first philosopher who invented the word Sociology in 1839.
Comte identified two broad branches of sociology, corresponding to two ways in which social
systems could be studied: social statics, the study of the coexistence of institutions in a system,
their structures and their functions; and social dynamics, the study of change in institutions and
systems over time, their development and progress. (Harallambos, M., & Martin.H.1992)
Thus comte earned his place as a pivotal figure in the formation of sociology. He built a
bridge from old world grandiose speculations to the new world of a scientific study of society.
(Nessmith, W.C 1995).
Some social theorists focus their attention on society at large, or at least on large portion of
it, that is called Macro Theory. Earl Babbie (2004) said, A theory aimed at understanding the big
picture of institutions, whole societies, and the interactions among societies is called Macro
Theory. Karl Marxs examination of the class struggle is its example. A theory that deals with
issues of social life at the level of individuals and small groups is called Micro Theory. A theory
aimed at understanding social life at the intimate level of individuals and their interactions,
examining how the behavior of girls differs from that of boys would be an example of Micro
Theory (Babbie, E. 2004).
43
In order to conduct research on any problem, one must begin by making some assumptions
about the nature of what is studied. A working set of assumptions is called a Perspective, In this
way several perspectives are used in sociology, each views society from different outlook. Each
perspective is used to some degree by most of sociologists, and is needed for a full understanding of
society.(Harallambos, M., & Martin.H.1992)
The present study is based on the Functionalist Perspective, which is also called as
Structural Functionalism or sometime called Social System Theory the functionalist perspective
focuses on the systems stability. (Nessmith, W.C 1995). According to this perspective a society is
seen as an organized network of cooperating groups operating in a fairly orderly manner on a set of
rules and values shared by most members.
As the focus of present study is Sociological Study of problems of street children it is
observed that this phenomenon has emerged due to instability of family system or, in large, we can
say that in social system this is the product of Failure of family institution. Testing through the
structural functionalism, this is result of failure of some part of social system. Earl Babbie (2004)
said that, In applying the functionalist paradigm to everyday life, people sometime make the
mistake of thinking that functionality, stability, and integration are necessarily good or that the
functionalist paradigm makes that assumption, however, when social researchers look for the
functions served by poverty, racial discrimination or the oppression of women, they are not justified
by the understating of above idea; this can be assumed that Functionalist Perspective can be
discussed on proper functional parts of society as well as malfunctioning parts of social system.
44
The phenomenon of street children and their problems has wide potentialities for inquiry,
even though a limited sociological research work was undertaken in a systematic way in this field.
There are few studies, and research had been conducted on the topic by some NGOs working for the
street children in Pakistan. Indeed, this is a world wide phenomenon, but problems, causes, aspects,
and remedies may be different according to cultural and socioeconomic conditions of a particular
area.
2.1. Theoretical Perspectives
2.1.1. Structural-Functionalism
Structural-Functionalism is a sociological theory that originally attempted to explain social
institutions as collective means to meet individual biological needs. Later it came to focus on the
ways social institutions meet social needs (structural-functionalism). Structural-functionalism draws
its inspiration primarily from the ideas of Emile Durkheim.
Durkheim was concerned with the question of how societies maintain internal stability and
survive over time. He sought to explain social cohesion and stability through the concept of
solidarity. In more "primitive" societies it was mechanical solidarity, everyone performing similar
tasks that held society together. Durkheim proposed that such societies tend to be segmentary, being
composed of equivalent parts that are held together by shared values, common symbols, or systems
of exchanges. In modern, complex societies members perform very different tasks, resulting in a
strong interdependence between individuals. Based on the metaphor of an organism in which many
parts function together to sustain the whole, Durkheim argued that modern complex societies are
held together by organic solidarity.
The central concern of structural-functionalism is a continuation of the Durkheimian task of
explaining the apparent stability and internal cohesion of societies that are necessary to ensure their
45
continued existence over time. Many functionalists argue that social institutions are functionally
integrated to form a stable system and that a change in one institution will precipitate a change in
other institutions. Societies are seen as coherent, bounded and fundamentally relational constructs
that function like organisms, with their various parts (social institutions) working together to
maintain and reproduce them. The various parts of society are assumed to work in an unconscious,
quasi-automatic fashion towards the maintenance of the overall social equilibrium. All social and
cultural phenomena are therefore seen as being functional in the sense of working together to
achieve this state and are effectively deemed to have a life of their own.
In summary, society from a functionalist perspective is a system made up of interrelated
parts. The social system has certain basic needs which must be met if it is to survive. These needs
are known as functional prerequisites. The function of any part of society is its contribution to the
maintenance of society; the major functions of social institutions are those which help to meet the
functional prerequisites of society. (Haralambos, A and M. Holborn. 1991)
2.1.2. Conflict Theory
Conflict theory argues that society is not about solidarity or social consensus but rather
about competition. Society is made up of individuals competing for limited resources (e.g., money,
leisure, sexual partners, etc.). Broader social structures and organizations (e.g., religions,
government, etc.) reflect the competition for resources in their inherent inequalities; some people
and organizations have more resources (i.e., power and influence) and use those resources to
maintain their positions of power in society. Conflict theory was developed in part to illustrate the
limitations of structural- functionalism. The structural-functional approach argued that society tends
toward equilibrium.
46
The structural-functional approach focuses on stability at the expense of social change. This
is contrasted with the conflict approach, which argues that society is constantly in conflict over
resources. One of the primary contributions conflict theory presents over the structural functional
approach is that it is ideally suited for explaining social change, a significant problem in the
structural-functional approach.
The following are three primary assumptions of modern conflict theory:
i. Competition over scarce resources is at the heart of all social relationships. Competition rather
than consensus is characteristic of human relationships.
ii. Inequalities in power and reward are built into all social structures. Individuals and groups that
benefit from any particular structure strive to see it maintained.
iii. Change occurs as a result of conflict between competing interests rather than through
adaptation. Change is often abrupt and revolutionary rather than evolutionary.
2.1.3. Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic Interactionism is a theoretical approach to understanding the relationship between
humans and society. The basic notion of symbolic interactionism is that human actions and
interactions are understandable only through the exchange of meaningful communication or
symbols. In this approach, humans are portrayed as acting as opposed to being acted upon (Herman
and Reynolds 1994).
The main principles of symbolic interactionism as outlined by Blumer (1986) are:
i. Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that things have for them
ii. These meanings arise of out of social interaction
iii. Social action results from a fitting together of individual lines of action
47
This approach stands in contrast to the strict behaviorism of psychological theories prevalent
at the time it was first formulated (in the 1920s and 1930s). Behaviorism and Ethnology also
contrast with structural-functionalism. According to Symbolic Interactionism, humans are distinct
from infrahumans (lower animals) because infrahuman simply respond to their environment (i.e., a
stimulus evokes a response or stimulus -> response) whereas humans have the ability to interrupt
that process (i.e., stimulus -> cognition -> response). Additionally, infrahuman are unable to
conceive of alternative responses to gestures. Humans, however, can. This understanding should not
be taken to indicate that humans never behave in a strict stimulus -> response fashion, but rather
that humans have the capability of not responding in that fashion (and do so much of the time).
This perspective is also rooted in phenomenological thought. According to symbolic
interactionism, the objective world has no reality for humans, only subjectively-defined objects
have meaning. Meanings are not entities that are bestowed on humans and learned by habituation.
Instead, meanings can be altered through the creative capabilities of humans, and individuals may
influence the many meanings that form their society (Herman and Reynolds 1994). Human society,
therefore, is a social product.
It should also be noted that symbolic interactionists advocate a particular methodology.
Because they see meaning as the fundamental component of human/society interaction, studying
human/society interaction requires getting at that meaning. Thus, symbolic interactionists tend to
employ more qualitative rather than quantitative methods in their research.
In this chapter an attempt has been made to critically discuss and define the concepts from
its origin and limited reviews in order to highlight the research gaps and to develop conceptual
structure and model.
2.2. International Studies
48
2.2.1. Working With Street Children: Exploring Ways for ADB Assistance, Asian
Development Bank, Manila, Philippines (2003)
This study has been done to find out that how can Asian Development Bank work for the
street children to cope with all related problems of this vulnerable group. On the second page of
study a picture of child slept on the street without any hesitation and some words of Kofi- Anan
former secretary General, United Nations There is no issue more unifying, more urgent or more
universal than the welfare of our children, there is no issue more important.
Briefing the objective of bank about this study it is expressed that ADB is committed to
assisting its member countries for implementing social development programs that put people first
and empower the weaker groups in society to gain access to assets and opportunities. The study
stated the number of children can be reduced from streets with proper planning and coordination.
Defining the street children, study says that Street Children are a diverse group. Definitely,
the meaning of the term street children is generally debated. But at the center study defines it as
the out of place. Means during sleeping on the streets, working on the streets, or abandoned on
the streets they are out of their real place.
Regarding their engagement on the streets the study observes that mostly street children
used to engage in a variety of work to meet their basic needs. They used to engage in hazard work,
like garbage picking, shoe shining, flower selling, car washing, some more dangerous like
prostitution, petty theft, begging etc., that exploit them by adults also.
The study is comprehensively discussed with pictures of street children at different
positions. Focusing on the need of education the study states that formal and non formal education
systems, vocational trainings, life skills, and micro financing for the support of parents street
children are required for the rehabilitation and reintegration of problems.
49
2.2.2. Boaten, A. B. (2008) Street Children: Experiences from the Streets of Accra,
Greensboro: Research Journal of International Studies - Issue 8.
This study is divided into four parts i.e. introduction, description of street children,
experiences of street children from Accra, and conclusion.
The study defines that in African countries, child rights are denied at many instances, and
children have limited accesses to basic resources. The study further reveals that there is no single
definition of street children accepted in Accra. According to study all children between ages of 9 to
18 years, who spend their most of the time on the streets, are without a responsible adult supervision
and are not enrolled in any educational institution can be considered as street children.
In the study, various experiences of street children have been shared and each presents a
different dilemma. Some were living on streets with father, some others were left on the streets by
his/her parents, and one boy came on the streets after stealing his mothers money. One boy shared
that when he started begging in Accra city he decided not to go back to home because he considered
it an easy way to earn money. Furthermore, it was revealed that it is very difficult for street children
to sleep because senior children beat them, sometime with blades and wounded them to get their
money. There is no extent of abuse in Accra for street children.
The major part of the study is based on the views of street children about their lives. The
views are divided into two parts: experiences of boys and experiences of girls. According to study,
girls living on the streets of Accra are in very terrible situation; boys on the streets abuse them
physically and sexually so much so that girls even give birth to children due to sex abuse.
According to study some girls have boy friends too, for to live with a boy friend is much safer,
while those without a boy friend are usually subjected to rape and to be beaten daily.
The study notes that girls giving birth in early age, even when 16 years of age, are producing
a second generation of street children. The study observes that lives of street children in Accra are
50
at high risk of drug and sex abuse, prostitution and criminality, experiencing very difficult
circumstances. They sleep in groups and pay money to older street children to stay on the streets.
The study recommends that society needs to reduce the number of street children with planning and
systematic sense of responsibility.
2.2.3. Elena, Volpi. (2002): Street Children: Promising Practices and Approaches,
Washington, D.C: The World Bank. 1818 H Street, N.W.
This study was conducted for all those organizations which intend to work for street
children. Defining the term street children and highlighting background of the problem, the study
notes that the problems of street children are emerging in many regions of the world and in many
regions it is difficult to solve them be they related to economic disparities and increasing
inequality.
The study says that there is need to have a proper definition of street children and their
grouping. According to study the experts are still in conflicts to quantify and define street children
phenomenon, although all are agreed to accept it as social problem and extreme sign of
deteriorating social segregation. The study further says that lack of housing, failure in school,
family neglect and abuse, armed conflicts, natural disasters and epidemics are major causes of the
phenomenon of street children.
The study was not satisfied with the definition of the problem, and said that street life has its
specific problems and push factors, but still there is no term to represent all aspects of street
children phenomena.
51
Defining the characteristics, problems, and resources of street children the writer said that
the majority of street children in the world are aged 10 or older. Street children reached by existing
programs tend to be somewhere between the ages of 8 and 18.
In the end, the study gives conclusion that the issue of street children can best be addressed
through preventive programs and policies that will strike at its social causes. Special protection
measures are also needed to increase development opportunities for young persons currently
suffering the hardships of street life.
2.2.4. Francis, A.K. (2004): Street Children of Bombay: Their Stresses and Strategies of
Coping, Children and Youth Services Review 26, pp 853-871 ELSEVIER.
This study is comprises of five parts: part one offers Introduction; part two gives Review of
Literature; part three presents Data Analysis; part four displays Results and part five presents
conclusion.
The study reveals that majority of the street children were migrants from other states. These
children moved to city due to municipal authorities and police harassment, peer pressure, fear of
punishment, regional festivals, weather conditions, shelter, search of food, and planning for better
future. According to study most of the street children informed that they had been living on the
streets for the last four to six years. Study further reveals that children used to visit Drop-in-Centers
irregularly for availing of bathing facilities, recreation, free or low cost food, education, etc.
The study further reveals that some children also live with families which live near by the
streets or at pavements or slums of the city. They live with or frequently visit their families. They
dine with them; watch TV in their homes or in line with their behavior they stay with them like
adopted children. According to the study main income sources of the children are garbage picking,
car washing, load carrying, begging, pick pocketing; however, some offer sex for the sake of food
and shelter. The study observes that some families attempted to convince their children to go back
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to home but children preferred to stay on the streets. The study further notes that police behavior
was a major cause of problems of these children. But it is also revealed that some children are also
engaged in anti social activities like scalping movie tickets, peddling drugs, stealing, vending stolen
goods, snatching jewelry or pick pocketing.
In the end, the study suggests that mobilization of supportive services and increasing
resources for the families can reduce the number of street children. Therefore, effective
interventions and strategies may solve the problem of street children.
2.2.5. Guernina, Z. (2004): The Sexual and Mental Health Problems of Street Children: A
Trans-cultural Preventive Approach in Counseling Psychology, Counseling
Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 99-105 UK.
This study is divided into four pats, i.e. Introduction, Street Children, Sexual and Mental
Health Problems, and a Preventive Trans-cultural Approach. Conclusion and three case studies also
included in this study.
The study lays emphasis on prevention rather than cure. It says that street children is
indefinable concept and organizations working for street children defined them according to their
observations, needs and methodology but there is no proper definition which covers all aspects of
the problem.
According to study, retreats and endangered are types of runaway or street children use to be
engaged in drug abuse, robbery, homicide, rape, and other abuses. The girls of the streets mostly
involved in sexual abuse, prostitution, and drug dealing. According to study, in various countries,
where contraceptives are not used, mothers are illiterate, unemployed and poor; the baby girls are
sold or left in the streets.
The study reveals that unsafe and unplanned sex in street children exposes girls to numerous
problems, and leads to unwanted pregnancy, prostitution and series of sexual exploitation. The
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study says that street children feel powerless when they are sexually exploited and abused in the
streets, and they found them unable to change the situation or save themselves. The study shows
that street children are vulnerable and sensitive, hence they need support. The study reveals that
street children require counseling services for prevention from all types of exploitation. The study
emphasizes that for the preventive mechanism there is a need of public policy measures, and transcultural approaches are required in which cultural diversity, ethnicity, linguistic, and social thinking
is considered.
In the study three case studies related to sexual exploitation, psychological problems, fear
and anxiety have been included and examined. It has been revealed that when street girls are
sexually abused and get pregnant they become more conscious for their fetus rather than their own
health. These girls become shaky, feel anxiety, depression and suspicion.
In the end, study reveals that trans-cultural approach empowers street children, gives them
choices for decisions and gets them out from the feelings of alienation and inadequacy. The study
further says that significant work is required to be done by government and non government
agencies to improve the life of street children.
2.2.6. Lewis, Aptekar (2000): A Worldwide View of Street Children in the Year 2000, San
Jose State University: California
This study comprises of six parts: part one introduces street children phenomenon, part two
gives definition of Street Children, part three offers discussion about the families of street children,
part four relates comparison between street children of developed and developing countries, part
five highlights public opinion towards the street children, and part six gives practical suggestions
for working with street children.
54
The study identifies the phenomenon of street children as global problem and discusses all
related factors at a larger scale. The study notes that the street children are the product of family
violence and poverty deprivation. The study further describes that there is a difference between
street children and working children. Moreover, the phenomenon of street children of developing
countries and that of the developed countries is different in nature and dimensions e.g. in developed
countries children do not come on the streets due to poverty as we find in the developing countries.
The study discusses the UNICEFs definition of street children and opposes it on the ground
that UNICEF talks only about the children who hail from the poor families. The study notes that
children can move from families to streets but it is dependent on interaction within their families
and street environment and their friends in the streets. Adding a third dimension, the study
emphasizes upon understanding the survival strategies for street children. The study observes that if
the problems of street children are to be solved there is need to work pragmatically rather than
theoretically.
The study suggests that each country and territory must consider the cultural impacts,
beliefs, and psychological functioning of the children and the society should not confuse poverty
with psychopathology.
The study further suggests that organizations working for street children must accept young
people in their roles. They should focus on the child rather than on the drugs, and must work with
the street children without compelling them to accept viewpoints of others. The study further
observes that it is important to differentiate between children needing psychotherapy and those
require practical assistance. Moreover, awareness and education of general public about the street
children is also important in solving their problems.
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2.2.7. Olley, B.O. (2006): Social and Health Behaviors in Youth of the Streets of Ibadan,
Nigeria, Child Abuse & Neglect 30 (2006) pp 271282, Department of Psychology,
Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan.
This study comprises of basic aspects related to the street children phenomenon in Nigeria.
The study starts with introduction of the phenomenon in Ibadan city describing area, design of
study, population, procedure and data analysis. The second part of the study is related to the results
encompassing familial factors, social behavior, age differences in social behavior, and health
profile. The third part of the study deals with discussion while part fourth presents practical
implications.
The study states that the issue of street children is world wide phenomenon and exists all
over the world. According to study, increasing population, family structures, socio- cultural
problems, early marriages, broken families, parental illness and unwanted pregnancies are some of
the major causes, among others. The study revealed that stealing, school drop-in, prostitution and
drug trafficking are the major habits of the street children. The study further reveals that parents of
street children are poorly educated, having two or more wives while mothers also practice sexual
relations with several males; therefore, there are more children on the streets.
The study reveals that street children are not supported by their families, and there is a lack
of socialization, which pushes children towards the streets. A huge number of street children come
on streets due to economic problems and to earn a livelihood rather than on the motivation of
antisocial factors. The findings of this study seem to support widely-held views that street children
are more often not delinquent and deviant.
In the end, study concludes that for the rehabilitation of these children there should be a
well-thought policy instrumental in increasing the earning skills and opportunities besides kick
starting a process of re-socialization and life skills training. This would help develop their concept
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of re-organizing the available resources so as to bring about a fruitful betterment of the street
children.
2.2.8. Rizzini, Irene (1995): Children in the Streets: Latin Americas Lost Generation
Children and Youth Services Review, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 391-410. USA
Related to situation analysis of street children in Latin America, this study is divided into
seven parts dealing with the street children phenomenon and its basic concepts. The study notes that
most of the street children work on the streets to support their families because they live in extreme
poverty. Some also work for self reliance or through family pressure and/or to meet educational
expenses.
The study further reveals that majority of street children were boys and girls were found
working with the boys. The study found that more than 50% of the families of the street children
were two parents and 34% were with single parent mother. The study further describes that children
on the streets have very uncomfortable and risky lives with no compassionate supervision. The
study found that shoe shining, help parking and washing cars, singing in buses, begging and
prostitution are the major income resources of the street children.
According to the study there are four basic approaches to solve problems of street children
in Latin America. The first consists of correctional strategy and second aims for stresses recovering
- according to study this was the rehabilitative perspective for street children. An innovative
alternative is the third strategy, and fourth one is the preventive approach that recognizes basic
problems of street children as economic ones. In the end, the study concludes that in the absence of
economic opportunities for the families of street children their problems cannot be solved.
2.2.9. Sarah, Tahomas de. Benitez (2007): State of the Worlds Street Children: Violence,
UK: Consortium for Street Children.
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This study highlights violence against street children all over the world. The objective of the
publication was to promote concept of actualization of street children as various stakeholders were
related with their lives.
Divided into four chapters, this was the first global study focused on various forms of
violence against street children. The first chapter delves on relationship of violence with street
children with reference to ecological model, while second chapter discusses street children as
individuals. The third chapter explores social relationship of street children and the fourth chapter
highlights violence against them in the community. The study covers all aspects of street children
life in a systemic way. Each chapter of the discourse is supported by some case studies from the
various countries.
The key findings of the study reveal that different types of violence are inflicted on the street
children all over the world, even the policies and services are not in favor of the street children. The
study observes that the experiences of the street children are unusually similar across the world,
including developing and developed countries.
According to study civil society has introduced and developed approaches to introduce
comprehensive methods of supporting children, families and communities to reduce the risks of
violence amid the inter-connected environment of the street children.
The study makes six central recommendations. The first recommendation is given to the
policy makers, community leaders, and service providers a concept to establish Children Centers to
evolve a social protection system with varied options for supporting street and other children. The
second recommendation seeks to Support Families in creating safe houses for victims of homebased violence and providing services which help families create supportive home environments.
The third recommendation suggests that investment should be made in developing community-
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based organizations to address the issue of street children. The fourth suggestion relates to State
Protection, which implies that staff at all levels in public organizations must be trained to properly
implement state legislation relating to street children. The fifth recommendation calls for an
Inclusive Society, in which issues of social inequality and poverty are addressed to reduce the
number of street children. The sixth and the last suggestion emphasizes upon strengthening of
research activity to further analyze the available data and to launch new researches on the street
children.
2.2.10. UNESCO, (2006): Street Children and HIV&AIDS, Barcelona (Spain): UNESCO
This study is focused on relationship between HIV & AIDS and Street children. According
to study the life style of street children shows that they are seriously vulnerable to this disease. The
study is divided into and focused on Definition of Street Children, Intervention Tools for HIV &
AIDS, The Facilitators Profile, Interventions Techniques, and Indicators. In its essence, the study
seeks to describe know-how about intervention mechanism for safety from HIV/AIDS disease.
The major part of this study is suggestive that it is like a training tool for those who work for
the street children. This comprises of three components: placing the experience, exchange during
the seminar, and creation of frame work. The study implies that those working with the street
children have some misunderstanding about both the phenomenon of HIV & AIDS and Street
children. In this study a methodological guidance has been given aiming to constitute a training
tool, sufficiently flexible and adaptable, for the facilitators to deal with the issue of HIV & AIDS
while working with the street children.
The study says that in all continents, there are many defined ideas about HIV & AIDS and
how it is transmitted, how to take care of oneself and prevent infection, and the possibility or
impossibility of being cured. Facilitators themselves may share such ideas, which obstruct the
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effectiveness of their action of information and prevention with the street children. The study
speculates that the facilitators may also lack the arguments and tools to carry out their mission of
intervention and prevention effectively, particularly in the field of listening techniques.
In this study, three basic situations of street children have been analyzed: Information on
Street Children and HIV & AIDS, Information on Street Children and Drugs, Information about
Protection Factors for Street Children.
2.2.11. UNICEF, (2006): Violence against Children in Places of Work, Giacomo Pirozzi:
UNICEF.
The title page of the study carries the picture of children from Quetta, the capital of
Balochistan province of Pakistan. The photo shows two boys as garbage pickers sitting on a pile of
garbage. It is understandable from title of the book that it must include all forms of violence
inflicted on a working child.
The study discusses various factors of violence, problems of street children, background of
the problems and rehabilitation of the street children.
At the end of each page views and comments of working or homeless children about their
life are written. For example at the end of page 6 comments of a homeless adolescent girl of East
Asia informs: I left home because my brother made me go out at two or three in the morning to
do things I didnt like doing. He offered me to his friends, to our uncles, to strangers. Then, the
day my father tried to abuse me, I left.
In this background and context the report notes that children are assumed to work even at
their own houses, and huge numbers of children leave their homes due to domestic hardworking and
physical abuse.
Regarding the child abuse and its relationship with workplaces the study suggests that
mostly children go out of the home due to family acute needs. On streets there are vulnerabilities,
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while parents often ignore the sexual and physical violence meted out to their children on the
streets.
The study reveals that focusing on the work and workplace it is difficult to differentiate
between Street Children and Working Children, because both are suffering from same type of
problems at streets which are some how difficult to classify. The study notes that there are three
types of violence against the street children: Physical violence involves beatings, kicking, slapping,
whipping and scalding, Psychological (emotional) violence includes shouting, codling, insults,
threats,
obscene language, bullying,
mobbing, isolation, marginalization and repeated
discriminatory treatment; Sexual violence includes sexual harassment, fondling and rape.
In the end, study importantly recommends that a wide range of measures are needed to
address the problem of workplace violence against children. The issue has to be tackled as a
livelihood, human rights, labor, health and safety, and law enforcement issue.
2.2.12. UNESCO (2007): Resource Pack Improving Learning Opportunities for Street
Children, Philippine: UNESCO
This study published under the supervision of United Nations Chapter UNISCO, aims to
provide beneficial resources to all stakeholders of the world who want to work on street children.
For this study, four countries of the world - Pakistan, Nepal, Indonesia, and Philippines - were
selected for case studies work. The study contains four sections: (1) country case studies, (2) policy
forum reports, (3) information for formation of sustainable National Network for street children
organizations, and (4) useful training material and the report of regional training workshop for
educators, including a training needs analysis chart.
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Analyzing the situation of street children, the study says that the number of street children is
increasing in Pakistan, most probably the street living children are less than street working children.
Many children of school going age go on the streets to earn money for family support. The study
estimated that 3 out of 10 children aged 5-9 years do not go to school, and these children go on the
streets for work.
Focusing on the situation of street children and education system, the study says that
poverty, lack of awareness, poor education system and school environment keep these children
away from education. It further notes that conflicts with law and use of toxic chemical substances
by street children are indicative that they indulge in anti social activities and are not interested in
education.
The study observes that street children are at the higher risk and they are not being
facilitated by formal or non formal education. It suggests that introduction of specific measures such
as provision of subsidies, scholarships, and educational alternatives, including vocational training,
may help street children and other young people to complete schooling.
The study recommends that street living children must be included in Non Formal Education
plan of action. A network of NGOs working on the street children may be formed to sensitize
provision of education for street children besides adding them in Education for All one of the
UN Millennium Development Goals.
2.3. National Studies
2.3.1. Azad Foundation (2001): Street Children in Karachi: A Situation Analysis, Karachi:
Azad Foundation
This study consists of three basic sections: First: introduction, socio-economic conditions of
the street children, street children in Karachi, research and qualitative methodology; Second: social
aspects of street children, family information of street children regarding demographic conditions,
62
economic profile, support mechanism, economic indicators, and substances used by street children,
and Third: discussions and recommendations.
The main target of the study was to find out aspects and realities of life of Karachi street
children and identifying social factors and the economic situation causing children to leave their
homes and live on the streets instead, in the distressing circumstances. The report defines the Street
Children as those, who, due to economic or social reason, have left their homes and live either in
parks, abandoned buildings or under bridges, on pavements, etc. and the main engagements of these
children are collecting waste paper, plastic, scrap metal and selling things.
According to study, about 100 million children in the world live and work on the streets,
whereas this number increases day by day. Their ages are between thirteen to eighteen years and
amongst them 40% are homeless; and the remaining 60% work on the streets to support their
families.
The study further depicts street children as defenseless victims of brutal violence, sexual
exploitation, abject neglect, chemical addiction and human rights violation. Also these children are
target of local business owners who force them to vacate their place of living (occupied by the
children illegally) for having space for the purpose of buildings/offices often.
The report discovered that the Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STDs) are common among
these children, causing very hard survival of their teenage. The report states that the future of the
street children is loaded with many dangers, as there is every chance of such children being
accomplice or victims of crime. They are vulnerable to the environment where they live as they
have no shelter from heat or cold. Normally, these children beg for food at various places - although
a vast majority of these are young boys who can earn it by working/employment.
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The study has revealed the unprecedented influx of Afghanis and Bengalis (mostly illegal)
refugees in Pakistan. The report shows that about 5000 illegal immigrants enter Karachi daily. A
good number of these refugees are children, whereas Karachi is already the home of many ethnic
and religious groups who often fight among themselves.
The research was conducted on male street children only; however, no female children were
reported in the area under survey. The children belonged to three age groups - 56% were between 6
to 13 years and 44 % were from 14 to 16 years.
The report found major reason for children leaving their homes as fear of violence (56%),
whereas 20% showed the reason ill parental attitude. The highest occupation was reported as car
washing (70%), and begging was done by 46 % children. Alarmingly, 40 % of children were
physically disabled.
In the end, the study gives important recommendations urging that an institution may be
established for physical shelter and basic learning tools. A vocational school as a part of this
institution would be very helpful in providing them long term rehabilitation.
2.3.2. Initiator (2009): The Study about Problems of Street Children of Karachi, Karachi:
Initiator
This study covers the various aspects related to street children phenomenon in Karachi. The
study aimed at knowing the actual reasons for leaving home, their conditions on the streets, the
factors which keep them on the streets and to obtain knowledge about their requirements for
intervention.
In this study questionnaire for street children was devised containing about 22 questions,
requiring information about life style, problems, and causes for doing work on the streets. The study
adapted the group discussion method in which they had formulated groups of 6 to 7 children. The
grouping was based on age, sex and nature of the children.
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After completion of research work, study revealed that there were various factors for coming
to streets; the family problems stand at first line in the causes. The study says that dysfunctional
families, disputed families and disturbed families were the main cause to force them to leave homes.
The study reveals that economic conditions do not fulfill childrens nutritional needs; especially the
Burmese and Bengalis children faced severe scarcity of food at their homes while it was available
outside the home by begging.
The study also focused on domestic violence especially by the father. Most of the children
reported that they left home for the first time at the age 5 to 10 years. This period of age is
important for any individuals life as it requires love and affection of parents/guardians. Schooling
also starts at this time but these children come out due to tense and tough situation. In most of the
homes the mother was totally ineffective due to cruel role of father or she was working outside the
home, leaving her children behind at the mercy of other unsuitable members of the family. The
study reveals some other related factors like sexual abuse by other family members, low income of
family, unavailability of necessities of life, etc.
The study discusses all basic needs of life from food, clothes, shelters, to washing or
cleaning facilities and observes that although nothing is good on the streets the children prefer to
live on the streets. The study notes that according to some children sex enjoyment is better on the
streets as they are involved in sexual activities and are habitual of having sex under force or with
consent. Some of the kids even had sex with gypsies or girl beggars. The attraction towards boys is
more rather than the girls.
In conclusion, the study gives some suggestions saying that there must be some recreational
activities for street children to get rid of wrong doings. They need legal assistance when caught by
police whether legally or illegally.
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The study projects a ray of hope by disclosing that these children expressed the need for
education, skill development and other facilities of life. Let the Government, NGOs and donors
come forward to do something for these little angels who deserve love, affection and due care at this
critical juncture of their age.
2.3.3. Iqbal, Farah (2006): Literature Review on the Issues of Child Sexual Abuse,
Juvenile Justice and Street Children in Sindh Karachi: UNICEF, Social
Welfare Department
This study comprises of five sections: First: introduction in which Child Sexual Abuse,
Juvenile Justice and Street Children has been discussed; Second: Research and Methodologies;
Third: Literature Review regarding Child Sexual Abuse, Juvenile Justice and Street Children;
Fourth: Analysis and Discussion; and Fifth: Recommendations.
The study is based on extensive literature review on three major issues of children: Child
Sexual Abuse, Juvenile Justice and Street Children. The risk indicators, existing gaps in service
delivery and available services are described properly. The author accounts that approximately
12,000 street children exist in Karachi city, most of them are male. About 42% were between the 10
to 14 years age. The most vulnerable age for leaving the house were around 7-12 years, poverty,
peer pressure, and domestic physical abuse were among the causes to come on the streets.
The study further states that majority of children live in the groups mostly with 5 to 6
members, with a group leader thought to be more powerful and stronger. The majority of these
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children were found illiterate, and quite large number of these children wanted to go to schools, if
provided.
According to study majority of children had criminal record of arrest and the charges range
from theft to drug addiction and even without any reason. The basic source of their income was car
washing, garbage picking and begging having average income of 76 to 100 rupees per day.
The health problems of street children were also focused and it was concluded that mostly
street children suffered from respiratory diseases and usually did not consult doctors. Almost all the
street children sniff glue, and in Karachi, with multiple substances as thinners or petrol.
The report shows that almost at early age of 11 to 14 years these children experienced sexual
intercourse; most of the children have their two or more partners. Usually they did anal sex at
exchange of sex or money. According to study children have knowledge about condoms and lot of
misconception about transmission of viral diseases and HIV/AIDS, etc.
The report found that there was no government protection and the rehabilitation services
available for this marginalized population. However, some services made available by NGOs sector
were identified. The lack of government involvement in the issue is the basic cause of most of the
problems and insufficiencies in the system, as analysis revealed. The author observes that the
Vagrancy Act makes such childrens life further miserable. There is absence of proper laws for
their protection, and this makes their plight worse that it already is as they are often found to have
been arrested by the police on no charge.
The study recommends that there is dearth of important service availability and efforts need
to be made to ensure establishment of shelters (day/night) and drop in facilities, which would
incorporate services like basic health, hygiene, education, (formal and non formal) detoxification,
vocational training and education related to sex and rights.
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2.3.4. Mohammad, Anwar (December 12, 2002): Almost Twice as Many Children will Die
on the Streets this Year than Died on 9/11, The Review of the Street Children,
Karachi: Daily Dawn
This study is focused on the conditions of street children in Pakistan with examples of
personal case studies of some street children. The study says that Street Children are vulnerable to
various forms of exploitation and abuses. They are deprived children, denied not only of their rights
as children but also their childhood. Without guidance, love, concern, education and security, they
are heading for an obscure future. Most importantly, they need to be steered back to the mainstream
of social life through proper education opportunities, reformation, care and rehabilitation.
The study notes that problem of street children is universal, and comparatively high where
urbanization is more rapid. According to study political turmoil, civil unrest, family disintegration,
poverty, natural and manmade disaster and industrialization are the main causes behind the
phenomenon.
The study reveals that there are 22.5 million adolescents in Pakistan, and 1.2 million
children are on the streets of big cities of Pakistan working as beggars, vendors, and shoe shiners.
The study also notes that it is very difficult for street children to manage day to day expenses of
meal, clothing, sleeping, etc. Many of them even eat the leftover food of restaurants and hotels.
The study says that there are about 40,000 street children in Pakistan and their situation is
worse. Most of them have a family and link with society. According to study, Mazars, Eadhi
Homes, parks, under construction buildings and bridges are main residential places for these
children. The study observes that street children are deprived children, their rights are denied, and
they live without guidance, love, concern, education, and security. The study emphasizes that it is
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need of time that they must be steered back to mainstream of social life through proper education
and rehabilitation. According to study these children have good potential and talent if they are given
chance to do something positive in the society as they can prove themselves with good abilities.
2.3.5. Mughal, A.H. (2008): Street Children: The State of Pakistans Children 2007, pp 1620, Islamabad, Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child
This study comprises of various issues related to the Street Children phenomenon such as
types of street children, their age and gender, causes of being on the streets, and information about
some institutions working for street children in urban Sindh.
The study reveals that the driving forces of the street children phenomenon are poverty,
domestic, physical and mental abuse, along with peer pressure and the drug abuse respectively, as
concluded by the author. The children on the streets are deprived of their needs and rights and they
have very limited access to social services. Moreover, they are deprived of the parental care,
guidance and love - the significant factors in the healthy development of a child. Instead the
criminals, police, drug addicts and smugglers are handling these children. The reason of their
vulnerability to different types of diseases e.g. sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS is due to lack
of healthy environment, proper food, shelter and basic health services as well as their exploitation
and abuse.
The more dangerous fact discovered in the study about the street children in Pakistan is their
involvement in substance use (like glue, as it is very cheap) which is very common and frequent.
Ironically, negative attitude towards society is developed in the Street Children, as they are socially
rejected by the society. These attitudes have long lasting effects, and sometime force them to
indulge in anti-social activities.
It has been recommended by the author that the Child Protection Bill must be made
functional, extensive awareness campaigns be arranged to resolve the issue of physical punishment
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in family and schools and emphasized to prohibit all forms of corporal punishment; and repeal of
Section 89 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860. Further steps should be taken to educate the teachers
and the parents on recognition/prevention of child sexual abuse, and those children who were
subjected to sexual abuse be helped invariably. The role of electronic and print media is pivotal for
awareness of the people and sensitizing them. The study says that if media play proactive role,
violence against street children will reduce to a considerable extent. A Dropin-Center working
under SPARC that has been established is rendering good services for street children in the country,
according to the study.
2.3.6. Mughal, H. M. (2007 June): Distanced from Home and Family. SPARCS Discourse
Islamabad: No. 26 pp 9-11, Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child
This study is formed on some important aspects of the street children in Sindh, such as types
of street children, vulnerabilities, abuses, protection, discrimination and role of Government and
Non-Government organizations.
The study focuses on various aspects of street children phenomenon, discussing causes for
coming on the streets. The study said that initially desire of freedom was considered as basic cause
of running away children, but later on some other factors were also diagnosed like dysfunctional,
abusive and neglectful homes, family conflicts and poor relationship with parents. The street
children are vulnerable to various situations including sexual exploitation. Even parents use their
children to earn money to support them. If children cannot get required amount then they beg, steal,
work or prostitute themselves. Highlighting the problems of street children with police, the study
says that street children are easy target of police who pick them up for petty crimes and
misdemeanors.
Finding parents role as one of the push factors for children to come on the streets, the study
notes that there are many factors that push children out of the safety of their homes and onto the
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perilous streets. Physical abuse by parents is the main factor. Other factors include: addicted
parents, a violent home environment, broken families, physical and psychological punishment in
schools and homes, improper distribution of resources, urbanization and displacement leading to
breakdown of the family structure. Even social tensions also drive children to urban streets. Some
children are inspired by glamorous city life.
Discussing on protection of street children from exploitation, the study says that street
children have no protection and have to develop skills on their own to defend themselves from
abuse and exploitation. The study notes that rights of street children are violated by different groups
of people including the law enforcement agencies.
The study also includes observation on the insufficient health and educational facilities.
Even the street children are also unaware of health hygiene. Analyzing sexual exploitation of these
children, the study observes that they are subjected to sexual and physical abuse at the hands of
older children, their employers, and shopkeepers. Summarizing analysis of human rights situation of
the street children, the study listed forms of children rights violations e.g. limited access to social
services, deprivation from parental care, guidance and love, unhealthy living environment,
vulnerable to different types of diseases including sexually transmitted diseases, non-access to
education etc.
The author concludes that in Pakistan there is not enough awareness and acceptance to
understand the issues confronting street children. The study adds that the government has the
primary responsibility to ensure protection of these children through policy formulation/changes
and strict implementation of rules and regulations. The author suggests that there is lack of
coordination among the NGOs in specific areas and they do not look at the issue holistically.
Therefore, NGO sector has to work properly. He also recommended that the existing laws should be
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reviewed in the light of the UNCRC and other relevant international instruments, where necessary
revisions should be undertaken and new laws should be legislated.
2.3.7. Murtaza, A & Rana, Asif. H. (2008): Silent Shrieks: A Situational Analysis of
Violence Against Street Children in Karachi, Karachi: Initiators
This study is divided into five parts; each part is divided into various topics. For example
part I of the research deals only with the profile of the country and Karachi city, part II focuses on
the children and describes the child, street child and causes which pull or push them towards the
streets. The second chapter is based upon various forms of violation and its impact on the life of
street children, most importantly violation of rules and regulations by the police and other
government organizations. Part four consists of research methodology while fifth part gives
recommendations to all stakeholders concerned and government agencies for proper law
enforcement, NGOs awareness and rehabilitation, and parents proper role etc.
This research study has been done by a notable organization of Karachi working on street
children. The study is purely written on the problems of street children of Karachi city. The research
is mainly focused on the street children of Karachi, starting from the history of Pakistan. The study
classified the problems of street children technically and with close observation of the city and
street children.
The study reveals that street children are visibly available in the whole city, because all
children who leave or run away from home or forced to take refuge in the streets are generally
attracted to Karachi. According to study it is very difficult to know the exact number of street
children in Karachi because each and everyday their number increases as children from all over the
country come to the streets of this metropolitan city.
According to study street children in Karachi are working in very dirty situation. They are
vulnerable to physical abuse, sexual and drug abuse in the huge city. The study observes that
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violence against street children in Karachi manifests itself in a number of forms. According to
study, the problems of street children are also difficult to summarize because all forms of abuses by
parents, peers, police, teachers, have been calculated are acknowledged from last few years.
The study observes that there are 20,000 street children in Karachi city, and they are
subjected to various forms of violations, abuses, domestic violence, stigma and discrimination.
The study reveals that children frequently experience violence at the hands of police and
other law enforcement officials. Street children are more easy targets as they are poor, ignorant of
their rights, and lack a support system. Police beat them in order to extort money, and street girls
may be forced to provide sex to avoid arrest or to be released from police custody. Seen as vagrants
or criminals, street children have been tortured, mutilated, and subjected to death threats and
extrajudicial execution.
The study says that Police, without sufficient cause, subject street children to brutal
interrogations and torture and often detain them in order to elicit confessions or information. Once
placed in juvenile and criminal correctional institutions, children are frequently mistreated and
abused, enduring severe corporal punishment, torture, forced labor, denial of food, isolation,
restraints, sexual assaults, and harassment. In many instances, children are detained with adults,
leaving them at increased risk of physical and sexual abuse.
2.3.8 Naz, Fahmida. (June 2007): Lost Forever. SPARCS Discourse Islamabad: No 26. pp
12- 14, Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child
This study comprises of facts and figures about street children, consequence of poverty, life
of children on the streets and recommendations for solution of the problem. This study focuses the
reasons to be street children and classified the causes into three major groups: first economic
reasons in which poverty, unemployment, forced/bonded labor, desire to become rich are the sub
factors; second family related, physical violence/ abuse, split/broken families, lack of parental
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support, orphaned as its sub factors, and third personal/others, like, desire for freedom, influence of
peers, desire for independence, drug addiction, corporal punishment by teachers and religious
leaders are its sub factors.
Further the study says that over 67 percent of children are facing health problems and
Gastroenteritis is at the top and followed by RTI, Skin infections, weakness, majority of the
children are involved in glue sniffing or some other solvent abuse.
Regarding sexual abuse in children the study reveals that most children are exploited by
different kinds of abusers, many admitted that they indulge in sexual activity merely to satisfy their
physical urge. The study notes that male children become sexually active at the age of 11 years, and
urge to satisfy sexual desire leads to a large number and varied sexual partners. This exposes them
to sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/ AIDS among many other related illnesses, even few of
them admitted that they recognize the disease HIV/AIDS, but they do not completely understand
how it is transmitted and nor are they aware that there is a provision for safe sex.
In the end, the study recommends that strengthening the capacity of NGOs and local
Government to plan and manage programs serving the special needs of these children is required
and control of communicable infections diseases is required.
The study also emphasizes on legislation help for street children and suggests that civil
society must organize lobby to advocate the rights of child. The study suggests that night care
centers may be established for staying of street children at night time to control the sexual
exploitation.
2.3.9 Pakistan Voluntary Health and Nutrition Association (2004): KABPS Study for Street
Children in Karachi: PAVHNA
This study comprises of four major sections, section A is related with introduction, of street
children phenomenon in Karachi, Section B represents background of the study, research
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methodology, interview methods, data analysis methods etc, Section C is related with results,
demographic information, education and health problems, criminal pattern, family system,
socioeconomic conditions, Section D is related to recommendations and suggestions.
The study was based upon Knowledge Attitude Behavior Practices (KABPs) of street
children in Karachi, in which total research sample was 495 boys and 08 girls, total 503, ranging
from 10 to 24 years age street children were interviewed.
Defining the causes behind the street children phenomenon the study says that living
conditions, social disintegration, violence within the family, compelled the children to leave their
homes and come on the streets. According to the study more than half of the population in Karachi
is living below the poverty line, and a huge number of them is living in slum areas, illegal migrants
are playing key role in population increase in Karachi.
The study says that the day of street children starts in the streets and ends on the same
streets, and the situation in Karachi is not so different than other countries. The study reveals that a
huge number of poor people find their food from garbage. Thieves, baggers, robbers, are the well
known names of street children in Karachi. According to study these children usually form groups,
the group leaders usually eldest or strongest member who physically, psychologically and sexually
abuse group members to dominate and exert authority over them.
The study discovered during group discussion that majority of children live or sleeps at
parks and darbars. They start drug abusing to runaway from the depression caused by realities of
life. The study reveals that if the children get more glue then they become dependent upon the
substance that leads them to act as more unsocial persons.
According to study, negative attitude of police towards the street children were noticed by
researchers and even by the children. The police arrested them without any reason and even abused
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them physically and sexually. The study also examines that police behavior is totally failure to
control the problem; rather it increases the trends of the children towards the crime.
In the end, the study reveals that majority of children are working without supervision, and
concludes that majority of street children need awareness about their health, education and life skills
for preventive measures. The study also emphasizes to create strong bond between service providers
and street children. Moreover, skill learning to cope with daily life needs and to work to get money
is also essential for these children. The study says that if these children will work and earn money
themselves then no adult will misuse them.
2.3.10. Sadia, A. M. (2007): Lives and Health of Pakistani Street children, Washington:
North West Public Health
This study draws comparative figures of situation of street children in Pakistan with
American situation of street children, and study says that consequences of children being on the
streets are in Pakistan and America although causes are not same but both are vulnerable to sexual
abuse.
Discussing the part of government of Pakistan and issues related to the street children the
study observes that it was considered that due to religious pressure Pakistani society is protected
from sexual abuse but various studies reveal that this problem exists in Pakistan and even
government of Pakistan accepted and agreed to take action and designed a National plan of action
for children in this regard.
Discussing in the process of protection of street children the study writes that Protection
includes reviewing of existing legislation and developing new laws relating to child protection,
training of law enforcement personnel including police, court officials, public attorneys, lawyers,
and social welfare officers, and conducting a public campaign about laws concerning the issue is
very important to solve the problem. And Analyzing the Recovery and rehabilitation issues she
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focuses on service delivery. It includes counseling as part of rehabilitation services, training of

psychologists, doctors, and councilors, establishing multidisciplinary child sexual abuse committees
in major hospitals across the country, and publicizing the services available to survivors of sexual
abuse and exploitation. Government and national level nongovernmental organizations, in
collaboration with UNICEF, other United Nations programs, and the National AIDS Control
Program Pakistan, have set up drop-in centers in major cities to provide a range of services for
street children.
In the end the study concluded the matter and writes that these young people will never
escape the vicious cycle of poverty until and unless we initiate a collective struggle in Pakistan and
globally to advocate for the fulfillment of childrens fundamental rights to protection and good
mental, emotional, sexual, and physical health. Whether street children live in developed countries
such as the United States or in developing countries such as Pakistan, their common suffering and
low social status deprive them of their fundamental rights, or the economic development and
prosperity of any country, it is necessary to address this high-risk, marginalized segment of society.
If we really believe that our children are our future, then we cannot move forward unless we help
them become healthy and protected citizens.
2.3.11. Sahil, (2006): Drug Abuse and Its Relationship to Sexual Abuse of Street Children,
Islamabad: Sahil
This study is focused on two types of abuses among the street children first drug abuse and
second sex abuse; this study focused on major cities from four provinces of Pakistan and said that
Street children are the most vulnerable group to all forms of exploitation including sexual abuse.
This research takes a step further by drawing a relationship between drug abuse and child sexual
abuse amongst street children.
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Based on interviews of 180 street children, from 6 to 18 years age, from the major cities of
Pakistan, this research work has been completed in two and half months period.
Discussing about history of drug addicting and its availability in Pakistan, study said that
before 1978 heroin was not used in the country, it was used at high level up to 1999, and now a days
it spread faster than expected and heroin use brings the major changes in the life of drug abuser
children.
Finding the problems related to drug abuse in street children the report said that there are
various forms of drug abusing in this group, and categorized the mode of administration of drugs as
under:
i. Smoked or inhaled into the lungs. (Marijuana, hashish, opium, heroin, crack, ice,
nicotine)
ii. Snorted into the nose. (Cocaine, heroin)
iii. Eaten or drunk (Marijuana, peyote, alcohol, caffeine, amphetamines, barbiturates,
sedatives, and tranquilizers).
iv. Injected under the skin (skin popping) or in the vein (intravenous, IV) Cocaine, crack,
opium, heroin, the study has focused on drug abuse and its impacts on the life of street
children which causes affect their social as well as physical life.
Research about sexual abuse in street children was second objective of the study using same
focus group or sample. This factor was also researched in the study, analyzing about the both
groups of street children researcher observed that 61% street children were living night at the streets
and 31% were in their homes. Informing about the data collection methodology report reveals that
data was collected through applying a set of questions, observations and some in-depth interviews.
Some of the techniques to establish trust and friendship with the children were friendly conversation
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on general topics; showing concern and affection for them and sharing food with them during the
interviews.
According to study 90 % of children know about sex abuse, and they reported that mostly
they were abused by peers; even 81% said that drugs were introduced through peers.
Findings of the study show a strong link between drug abuse and child sexual abuse. All the
children (180) who were interviewed were drug addicts, and out of them 162 children were sexually
abused.
The study shows a relationship between drug abuse and child sexual abuse in two ways.
Children may see drug use as a solution to their problems, or they take drugs to forget that they
have been involved in sex work.
Further the study said that it is evident that children on the streets have major problems
within their families. Drug addiction, lack of education, and poverty are significant factors common
to all the respondents. The influence of friends and peers in introducing drugs to the respondents
was more significant than the fact that there were family members involved in drug abuse.
In the end study suggested that Government should take immediate actions for their
rehabilitation by establishing support systems. Drop-In-Centers, with all health facilities, should be
established for street children. Educational and vocational amenities should be provided to the street
children. Civil society and the families of these children should be involved in the remedial process
for the children.
2.3.12. The Azad Foundation (2006): Street Children in Pakistan: A Group at Risk for
HIV/AIDS, Karachi: The Azad Foundation
The study comprises of five chapters, chapter one briefs the introduction and background of
the study, chapter two is constructed upon methods, chapter three shows the results, the conclusion
is at the chapter number four, and in the end chapter five shows the recommendations.
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As the focus of the study is to unearth the street children situation in urban areas of Pakistan
10 major cities of Pakistan were studied, three cities from Sindh, four from Punjab, Two from
NWFP and one from Balochistan were taken as study universe, total sample number was 1175
children from 10 to 18 years. Collectively they found maximum 13 and 14 years of age in the street
children. In their sample 79% of children were Pakistani followed by 10% Afghani, 8% Bengali and
3% Burmese, over all illiteracy ratio was 72.6%, the study of organization showed that Physical
Violence within family was constituted as prime reason for children to leave their homes.
In this study various aspects of Street Children phenomenon and their problems in Pakistan
have been focused. Study shows that children are at alarmingly high risk, and from home to all
related circumstances physical, psychological and emotional abuse preceded their hopelessness, the
transition from family life to street life is neither sudden nor easy, but it is the process that takes
place over an extended period of time. Moreover, the study observed that street children learn to
cope with street environment very quickly. further they expressed their observation that stigma and
discrimination , illicit drug use, law self- esteem, emotional disorders, poverty are linked with their
day to day existence which makes them vulnerable to violence, drug, petty crime, conflict with law,
sexual exploitation, abuse, neglect and doing commercial sex work.
This report showed that major health problems in the children were GIT upsets up to 34%
followed by 25% RTI and skin infections 25%. The study shows that very few numbers of children
had correct knowledge of diseases, HIV, AIDS etc. The organization paid maximum Rs.2, 190
approximately to children which were mostly spent in buying cigarettes and drugs. Their primary
source of income was garbage picking, cleaning and washing cars, serving as waiters at restaurants
and minor jobs with hotels.
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According to the study the children were sexually active even they reported of recent sexual
activity during the past month, and high proportion of children provided history of rape up to 76%
while living on the streets.
In the recommendations, study emphasized to design a multidimensional policy for street
children in the country that starts from identification of their problems and causes of street children
phenomena followed by prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration. Protection from commercial
sexual activities and survival sex is suggested and said that model rehabilitation center must be
established for job oriented vocational trainings and Non formal education among these children.
The study also suggested to take efforts to unite the street children with their families, and to
organize a network of all stakeholders who are working for street children to sum up all resources,
to use mutually, sharing of knowledge, and coordination building.
2.3.13. Tufail, Parvaiz (2005): Report on Situational Analysis of Street Children,
Education for All Policy Review and Best Practices Studies on Basic NFE for Children
Living and/or Working on the Streets in Pakistan. Islamabad: Amal Human
Development Network & UNESCO.
This report comprises of five chapters: Chapter One is for Introduction that is further
divided into three phases; phase I is related to Literature Review, phase II is related to situation
analysis of street children in Pakistan, and phase III is related with best practices study. Chapter two
is related to National Situation of Street Children in Pakistan, that is further divided in to various
sub topics, chapter three is related to Research Analysis and Findings, Analysis of Government
policy on basic education and the implementation mechanism for national EFA (Education For All)
background, and chapter five is related to Best Practices study.
This study, conducted in the backdrop of Education for all Program aims to document
policies and programs addressing street living childrens right to education in Pakistan. The major
cities of country were the focus of the study from four provinces; some major cities were selected as
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Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Multan from Punjab, Karachi and Hyderabad from Sindh, Peshawar from
NWFP and Quetta from Balochistan.
In the starting of executive summary the study says that Academics, Policymakers,
Practitioners, Politicians, and general public is not totally agreed with meaning and available
definition of Street Children. Some institutions and professionals preferred their own definition.
According to the study, street children are not still counted properly even not by government or by
any non government organization.
The study shows that different categories of street living children like mobile venders,
(selling coconuts, towels, flowers, and newspapers etc) serving water to car/bus drivers, bus
conductors, shoe polishers, temporary/daily wage workers at farms, hotels, butchers, at puncture
shops, machines, or working at rental shops as Chootas fruit/toy/ cloths/oil sellers, singers,
dancers was shared and observed during the research activity.
The study analyzes the existing definition of street children given by UNICEF and other
organizations and he said that the circumstances and experiences of street children overlapping
with several other categories of children, such as trafficked, children migrant children, and working
children. There also is overlap with a range of problems and difficulties confronting many children,
including endemic poverty, domestic and / or sexual abuse and other violence, hazards working
conditions, exploitative labor, substance abuse, conflict with the law and juvenile justice and the
HIV/AIDS pandemic
According to this study poverty, unemployment, physical violence and attitude of
family/school teachers, religious teachers in mosques/Madaris, split/broken families/ orphans,
forced labor, load of domestic work, desire of freedom, lack of food and educational activities, and
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recreational support inside homes, influence of peers and films, drug addictions, self dependence,
love and attraction to opposite sex were found major reasons for being on the road.
Analyzing the situation of problem the study said that least one million children in Asia
alone are being commercially sexually exploited in brothels, bars, and on the streets. Many of them
are doing dangerous and difficult jobs and are injured in serious accidents. Regarding the definition
of street children, he said that although the term Street Children is neither precise, nor very useful
classification for children on or of the street, term does serve as point of engagement in
considering the variety of issues and problems facing for too many vulnerable children.
According to study the problem of applying a standard definition is of many folds. Firstly,
there is the difficulty of making equivalencies across different cultures, economic conditions and
geographical coverage. Secondly, the overlapping categories currently in use also include children
who have had experience in common with street children, who may have been street children or
who may become street children. In this way according to him the vulnerability of these children
and their life circumstances can not be properly summed up in the title of street children.
The study emphasizes to understand the concept of Street Children and suggests that a
working definition should be given. The research says that at the root of definitional dilemma, is the
aim of which may vary on the part of organization, projects, or individuals from moving away from
the patronizing solution of Saving children to realizing childrens right, or to attempt to put
children back in place.
In the end study suggested that there was a great need of coordination of services in order to
seek out and fill gaps in the provision of services directed to street children, and for standard to be
developed, implemented and monitored. Further he suggests that existing organizations need to
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emphasize the rights of street children and organizations have to be formed to address the wide
range of needs of Pakistans street living children.
In this chapter the researcher has initially discussed theory of sociology, the notions of micro
and macro theory and concepts of assumptions, perspective and approach or paradigm in order to
set parameters of this study. While discussing the phenomenon of street children the researcher gave
review of twelve international and thirteen national related studies conducted in their respective
contexts. These studies focus on and offer insights into the problems of street children in different
countries and continents with varied perspectives and approaches.
The next Chapter Three will discuss universe of study, research methodology and rationale.
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CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research process involves defining the problem, reviving previous research, on the
topic, developing one or more hypothesis, determining the research design, defining the sample and
collecting data, analyzing and interpreting the data and finally preparing the research report.
(Tischler.L.T 1996)
Websters Collegiate Dictionary (1996) defines Research as "studious inquiry or
examination; esp: investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of
facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such
new or revised theories or laws.
Methodology refers to A system of principles and method of organizing and constructing
theoretical and practical activity (Dictionary of Sociology). (Sharma, 1992: 516) Collins
Dictionary of Sociology (1991) has defined methodology as the techniques and strategies
employed within a discipline to manipulate data and acquire knowledge.
It is compulsory for researcher to define a research design before starting work on any
research topic that is the backbone of research and provides guidelines for the collection of relevant
evidence by researcher for his study. Research design consists of type of study, universe of study,
sampling procedure, units of study, method of data collection, pre testing coding tabulation,
presentation of data, and statistical analysis of data and so on.
3.1. Type of Study
Since the focus of this research is to unearth the problems of Street Children, through a
sociological observation and skill of study, therefore the present study is exploratory research that
has been initiated with personal and professional dialogue with the children, and other stakeholders,
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to collect information to evaluate the social problems of street children. Hence, the methodological
approach will be both Qualitative and Descriptive.
This study will be a sociological study, because it is an attempt to understand the
perceptions and perspectives of the street children as well as stakeholders on the street children
phenomenon in urban Sindh. Qualitative enquiry focuses on describing, understanding, exploring,
and interpreting various social problems of street children, in the end to find out rehabilitation
methods. Survey method will be used to collect data about street children in urban Sindh (Anderson,
1998; Allan and Skinner, 1999). Suitable questionnaire will be developed to interview street
children, police and other administrative officials and stakeholders. Efforts will be made to reach
the families and guardians of children to find the causes of the presence of children in city streets.
This study is descriptive and exploratory type of study that serves a typical type of social
research. (Earl Babbie 2004). In his book The Practice of Social Research, he describes that
Social research can serve many purposes. Three of the most common and useful purposes are
exploration, description, and explanation. Although a given study can have more than one of these
purposes and most do examining them separately it is useful because each has different implications
for other aspects of research design.
Exploration: Much of social research is conducted to explore a topic, that is, to start to
familiarize a researcher with that topic. This approach typically occurs when a researcher examines
a new interest or when the subject of study itself is relatively new. (Earl Babbie 2004)
Description as a major purpose of many social scientific studies describes situations and
events. The researcher first observes and then describes what was observed. Because scientific
observation is careful and deliberate, therefore, scientific descriptions are typically more accurate
and precise than are casual ones. (Earl Babbie 2004)
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Explanation is third general purpose of social scientific research. It explains things.

Descriptive studies answer questions of what, where, when, and how; explanatory questions, why.
(Earl Babbie 2004)
In view of above basic purposes of research this study serves all required demands of
research.
3.2. Universe of study
Since the topic of the present study is Problems of Street Children: A Sociological study of
Urban Sindh so it is very much clear that the Universe will be urban Sindh.
3.2.1. Urban Sindh
The Sindh is province of Pakistan its overall population and area and cities can be
distributed in two parts, Rural and Urban. Therefore commonly it big cities are collectively called as
urban sindh and rest of the areas is known as rural sindh. The research problem, phenomenon of
street children is mostly related with urban sindh. There are four major urban cities namely Karachi,
Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana are counted as cities of urban sindh.
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3.2.1. Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as
the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 15 to 18 million, while
the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million. Karachi is the most populous city in
the country, one of the world's largest cities in terms of population and also the 10th largest urban
agglomeration in the world. It is Pakistan's premier centre of banking, industry, economic activity
and trade and is home to Pakistan's largest corporations, including those involved in textiles,
shipping, automotive industry, entertainment, the arts, fashion, advertising, publishing, software
development and medical research. The city is a major hub of higher education in South Asia and
the wider Muslim world. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karachi)
Karachi's inhabitants, locally known as Karachiites, are a cosmopolitan population
composed of many ethno-linguistic groups from all parts of Pakistan as well as migrants from
several different countries and regions, making the city a diverse melting pot. The population and
demographic distribution of the city has undergone considerable changes over the past 150 years. At
the end of the 19th century, the population of the city was about 105,000, with a gradual increase
over the next few decades, reaching more than 400,000 on the eve of independence. Current
estimates of the population range from 15 to 18 million, of which an estimated 90% are migrants
from different backgrounds. The city's population is estimated to be growing at about 5% per year
(mainly as a result of internal rural-urban migration), including an estimated 45,000 migrant
workers coming to the city every month from different parts of Pakistan.
88
The earliest inhabitants of the area that became Karachi included Baloch in the west, and
Sindhi tribes such as the Jokhio, Mallaah and Jath in the east. Before the departure of British
colonial rule and the subsequent independence of Pakistan, the population of the city included
Hindus and Sikhs, but the community is still present numbering around 250,000 residents.
The Pakhtuns, originally from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA and northern Balochistan, are
now the city's second largest ethnic group. By some estimates, there are close to some millions of
Pakhtuns in Karachi, including approximately 50,000 registered Afghan refugees, Karachi hosts the
largest Pashtun population in the world outside Khyber Pukhtoonkhuwa. Many of these Pashtuns
have been resident in Karachi for decades, and as a result, some no longer speak Pashto fluently,
and instead primarily speak Urdu or English - especially those from wealthier communities. In
addition, a small number of the Muhajir community (such as the Rohilla community) in Karachi
claim to be by origin ethnic Pashtuns.
After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, thousands of Biharis and Bengalis from Bangladesh
arrived in the city, and today Karachi is home to 1 to 2 million ethnic Bengalis from Bangladesh.
They were followed by Rohingya Muslim refugees from western Burma. One of the underprivileged ethnic groups is the Siddis (Negro - Sheedi) who trace their roots to African slaves from
earlier centuries. Many other refugees from Iran and the Central Asian countries constituting the
former Soviet Union have also settled in the city as economic migrants. There also exists a small
Nepali population, large numbers of Arabs, Filipinos and economic elite of Sinhalese from Sri
Lanka. Karachi is furthermore host to a large number of western expatriates in Pakistan. During
89
World War II, about 30,000 Polish refugees migrated to Karachi, at that time under British colonial
rule. Many of these Polish families settled permanently in the city.
According to the census of 1998, the religious breakdown of the city is as follows: Muslim
(96.45%); Christian (2.42%); Hindu (0.86%); Ahmadi (0.17%) and others (Parsis, Sikhs, Bah's,
Jews and Buddhists) (0.10%).Karachi has been sometimes regarded as an ethnically segregated city,
with 75% of the city regarded as being segregated along ethnic lines.
3.2.2. Hyderabad
Hyderabad is a city built on three hillocks cascading over each other. Mian Ghulam Shah
Kalhoro of the Kalhora Dynasty founded the city in 1757 over the ruins of Neroon Kot (Nerun or
Nerun Kot) (meaning the place of Neroon), a small fishing village on the banks of River Indus
named after its ruler Neroon.
At the time of independence of Pakistan in 1947, the Muhajirs began to immigrate to
Pakistan and many settled in the city of Hyderabad. These refugee Muslim lost everything in India
and were settled in refugee camps. This hostility translated into communal tension in Hyderabad
between Muslim refugees and local Hindus. After independence of Pakistan, Hindus expected to
remain in Sindh, however a large number of them left due to communal violence or due to better
socio-economic prospects in India. (Talpur, M.A.M 2007)
Hyderabad is an important commercial centre where industries include: textiles, sugar,
cement, manufacturing of mirror, soap, ice, paper, pottery, plastics, tanneries, hosiery mills and
film. There are hide tanneries and sawmills. Handicraft industries, including silver and gold work,
lacquer ware, ornamented silks, and embroidered leather
90
saddles, are also well established. Hyderabad produces almost all of the ornamental glass
bangles in Pakistan. Hyderabad is a major commercial centre for the agricultural produce of the
surrounding area, including millet, rice, wheat, cotton, and fruit. Pakistani government recently
discovered a large gas deposit in Hyderabad which has not been put in production.
3.2.3. Sukkur
The district derives its name from its headquarters town Sukkur. It is bounded in the north
by District Ghotki and Shikarpur districts, in the south by District Khairpur, in the east by Ghotki
and Jaisalmir (India) and in the west by Shikarpur and Khairpur districts.
For the administration purposes, district Sukkur is divided into 3 talukas, which include
Sukkur, Rohri and Panoaqil There are 46 union councils, including rural and urban ones; whose
elected representatives formulate Zilla and tehsil assemblies. Political constituencies include 2
national seats and 4 provincial seats of legislative assemblies.
The main means of transport and communication are roads and railways. All taluka
headquarters are connected with district headquarters by rail or metalled road. Sukkur is also
connected by air with Karachi and other cities. There is also a small movement of goods by steamer
and boat notably between Sukkur and Rohri.
The main occupation of the people in district Sukkur is agriculture. A considerable number
of artisans and skilled workers are also found in the district.
3.2.4. Larkana
It lies on 27033' 27o 3336"north latitude and 68o 13'35" east longitude. The historical
remains of Mohenjo Daro are located in Larkana district 28 kilometers in the South-West of
Larkana City. The present Talukas of Larkana District are Dokri, Bakrani, Larkana and Ratodero.
Sukkur is at a distance of about 85 km in east. Now with the construction of Larkana Khairpur
91
Bridge over Indus River, Larkana has been connected by road with Khairpur District. The City of
Khiarpur Mirs is about 83 Kilometer from Larkana city.
Presently, Larkana has an estimated population of 1.4 million. The larkana city is fourth
largest city of urban Sindh. This is an agricultural city. There are no industries or factories here in
Larkana but only small area called as Sindh Small Industries Area in which some small industries of
Soap, Bakeries, Plastic products etc. In Larkana largely joint family system exists and most of
families are still related with their villages, feudal system impacts the situation of larkana but
children are taken care of by their families mostly. Economically, the largest population of Larkana
may be counted as lower middle class population; literacy rate is higher than other neighboring
cities.
3.3. Sample.
Purposive sampling procedure was used for selection of the subjects with the help of NGOs
working for street children in each city, reference of street children and other stakeholders. The
population of street children in targeted cities was quite different; according to various studies and
NGOs approximate number of street children in Karachi was up to 16000, in Hyderabad 8000, in
Sukkur 5000, and in Larkana 2000. Therefore 400 street children were taken from four cities with
different percentages.
3.4. Sampling
92
Sr. No
City
01
02
03
04
05
Karachi
Hyderabad
Sukkur
Larkana
Total
Approximate number of
street children
Percentage
16,000
8,000
5,000
2,000
66.8
21.3
8.0
4.0
100.0
Sample Number
267
85
32
16
400
3.5.
Meth
od of
Data
Colle
ction
In the present study, interview schedule for street children were used for data collection. It
was considered as priority method for data collection in view of following reasons.
Respondents were mostly illiterate and children, therefore they were unable to read
the questions and answer it.
By this method it was easier to explain the meaning and remove misunderstandings
which might have developed.
Participation of respondents in the interview gives opportunity to discuss. It gives

opportunity to observe various behaviors of respondents.
Here the interviewer has an opportunity to control the conditions under which the
questions are answered, and to channel the reactions and comments to the researcher.
Respondents have no opportunities to know what questions come or to alter the order
of the questions they answer. When the order of the questions is significant, an
interview is more useful than the questionnaire.
The respondent does not have as much time available to answer questions as when
questionnaire was employed, when spontaneity is important. Interview offers a real
advantage over other methods.
When interviews are employed, the identity of the respondents is known, so followup studies can be considered.
3.6. Interview Schedule for Street Children

93
The interview schedule was constructed on 6 parts with different sets of questions, and total
questions were 62. Part one of the Interview schedule was devoted for demographic information
with 14 questions, which include age, address, mother tongue, parents information, Religion,
Groups and friends information etc. Part two deals with socio- economic and resources related five
questions. Part three, having seven questions, relates with social behavior and socio-psychological
problems. Part four, with seven questions, deals with risk behavior and drug use problems.
Moreover, part four also included three questions to find out as to what types of drugs/substances
street children mostly use. Part five, containing six questions, addresses health and awareness
problems. In the end, Part six was designed with questions concerning education, skills, trainings
and rehabilitation related enquiries.
3.7. PreTesting
Pre testing of the interview schedule is the pre requisite for the data collection. Prior to the
finalization of interview schedule 30 interviews were taken from different cities i.e. 10 from
Karachi, 8 from Hyderabad, 4 from Larkana, and 8 from Sukkur, and some modifications and
additions were done wherever required. The purpose of the pretesting is to remove errors,
ambiguities in the interview schedule. In the light of the result of the pre-testing it was observed that
certain questions were either irrelevant or not necessary. Thus few questions were changed and also
schedule was rearranged according to new observations. Finally a comprehensive interview
schedule was formulated in order to get valid and reliable results.
3.8. Focus Group Discussions
According to the classic definition (Morgan, 1988), the focus group represents a qualitative
method of social research which consists in recruiting one or more groups of six to twelve
individuals
selected from criteria of homogeneity, initiating open discussion of topics under

94
consideration and then producing an immediate analysis by collating the viewpoints of the
participants (Morgan and Krueger, 1993).
In the present study, two group discussions were organised to discuss and to obtain
comments of the participants on the topic of this study. (Powell et al 1996: 499) Interviewing of
these groups involved interviewing a number of people simultaneously, the emphasis being on
questions and responses between the researcher and participants. (Morgan 1997: 12) The first group
discussion was held in Larkana city in which representatives from Sukkur and Larkana districts
were gathered. There were 10 representatives: two from social welfare department, two from
NGOs, one from police department, two from education department, two parents and one religious
person. In order to maintain gender balance female representatives one each from education
department, social welfare department and an NGO were invited. The second group discussion was
held in Karachi in which representatives from Hyderabad and Karachi were gathered. Total number
of representatives in group discussion in Karachi was twelve.
The group discussions were based on the questionnaire as included in the Annexure. The core
aim of these group discussions was to identify and analyze different practical views of different
stakeholders. The following six major problems were discussed:
Demographic problems
Socio-Economical and resources problems
Social behavior and socio-psychological problems
Risk behaviors and drug use problems
Health and awareness problems
Education, Skills, Trainings and Rehabilitation
3.9. Interview process
95
As the universe of study was urban Sindh and four cities were selected for research, data
collection was started from Larkana City, then Hyderabad, Karachi and Sukkur with some
intermissions. Before starting the data collection process various places were visited where the
street children spend most of their time, with the coordination of NGOs working for the children in
the area.
3.10. Coding
After the data collection each interview schedule and Questionnaire was allotted a symbol
which is known as code number. B. Bushan has defined it as the process of translating raw
research data in to a form which can be used in calculation by classifying data in to categories and
assigning each category a numerical value (Bushan 1991: 31). Johnson says Coding is the process
of assigning numbers or categories to data or information (Johnson 1995: 41) According to Earl
Babbie Coding is the process of transforming raw data either manifest or latent content in to
standardized, Quantitative form. (Babbie.E 1992:342)
In the present study the collected data were properly coded, edited and verified with the help
of code design which was prepared exclusively for this purpose. Coded data were entered on
separate code sheets and finally transcribed to the magnetic tape in order to analyze the data using
computer technology.
3.11. Ethical Considerations
As this study utilised human participants and investigated on company practices, certain
issues were addressed. The consideration of these issues is necessary for ensuring the privacy as
well as the security of the participants. These issues were identified in advance so as to prevent
future problems that could have risen during the research process. Among the significant issues that
were considered included consent, confidentiality and data protection.
96
3.12. Gaining Consent

Securing permission and gaining the consent of the participants for this study is an important
ethical consideration. In order to do so, the researcher relayed the aims of the research clearly
among all selected participants. Each participant was asked to accomplish a consent form, stating in
detail all the activities involved as well as the purpose of the study. The reasons why they were
selected as participants were also stated so as to enable the selected participants to connect the aims
of the research with that of the participant qualifications. In the consent form, the researcher also
discussed in detail all the treatments or procedures that will be done during the research process.
Building rapport and gaining the trust of the participants has been considered essential
throughout the research process. These helped in ensuring the cooperation and willingness of the
participants to give dependable and sufficient data that were relevant to the study. Although the
participants may initially give their consent for the research process, the researcher also gave the
assurance that they are allowed to withdraw from the study even without providing any reason. By
giving this freedom, the participants did not feel forced to participate in the process.
The possible risks that may be included in the research were also discussed to the
participants to gain their consent. More importantly, the methods or mechanisms that are to be used
to prevent these risks were also included. The researcher practiced openness and honesty all
throughout the study to assure the research respondents that their security and safety is of utmost
priority. All of these factors to gain the consent of the research participants were discussed in the
most comprehensive manner based on their level of understanding.
3.13. Confidentiality
The privacy of the respondents as well as the confidentiality of their responses was
prioritised by the researcher as well. In order to do so, the names of the participants were kept
97
confidential. All details that are related to the study were the only ones included in the final report.
The researcher sent a copy of the research proposal to all participants of the study to emphasize that
all information obtained had been accurate and properly credited. The researcher also ensured that
all data gathered for the study were protected from unauthorised access.
98
CHAPTER 4
PRESENTATION AND DATA ANALYSIS
4.1 Quantitative Analysis
The data regarding present study The problems of street children a sociological study of
street children in urban Sindh was collected, organised and analysed using the scientific
methodology described in previous chapter. The quantitative findings of the study are presented and
discussed in this chapter, which is distributed into two main sections; first section relates to
descriptive analysis, second section relates to multivariate analysis of the collected information.
4.2 Descriptive analysis

In order to achieve the first major objectives of the study (i.e. Demographic, Cultural and
Sociological conditions of street children of urban Sindh) descriptive analysis was carried out.
Descriptive analysis deals with systematically summarising and organising of collected information
in understandable form. Present descriptive analysis is based on the classification, percentages,
means and standard deviation of the data. Variable-wise description of the descriptive analysis is
presented below.
99
4.3 Frequency Distribution.

4.3.3Demographic Information
Table: 1
City
Karachi
Hyderabad
Sukkur
Larkana
Total
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents city wise.

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
267
66.8
66.8
66.8
85
21.3
21.3
88.0
32
8.0
8.0
96.0
16
4.0
4.0
100.0
400
100.0
100.0
Sample Size by City wise

Distribution in numbers
4%
Sample Size by City wise

Distribution in percentage
8%
32 16
85
21%
Karachi
267
Karachi
67%
Hyderabad
Hyderabad
Sukkur
Sukkur
Larkano
Larkano
Purposive sampling procedure was used for selection of the subjects, the population of street
children in targeted cities was quite different; according to various studies and NGOs approximate
number of street children in Karachi was up to 16000, in Hyderabad 8000, in Sukkur 5000, and in
Larkana 2000. Therefore, 400 street children were taken from four cities with different percentage.
Table: 2
100
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents working condition.

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Working Under supervision
154
38.5
38.5
38.5
Working Without Supervision
246
61.5
61.5
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
38%
154
62%
246
working Without Supervision
working Without Supervision
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show that out of total respondents:
Respondents working under supervision were 38%.

Respondents working without supervision were 62%.
This shows that most of the respondents do some works to earn their livelihood. Some respondents
work under supervision of some adults like, Ustad, Master, Dada, Seth etc. at hotels, tyres shops,
garages and some work without supervision. In order to find out their working conditions, data was
collected and it was found that majority of respondents were working without supervision.
101
Table: 3
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents birth province.

Province
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Sindh
309
77
77.3
77.3
Baluchistan
4
1.0
1.0
78.3
Khyber
40
10.0
10.0
88.3
PakhtoonKhuwah
Punjab
22
6.0
5.5
93.8
Outside Pakistan
25
6.0
6.3
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
Province wise birth of rerspondents
Province wise birth of rerspondents
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Sindh
6%
309
6%
Balochistan
10%
4
40
22
25
Khyber Pakhtoon
khuwah
1%
77%
Punjab
Out side Pakistan
Interpretation
The above table shows that out of total 400 respondents:
Sindh province was birth place of 77% of respondents.
Respondents born outside of Pakistan were 6%.
Khyber PakhtoonKhuwah was birth place of 10% of respondents.
Respondents born in the Punjab province were 6%.

Balochistan province was birth place of 1% of respondents.
Therefore, from the data it is found that majority of street children were born in Sindh province.
102
Table: 4
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents living area.
Living Area
Home
Streets
Frequency
235
145
Percent
58.8
36.3
Valid Percent
58.8
36.3
Cumulative Percent
58.8
95.0
11
2.8
2.8
97.8
7
2
400
1.8
.5
100.0
1.8
.5
100.0
99.5
100.0
Gardens
R. Stations
Bus Stand
Total
Living area of respondents'
2%
Living area of respondents
3%
250
200
150
100
50
0
-1%
Home
36%
59%
Home Streets Gardens
R.
Bus
Stations Stand
Gardens
R. Stations
Bus Stand
Interpretation
The above table shows that out of total respondents.
Streets
Respondents living in their homes were 59%.
Respondents living at gardens were 3%.
Respondents living in the streets were 36%.
Respondents living at Railway Stations were 2%.

Respondents living at bus stands were 1%.
Therefore data found that majority of street children were living in their homes.
Table: 5
103
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents mother tongue.

Mother Tongue
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Sindhi
Urdu
Pashto
Punjabi
Baloachi
Others
Total
65
175
99
34
6
21
400
16.3
43.8
24.8
8.5
1.5
5.3
100.0
2%
Mother tongue of respondents
21
34
16.3
43.8
24.8
8.5
1.5
5.3
100.0
16%
Urdu
25%
Pashto
Punjabi
175
Sindhi
Urdu
Pashto
99
Mother tongue of respondents
8%
Sindhi
65
5%
16.3
60.0
84.8
93.3
94.8
100.0
44%
Balochi
Punjabi
Balochi
Others
Others
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show the mother tongue of respondents in percentage and number. The
following is the language wise breakup:
Urdu was mother tongue of 44% of the respondents.
Sindhi was mother tongue of 16% of the respondents.
Balochi was mother tongue of 2% of the respondents.
Pashto was mother tongue of 25% of the respondents.
Punjabi was mother tongue of 8% of the respondents.

Other languages were mother tongue of 5% of the respondents.
Therefore data shows that the respondents were with mix languages, but percentage of street
children with Urdu mother tongue were more than others.
104
Table: 6
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents showing parents living area.
Living area
Frequency
Home
Streets
working area
don't know
Total
Percent
239
36
29
96
400
Valid Percent
59.8
9.0
7.3
24.0
100.0
Cumulative Percent
59.8
9.0
7.3
24.0
100.0
59.8
68.8
76.0
100.0
Living area of parents

in Perecntage.
Living area of parents in

numbers
Home
24%
Streets
Home
96
Streets
29
239
working area
7%
working area
don't know
don't know
36
60%
9%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show the percentage of living area of parents of respondents as follows.
Parents living in their homes were 60%.
Parents of respondents living on the streets were 9%.
The ratio of respondents who did not know living area of their parents was 24%.
Parents of respondents living at their working places were 7%.
The data shows that majority of parents of street children were living in their own houses.
Table: 7
105
Frequency distribution and percentage of number of respondents family members.

Number of family
members
Frequency
13
45
79
10 and above
Total
10%
40
128
131
101
400
Number of family members

One to Three
25%
32%
Four to Five
Percent
Valid Percent
10.0
32.0
32.8
25.3
100.0
Cumulative
Percent
10.0
42.0
74.8
100.0
10.0
32.0
32.8
25.3
100.0
Number of family members

150
100
50
0
33%
40
128
131
101
One to Four to Seven to Ten and

Three
Five
Nine
above
Seven to Nine
Ten and above
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show as follows:
Respondents families consisted of seven to nine members were 33%.

Respondents families consisted of four to five members were 23%.
Respondents families consisted of ten and above members were 25%.
Respondents families consisted of one to three members were 10%.
The findings reveal that there was mixed response about number of family members and most of the
families of respondents comprised of seven to nine and four to five members.
Table: 8
106
Frequency distribution and percentage showing respondents having second mother or not.
Response
Yes
No
Don't Know
Total
Frequency
103
181
116
400
Respondents' having step

mother or no?
29%
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
25.8
25.8
45.3
71.0
29.0
100.0
100.0
25.8
45.3
29.0
100.0
Respondents' having step mother or

no?
Yes
29%
26%
No
Yes
26%
No
45%
Don't Know
Don't Know
45%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show as to how many respondents have their second mother or their
father have second wife; and according to data:
Respondents having no second mother were 45%.

Respondents fathers having second wife were 26%.
Respondents did not know whether their fathers had second wife or not were 29%.
The findings reveal mixed responses about the second mother of respondents but with percentage of
second mother it can be concluded that second mother play a push factor role in producing street
children.
107
Table: 9
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents as to their parents live together or not?
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Yes
315
78.8
78.8
78.8
No
49
12.3
12.3
91.0
Divorced
13
3.3
3.3
94.3
Don't Know
23
5.8
5.8
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
350
315
Do your parents live togethor?
Do your parents live togethor?
300
3% 6%
250
Yes
12%
200
No
150
79%
100
Don't Know
49
50
Divorced
13
23
0
Yes
No
Divorced Don't Know
Interpretation
The above table and graphs depict as under:
Respondents parents living together were 79%.

Respondents parents were not living together were 12%.
Respondents parents separated through divorce were 3%.
Respondents did not know whether their parents were living together or not were 60%.
The findings reveal that majority of respondents parents were living together and there was less
impact of parents living status on the lives of respondents.
108
Table: 10
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents parents education.
Education
Frequency
Yes
No
Total
Percent
111
289
400
27.8
72.3
100.0
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
27.8
72.3
100.0
27.8
100.0
Are your Parents Educated?
Are your Parents Educated?
Yes,
111
Yes
28%
No, 289
No
72%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show the number and percentage of respondents parents education and
otherwise. The results are as under:
Uneducated parents of respondents were 72%.

Educated parents of respondents were 28%.
According to findings parents education plays an important role in the life of children. Here, only
28% of the parents were literate, hence it can be concluded that uneducated parents cannot save
their children from becoming street children.
109
Table: 11
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents Religion

Frequency
284
80
16
18
2
400
Islam
Hindu
Christian
Bagri
Oad
Total
284
300
Percent
71.0
20.0
4.0
4.5
.5
100.0
Valid Percent
71.0
20.0
4.0
4.5
.5
100.0
4%
Religion of Respondents
Cumulative Percent
71.0
91.0
95.0
99.5
100.0
1% Religion of Respondents
250
4%
200
Islam
20%
Hindu
150
80
100
50
71%
16
18
Bagri
2
Oad
0
Islam
Hindu
Chiristian
Bagri
Chiristian
Oad
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show relationship of respondents with various religions and data
percentage is as under.
Muslims were 71%.

Hindus were 20%.
Christians were 4%.
Bagris were 4%.
Oad were 1%.
Findings reveal that respondents with different religious affiliations were present on the street but it
cannot be said that children related with minority religions are more vulnerable because majority of
respondents were Muslims.
110
Table: 12
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents age when they started life as street
child.
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
By Birth
16
4.0
4.0
4.0
2nd Year
32
8.0
8.0
12.0
Three Years
69
17.3
17.3
29.3
Four years
162
40.5
40.5
69.8
Five to Six
103
25.8
25.8
95.5
Seven to Nine Years
14
3.5
3.5
99.0
Ten and above years
4
1.0
1.0
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
At what age respondents came to streets

180
162
160
140
120
103
100
80
69
60
32
40
20
16
14
4
0
By Birth
2nd Year
Three years
Four Years
111
Five to six years
Seven to Nine
Years
Ten and Above

years
At what age respondents came to streets

45%
40%
40%
35%
By Birth
30%
26%
2nd Year
25%
Three years
20%
17%
Four Years
15%
Five to six years
8%
10%
4%
5%
Seven to Nine Years
4%
1%
Ten and Above years
0%
By Birth
2nd Year
Three
years
Four Years Five to six Seven to Ten and

years Nine Years Above
years
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show percentage of ages the respondents came to streets or started life
as street child. Break-up is as under:
Respondents started affiliation with streets at the age of four years was 40%.
Respondents affiliated with streets since the age of three years were 17%.
Respondents came to street environment at the age of five to six years were 26%.
Respondents were on the streets from second year of their life were 8%.
families were street families) were 4%.
Respondents living on the streets since birth with their parents (or it can be said that their
Respondents started street life at the age of seven to nine years was 4%.
Respondents came on streets at the age of ten and above years were 1%.
The findings reveal mixed responses but percentages show that larger number of respondents started
life as street child at up to the age four years.
112
Table: 13
Frequency distribution and percentage of total number of children in respondents group.
Group
Frequency
One to Three
Four to Five
Seven to Nine
Ten and above
Total
83
155
15
147
400
Percent
20.8
38.8
3.8
36.8
100.0
Valid Percent
20.8
38.8
3.8
36.8
100.0
Number of street children in

groups
Number of street children in groups

20%
One To Three
147
83
37%
Four to Five
155
Cumulative Percent
20.8
59.5
63.3
100.0
One To Three
Four to Five
Seven to Nine
Seven to Nine
15
4%
Ten and Above
39%
Ten and Above
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show the number of group members of the respondents. The data shows
as under:
Respondents living in the groups of up to four and five children were 39%.
Respondents living in the groups of up to ten and above children were 37%.
Respondents having groups consisting up to three members were 20%.
Respondents having groups up to seven and nine members were 4%.
The findings reveal mixed responses but large number of respondents were in groups of up to four
to five children and there was no larger group exceeding these numbers.
113
Table: 14
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents and their contact with their families.
Frequency
No
Yes
Total
106
294
400
Percent
26.5
73.5
100.0
Valid Percent
26.5
73.5
100.0
Cumulative Percent
26.5
100.0
Still in contact with family
Still in contact with family
No, 106
No
27%
Yes,
294
Yes
73%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show that the respondents were still in contact with their parents or not?
Details given below:
Respondents in contact with their parents were 73%.

Respondents not in contact with their parents were 27%.
Therefore, findings reveal that majority of the respondents were in the contact of their families and
they had good relationship with their parents.
114
Table: 15
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents willing to go back to
their families.
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
No
117
29.3
29.3
29.3
Yes
46
11.5
11.5
40.8
already living
237
59.3
59.3
100.0
with family
Total
400
100.0
100.0
like to go back to home
like to go back to home

46
237
12%
Yes
Yes
117
59%
29%
No
No
Already I live with

family
Already I live with

family
Interpretation
The above table and graphs depict views of respondents whether they were willing to go back to
their homes or not. The responses are as under:
Respondents already living with their families were 59%.

Respondents not willing to go back to their families were 29%.
Respondents willing to go back to their families were 20%.
The findings reveal that majority of the respondents in urban Sindh were affiliated with their
families so much so that they go back to their homes at night and they were closely related to
their families.
115
Table: 16
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents views about role of their parents in
making
a street child.
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
No
61
15.3
15.3
15.3
Yes
339
84.8
84.8
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
Do you see any role of your parents in

making you a street child.
No
15%
No, 61
Do you see any role of your

parents in making you a street
child.
Yes, 339
Yes, 85%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show the views of respondents whether there was any role of their
parents in making them street children.
According to data 85% of respondents said, yes there was a role of their parents in bringing
them to streets.
Data show that 15% of respondents were of the view that their parents had no role in making
them street children.
The findings reveal that majority of respondents thought that parents play a vital role in
shaping future of their children and majority thought that they were on the streets because of
their parents.
116
4.3.4. Socio Economic and Resources Problems

Table: 17
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents family economic status
Frequency
Rich
Poor
Middle
Total
12
268
120
400
268
Percent
Valid Percent
3.0
55.5
30.0
100.0
3.0
67.0
30.0
100.0
3%
Family ecnomic status
Cumulative Percent
3.0
58.5
100.0
Family ecnomic status
0%
30%
120
Rich
67%
poor
Middle
12
Rich
poor
Middle
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show the economic status of respondents families. The results are as
under:
Respondents hailing from poor families were 55%.
Respondents coming from very poor families were 12%.
Respondents belonging to middle class families were 30%.
Respondents related with rich families were 3%.
The findings reveal that majority of respondents were from poor families and poverty plays
vital role in becoming a street child.
117
Table: 18
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents income resources.
Income Source
Frequency
Garbage Picking
Begging
Sealing things
Car washing
Hawker
Total
Percent
104
83
105
75
33
400
Valid Percent
26.0
20.8
26.3
18.8
8.3
100.0
26.0
20.8
26.3
18.8
8.3
100.0
120
105
104
100
83
75
80
60
40
33
20
0
Garbage Picking
Bagging
Saling things
Car Washing
118
Hawker
Cumulative Percent
26.0
46.8
73.0
91.8
100.0
Hawker
9%
Garbage Picking
26%
Car Washing,
19%
Begging,
21%
salling things
26%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show activities of street children about income generation and define
what income resources of street children are.
Respondents involved in garbage picking to earn money were 26%.
Respondents begging to earn money were 21%.
Respondents work as hawkers were 9%.
Respondents selling things to get lively hood were 26%.
Respondents washing cars to get money were 19%.
Respondents involved in thieving to earn their livelihood were 15%.
The findings reveal that street children have mixed responses and activities to earn their livelihood;
major number is involved in garbage picking and selling things; there were also beggars and
hawkers.
Table: 19
119
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents about getting money from parents.
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
No
228
57.0
57.0
57.0
Yes
172
43.0
43.0
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
Do you get money from your parents?
Do you get mony from your parents?
Yes
172
No
57%
Yes
43%
No
228
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show number and percentage of children getting or not getting money
from their parents. The results are as under:
Respondents not getting money from their parents were 57%.

Respondents getting money from their parents were 43%.
The findings reveal that majority of street children is not getting money from their parents.
Table: 20
120
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents as to where they use their income.
Frequency
Food
Drugs
Friend
Family
Saving
Total
109
109
40
119
23
400
140
120
Percent
Valid Percent
27.3
27.3
10.0
29.8
5.8
100.0
27.3
27.3
10.0
29.8
5.8
100.0
27.3
54.5
64.5
94.3
100.0
Where they use money
119
109
Cumulative Percent
109
6%
100
80
30%
60
27%
Drugs
27%
40
40
23
20
Food
10%
Friends
Family
Saving
0
Food
Drugs
Friends
Family
Saving
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show as to how and where the respondents use money earned from
various resources. The results are as under:
Out of all respondents 30% of them use their income in family matters.
According to data 27% of respondents use their income to get drugs.
Out all respondents 27% said they use their money to get food.
Results show that 10% of respondents use their income with their friends.
The findings reveal mixed usage of income by the street children. However, a large number of
respondents said they were giving their income to their families.
Table: 21
121
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents as to how they were getting food.
Frequency
Parents
Service providers
Friends
self
Total
115
35
136
114
400
Percent
Valid Percent
28.8
8.8
34.0
28.f5
100.0
28.8
8.8
34.0
28.5
100.0
115
35
136
28.8
37.5
71.5
100.0
How do they get food?
How do they get food?

114
Cumulative Percent
Parents
Parents
28%
29%
Service Providers
34%
9%
Service
Providers
Friends
Friends
Self
Self
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show as to how the respondents were getting food. The results are as
under:
Respondents getting food through their friends were 34%.

Respondents getting food with self support were 28%.
Respondents used to get food through their parents were 29%.
The findings reveal mixed results about sources to get food. However, it was revealed that
respondents get food from different sources at different times, but their friends play important role
in providing food to each other. Moreover, they also get food from their families.
Table: 22
122
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents about supporting their families.

Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Yes
No
Total
103
297
400
25.8
74.3
100.0
25.8
74.3
100.0
25.8
100.0
Do you support your family?

Yes, 103
Yes, 26%
No, 297
No
74%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show as to what extent respondents support their families or not. The
results are as under:
Respondents do support and help their families were 74%.

Respondents do not support and help their families were 26%.
The findings reveal that majority of the respondents support and help their families and they are in
close coordination with their parents, even they are source of income for their families.
4.3.5. Social Behavior and Socio Psychological Problems

123
4.3.5. Social Behavior and Socio Psychological Problems

Table: 23
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents response as to with whom they feel
most comfortable.
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Parents
Service
Providers
Friends
Total
200
177
94
44.0
24.0
44.0
24.0
47.5
68.0
129
400
32.0
100.0
32.0
100.0
100.0
177
With who they feel comfortable
150
Parants
129
100
Service providers
94
32%
50
44%
friends
24%
0
Parents
Service Friends
Providers
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show as to with whom the respondents feel comfortable. The results of
responses are as under:
Respondents feeling comfortable with their parents were 47%.
Respondents feeling comfortable with service providers were 21%.
Respondents feeling comfortable with friends were 31%.
Respondents feeling comfortable with employer were 1%.

None (0%) of the respondents was feeling comfortable with teacher.
The findings reveal that majority of respondents feel comfortable with their parents, it means sociopsychological they are related with their families.
124
Table: 24
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents beloveds.
Frequency
No
Male
Female
Total
Percent
165
186
49
400
Valid Percent
41.3
46.5
12.3
100.0
Do they have beloved Male or Female
Cumulative Percent
41.3
46.5
12.3
100.0
41.3
87.8
100.0
Do they have beloved Male or Female
Female
49
Female
12%
No, 165
No
41%
Male,
186
Male
47%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show the romantic relationship of respondents with male, female or
having no romantic relationship. The results are under
Respondents loving with male or boy partner were 47%.

Respondents having girl beloveds were 12%.
Respondents not interested in love affairs were 41%.
The findings reveal mixed responses about romance or love affairs but a large number of
respondents were found to be involved with their male partners or they have male beloveds, while a
less number had love affairs with girls, for either they have no access to or are not in touch with
girls.
125
Table: 25
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents response about their activities when
they feel angry.
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Fight
66
16.5
16.5
16.5
Tolerate
128
32.0
32.0
48.5
Try to sleep
51
12.8
12.8
61.3
Take Drugs Smoke
82
20.5
20.5
81.8
Cut Wounds
44
11.0
11.0
92.8
some of above
29
7.3
7.3
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
What do they do when they feel angry?
140
120
128
100
80
60
82
66
51
40
44
29
Cut wonds
Some of above
20
0
Fight
Tolearte
Try to sleep
126
Take Drugs
What do they do when they feel angry?
Tolarate
32%
Fight
17%
Fight
Take drugs
21%
Try to sleep
13%
Tolearte
Cut wounds
11%
Try to sleep
Take Drugs
Cut wonds
Some of above
7%
Some of above
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show reaction of respondents when they feel angry and result is as
under:
Respondents tolerating the matters were 32%.
Respondents reacting with fighting were 17%.
Respondents cut themselves were 11%.
Respondents take drugs were 21%.
Respondents sleep when they get angry were 13%.
Respondents had mixed reactions were 7%.
The mixed results show that more respondents have power of tolerance. Taking drugs and fighting
were also the types of reactions among the respondents.
127
Table: 26
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents response about their sexual activities.
Frequency
Yes
No
No Response
Total
Percent
54
251
95
400
Valid Percent
13.5
62.8
23.8
100.0
Providing sex
Cumulative Percent
13.5
62.8
23.8
100.0
13.5
76.3
100.0
Providing sex
Yes
54
No
Response
No
Response,
95
Yes
14%
23%
No
62%
No
251
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show respondents responses about providing sex in exchange of
affection or any other needs. The results are as under:
Respondents said they did not provide sex were 62%.

Respondents said yes were 14%.
Respondents did not respond were 23%.
The results show that majority of respondents do not provide sex in exchange of any need or
affection but this activity exists among the street children.
128
Table: 27
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents whether they are as Strongest as other
Children
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Yes
No
Total
314
86
400
78.5
21.5
100.0
Are stong as others?
78.5
21.5
100.0
No
22%
No
86
78.5
100.0
Are stong as others?
Yes
78%
Yes
314
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show whether respondents were as strongest as other children are. The
Respondents said yes they were as strong as other children were 78%.
Respondents said they were not strong like other children were 22%.
The results show that majority of the respondents had feelings that they were strong like other
children are.
129
Table: 28
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents response
about their recreation.
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Electronic Games
31
7.8
7.8
7.8
Films
148
37.0
37.0
44.8
Cricket
37
9.3
9.3
54.0
Sit at Hotels
22
5.5
5.5
59.5
Gambling
2
.5
.5
60.0
Singing
3
.8
.8
60.8
Swimming
2
.5
.5
61.3
Take Drugs
7
1.8
1.8
63.0
Most of above
148
37.0
37.0
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
Recreation
160
148
148
140
120
100
80
60
40
37
31
22
20
2
Gambling
Singing
0
Electronic
Games
Films
Cricket
Sit at
Homes
130
Swimming Take Drugs Most of

above
Films
37%
Electronic Games
8%
Electronic
Games
Films
Most of above
37%
Recreation
Cricket
9%
Cricket
Sit at hotels
6%
Sit at hotels
Gambling
0.5%
Singing
0.8%
Swimming
0.5%
Gambling
Singing
Swimming
Take drugs
2%
Take drugs
Most of
above
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show respondents recreational activities. The results are as under:
Respondents watch movies for recreation were 37%.
Respondents interested in electronic games were 8%.
Respondents felt that taking drugs was also a way of recreation were 2%.
Respondents interested in swimming were 0.5%.
Respondents play cricket for recreation were 9%.
Respondents sit in hotels were 6%.
Respondents take gambling recreational activities were 0.5%.
Respondents having mixed activities for recreation from amongst the above were 37%.
The findings show mixed types of recreational activities and it shows that respondents have
different types of recreational activities at different times.
131
Table: 29
about time spending
Service Centers
44
11.0
11.0
11.0
165
41.3
41.3
52.3
Hotel
51
12.8
12.8
65.0
Sleeping
67
16.8
16.8
81.8
Film
30
7.5
7.5
89.3
Most of above
43
10.8
10.8
100.0
400
100.0
100.0
With Friends
Total
Where do they spend their time?

180
160
165
140
120
100
80
60
40
67
51
44
43
30
20
0
Service Centers
With friends
Hotles
Sleeping
Films
Most of above
Where do they spend their time?

With Friends, 41%
132
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show where respondents spend their most of the time. The results are as
under:
Respondents spending time with their friends were 47%.
Respondents stay at hotels for spending time were 13%.
Respondents spend time watching films were 8%.
Respondents spending time in sleeping were 17%.
Respondents spend time at service centers were 11%.
Respondents having different activities for spending time from above were 11%.
The findings reveal mixed types of time spending activities, therefore it can be concluded that
respondents have no any special activity to spend their time.
133
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents sexual relation.

Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents response about
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
hassled by police or other adults.
Yes
145
36.3
No
255
63.8
Total
400
100.0
36.3
63.8
100.0
36.3
100.0
Table: 30
Sexual Relations?
Sexual rrelations?
Yes
145
Yes
36%
No
64%
No
255
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show that whether respondents were involved in sexual activities or not.
The results are as under:
Respondents said no, they had no sexual relations were 64%.

Respondents said yes, they had sexual relations were 36%.
The results show that large number of respondents has no sexual relations but prominent number
admitted about their sexual relations. It was observed during the interviews that most of the
respondents did not feel free to discuses on sex issues, therefore it can be understood that in reality
this number can be increased if they feel free to discuss on the issue.
Table: 31
134
Frequency
Yes
No
Total
Percent
306
94
400
Valid Percent
76.5
23.5
100.0
Cumulative Percent
76.5
23.5
100.0
76.5
100.0
Hassled by the
police or others?
Hassled by the police or

others?
No
24%
No
94
Yes
76%
Yes
306
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show whether respondents are hassled by the police or others or not.
Respondents said yes, they were hassled by police and other adults were 76%.
Respondents said no, they were not hassled by police and other adults were 24%.
This results show that majority of respondents were hassled by police and other adults in urban
Sindh.
Table: 32
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents response about fighting among
themselves.
135
Frequency
Yes
No
Total
279
121
400
Percent
Valid Percent
69.8
30.3
100.0
Fighting in street children?
Cumulative Percent
69.8
30.3
100.0
69.8
100.0
Fighting in street children?
No
121
No
30%
Yes
279
Yes
70%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show whether respondents have fighting between them or not. The
Respondents agreed that they fight with each other at different occasions or on problems
were 70%.
Respondents said that they did not fight with each other were 30%.
The findings show that majority of respondents were used to fight with each other in groups or
individually, and this is a major problem among them.
Table: 33
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents response about feeling guilty while
taking drugs.
136
Frequency
Yes
No
Total
Percent
230
170
400
Valid Percent
57.5
42.5
100.0
Cumulative Percent
57.5
42.5
100.0
57.5
100.0
Feeling guilty for using drugs and other

substances
Feeling guilty for using drugs and other

substances
No
43%
No
170
Yes
57%
Yes
230
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show whether respondents feel guilty for using drugs and other
substances or not. The results are as under:
Respondents said they were feeling guilty while taking drugs and other substances were
57%.
Respondents said no, they were not feeling guilty were 43%.
The result shows that majority of respondents were feeling guilty while taking drugs and other
substances, and they had sense of responsibility to own their lives and save them.
Table: 34
137
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents response about availability of

treatment regarding drug and substance use.
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Yes
No
Total
132
268
400
33.0
67.0
100.0
33.0
67.0
100.0
Treatment for
substances uses?
Treatment for
substances uses?
Yes
33%
Yes
132
No
168
33.0
100.0
No
67%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show the extent of treatment facility available in areas for drug using
and problems thereof.
According to 67% of respondents there was no treatment facility available in the areas.
According to 33% of respondents there were treatment facilities available in the areas.
The result shows that availability of treatment facility was very rare in the areas and the respondents
did not know about the problems of drug use.
Table: 35
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents
response about likeness to take liquids and drugs like
138
alcohol, hashish, marijuana leaf, opium

Frequency
Yes
No
Total
157
243
400
Percent
Valid Percent
39.3
60.8
100.0
Like liquids and drugs?
39.3
60.8
100.0
Cumulative
Percent
39.3
100.0
Like liquids and drugs?

Yes
157
Yes,
157,
39%
No
243
No,
243,
61%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show whether respondents like to take Liquids and drugs like alcohol,
Hashish, Marijuana leaf, opium or not. The results are as under:
Respondents said no, they didt like taking substances were 61%.
Respondents like to take these substances were 39%.
The result shows that majority of respondents dont like to take substances like alcohol, hashish,
marijuana leaf, opium but a remarkable number of respondents also like these substances.
Table: 36
139

about likeness to take Pan, Ghutka, Cigarette
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Yes
312
78.0
78.0
78.0
No
88
22.0
22.0
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
Like pan, Ghutka and Cigarettes?
No
22%
No
88
Like pan, Ghutka and cigarettes?
Yes
78%
Yes
312
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show whether respondents like to take Pan, Ghutka, and Cigarette
or not. The results are as under:
Respondents like to take were 78%.

Respondents did not like to take these substances were 22%.
The result shows that majority of respondents like to take substances Pan, Ghutka, and Cigarette. A
small number of respondents did not like these substances.
Table: 37
140
Like Glue, petrol

and other
drugs
Glue, petrol and
other drugs
Frequency
distribution
and percentage ofLike
respondents
response
Yes
about likeness toYes
take Glue, Petrol and other drugs like these.
25%
25%
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Yes
No
Total
No
75%
102
298
400
25.5
74.5
100.0
25.5
No
74.5
75%
25.5
100.0
100.0
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show whether respondents like Glue, Petrol and other drugs or not. The
Respondents said yes, they like to take were 25%.

Respondents said no, they did not like to take these substances were 75%.
The result shows that majority of the respondents did not like to take Glue, Petrol and other drugs,
therefore it obvious that habit of drug using is less in the respondents.
141
4.3.7. Health and awareness problems

Table: 38
about health conditions
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Good
144
36.0
36.0
36.0
Suffering Diseases
127
31.8
31.8
67.8
Weak
118
29.5
29.5
97.3
Healthy
11
2.8
2.8
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
Health sinse last five years?
Health since last five years?

Divorced
, 13
Healthy
11
Good
144
3%
36%
29%
Suffering diseases
32%
Weak
127
Good
Suffering Diseases
Weak
Health
Healthy
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show how the respondents health was since the last five years.
Respondents replied that their health was good since the last five years were 36%.
Respondents said their health was weak since last five years were 29%.
Respondents said they were suffering from some diseases were 32%.
Respondents said they were very healthy were 3%.
The results reveal that majority of respondents were weak and suffering from diseases implying that
the health of respondents was not good.
142
Table: 39
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents response about allergies
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Yes
No
Don't Know
Total
Allergies
Don't
know
127
112
161
127
400
28.0
40.3
31.8
100.0
28.0
40.3
31.8
100.0
28.0
68.3
100.0
Allergies
Yes
112
Don't
know
32%
No
161
Yes
28%
No
40%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show whether respondents knew about allergies and if they were
suffering from allergies or not.
Respondents said they were not suffering from allergies were 40%.
Respondents replied yes, they were suffering from diseases were 28%.
Respondents said they did not know about allergies were 32%.
The data reveal mixed results that a large number of respondents did not know about the symptoms
of allergies or they did not know what the allergies were. A remarkable number said that they had
no allergy but one third of respondents knew the allergies and they replied in yes. It means
respondents were suffering from allergies but they need awareness about allergies.
143
Table: 40
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents response about physical disabilities.
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Yes
No
Total
12
388
400
3.0
97.0
100.0
3.0
97.0
100.0
3.0
100.0
Physical Disabilities Yes
Physical Disabilities Yes
12
4%
No
288
No
96%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show the number of respondents having some physical disabilities.
Respondents said they had no physical disability were 96%.

Respondents informed they had physical disabilities were 4%.
The results show that only few respondents were suffering from physical disabilities
144
Table: 41
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents response about
sexual practice
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Masturbation
11
2.8
2.8
2.8
Opposite Sex
35
8.8
8.8
11.5
Homosexual
80
20.0
20.0
31.5
Bestiality
4
1.0
1.0
32.5
No Response
270
67.5
67.5
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
270
Sexual Practice
Sexual Practice
3% 9%
80
11
35
Masturbation
Opposite Sex
Homosexual
20%
Bestiality
67%
1%
No Response
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show different types of sexual practices adopted by respondents. The
Respondents did not agree to give information about their sexual practices were 67%,
therefore they did not respond to this question.
Respondents informed they were homosexual were 20%.
Respondents said they liked to have sex with opposite sex were 9%.
Respondents said masturbation was best practice for them were 3%.
Respondents informed that bestiality was their sexual practice were 1%.
The results reveal that it was difficult to discuss sexual activities with the respondents. They had
mixed sexual practices - homosexuality, sex with girls, masturbation and bestiality. They need
awareness.
145
Table: 42
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents response about their
body development
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Yes
No
No Response
Total
176
169
55
400
44.0
42.3
13.8
100.0
Body development
No
response
55
44.0
42.3
13.8
100.0
44.0
86.3
100.0
Body development
No
response
14%
Yes
176
No
169
Yes
44%
No
42%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show whether respondents feel any street while knowing that their body
was developing. The results are as under:
Respondents said yes, they felt stress were 44%.

Respondents said they didnt feel any stress were 42%.
Respondents did not respond to the question were 14%.
The results reveal that majority of the respondents feel stress during their body development.
146
Table: 43
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents growth in
size and appearance
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Yes
No
No Response
Total
63
306
31
400
15.8
76.5
7.8
100.0
Worried obout growth ?
15.8
92.3
100.0
Worried obout growth ? Yes

Yes
63
No
response
31
15.8
76.5
7.8
100.0
15%
No
response
13%
No
306
No
72%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show whether respondents were worried about their growth, size and
appearance or not. The results are as under:
Respondents said they were not worried were 72%.

Respondents said yes they were worried were 15%.
Respondents did not respond to the question were 13%.
The results reveal that majority of respondents did not worried about the fact that their body and
size was increasing because they knew that that was a natural process.
147

Table: 44
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents Education
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Primary to Middle
159
39.8
39.8
39.8
Tenth class to Inter
26
6.5
6.5
46.3
Technical
2
.5
.5
46.8
Nil
213
53.3
53.3
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
What is your education?
What is education?
Primary to Middle
159
213
Matriculation to
inter
Technical
40%
Primary to Middle
Matriculation to
inter
53%
Technical
Nil
1%
2 26
Nil
6%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show the level of education of the respondents. The results are as under:
Respondents said they were not educated were 53%.
Respondents studied up to metric level were 6%.
Respondents got school education up to primary and middle were 40%.
Respondents had some technical education were 1%.
The results reveal that majority of the respondents were uneducated while a large number of them
attended school up to middle level.
148
Table: 45
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents response whether
They need any skills for future planning.
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Computer
Mobile
Electronic
Any other
Total
104
115
84
97
400
Skills for future planning

97
84
104
115
26.0
28.8
21.0
24.3
100.0
26.0
28.8
21.0
24.3
100.0
26.0
54.8
75.8
100.0
Skills for future planning
Computer
Computer
24%
Mobile
Michanic
21%
Electronic
26%
29%
Mobile
Michanic
Electronic
any other
any other
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show as to what skills respondents need for their future planning. The
findings are as under:
Respondents said they needed computer training were 33%.

Respondents said they wanted to get mobile mechanics training were 26%.
Respondents said they needed electronic mechanics trainings were 19%.
Respondents said they could do any training for their future planning were 22%.
The results reveal mixed responses. Although they were unaware of the importance of
different trades, they were worried about their future and agreed to get training for which a
proper planning was needed.
149
Table: 46
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents responses if they are still related with
any educational activity.
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Yes
No
Total
31
369
400
7.8
92.3
100.0
7.8
92.3
100.0
7.8
100.0
Are you involved in any educational

activity now?
Yes

activity now?
Yes
31
8%
No
92%
No
369
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show whether respondents are still related with any educational activity
or not. The results are as under:
Respondents not related with any educational activity were 92%.

Respondents still related with some educational activities were 8%.
The results reveal that the majority of respondents were not involved in any educational activity.
150
Table: 47
Frequency distribution and percentage of respondents responses

about having any skill for job
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Yes
No
Total
52
348
400
13.0
87.0
100.0
13.0
87.0
100.0
13.0
100.0
Do you have any skill for job?
Do you have any skill for job?

Yes
52
Yes
13%
No
348
No
87%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show that whether respondents had any skill for job or not. The results
are as under:
Respondents having no skill were 87%.

Respondents having some technical skills were 13%.
The results reveal that majority of respondents had no technical skill.
151
Table: 48
if they would like to go back to school
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Yes
No
Total
213
187
400
53.3
46.8
100.0
53.3
46.8
100.0
Would you like to go back to your

school?
No
187
53.3
100.0
Would you like to go back to

your school?
No
47%
Yes
213
Yes
53%
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show whether respondents were agreed to go back to schools or not.
Respondents willing to go back to schools were 53%.

Respondents would not like to go back to schools were 47%.
The results reveal that a large number of respondents were agreed to rejoin the educational activities
or institutions, but proper work by some agencies needed.
152
Table: 49
if they need any type of support
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Yes
No
Total
345
55
400
86.3
13.8
100.0
86.3
13.8
100.0
86.3
100.0
Do you need any support for

future planning?
Do you need any support for

future planning?
No
14%
No
55
Yes
86%
Yes
345
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show whether respondents needed any support for future planning or
not. The findings are as under:
Respondents said yes, they needed support were 86%.

Respondents said they did not like to get any support for their future planning were 14%.
The results reveal that majority of respondents felt that they have to plan for their good future and in
this regard they need some sort of support from different agencies.
153
Table: 50
Frequency distribution ands percentage of respondents responses as to how can they stop
taking drugs.
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
With the help of Friends
138
34.5
34.5
34.5
with the help of NGO's
207
51.8
51.8
86.3
With the help of parents.
3
.8
.8
87.0
By Self Esteem
27
6.8
6.8
93.8
All of above
25
6.3
6.3
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
300
How can you stop taking drugs?
270
How can you stop taking drugs?
250
3% 9%
With help of Friends
200
150
with help of NGO's
20%
80
100
67%
35
50
11
With help of parents

1%
By self esteem
0
With help with help With help
of Friends of NGO's of parents
By self
esteem
All of
above
All of above
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show as to how respondents could control drug abusing and results are
as under:
Respondents said drug abusing could be controlled with the help of parents were 20%.
Respondents said drug abusing could be stopped with the help of friends were 3%.
Respondents said they could stop drug abusing with the help of NGOs were 9%.
Respondents said drug abusing could be controlled with their self esteem were 1%.
Respondents said drug abusing could be controlled with the help and coordination of
parents, NGOs and friends were 67%.
The results reveal that majority of respondents felt that parents, NGOS, friends and their self
esteem can jointly play a role for controlling drug abusing.
154
Table: 51
as to how can we stop increasing number of street children
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
With support of Government.
94
23.5
23.5
23.5
By decreasing poverty
231
57.8
57.8
81.3
by helping our families
45
11.3
11.3
92.5
By education
5
1.3
1.3
93.8
All of above
25
6.3
6.3
100.0
Total
400
100.0
100.0
250
By decreasing
poverty, 213
How can we stop increasing street children?
200
150
100
With the support of

Government, 94
by helping families,
45
50
all of above, 25
With education, 5
0
With the support of
Government
By decreasing
poverty
by helping families
155
With education
all of above
How can we stop increasing street children?

1% 6%
11%
24%
With the support of Government
By decreasing poverty
by helping families
58%
With education
all of above
Interpretation
The above table and graphs show as to how increasing number of street children could be stopped
and discouraged children to come on streets. The results are as under:
Respondents said by decreasing poverty were 58%.
Respondents said by helping families were 11%.
Respondents said with the help of government were 24%.
Respondents said with education were 1%.

Respondents said with all of the above actions were 6%.
The results reveal that majority of respondents felt that concerted efforts for poverty alleviation
could arrest increasing number of street children.
156
4.4. Contingency Tables.

CONTINGENCY TABLE NO: 01
Q. A City & Q. 2.1
Table No: 1 & 17
Ho-
Causes of being on streets are not related to socio-economic conditions of families of

street children in urban Sindh.
Hi-
Causes of being on streets are related to socio-economic conditions of families of

street children in urban Sindh.
What is / was your family's economics status?
Rich
Urban Area
(City)
Karachi
Poor
Total
Middle
11
163
93
267
Hyderabad
53
27
85
Sukkur
21
32
Larkana
Total
16
26
243
131
400
Chi-Square Tests
Value
Pearson Chi-Square
df
Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
166.182(a)
.000
130.792
27.755
9
1
.000
.000
Likelihood Ratio
Linear-by-Linear Association
N of Valid Cases
400
Symmetric Measures
Value
Asymp. Std.
Error(a)
Approx. T(b)
Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal
Contingency Coefficient
.542
Interval by Interval
Pearson's R
.264
.063
5.455
.000(c)
Ordinal by Ordinal
Spearman Correlation
.096
.056
1.934
.054(c)
N of Valid Cases
400
157
.000
Interpretation
Calculated value of chi-square (X2) = 166.182

Calculated P value Asymp. Sig. .000
Degree of freedom 9 (df )
Co-efficient of correlation (C) = .542
The Independence test has been used to the data given in contingency table No. 1. The chisquire test is applied to test the independence of two variables. The value of chi-squire (X2) is
166.182, which is greater than its table value, at 9 degree of freedom and calculated P value is
.000 level of significance, therefore the null hypothesis is rejected and the original hypothesis
Causes of being on streets are likely to be related to socio-economic conditions of families of
street children in urban Sindh is accepted. It is now revealed that Socio-economic conditions
are among the basic causes of street children in urban Sindh. The relationship as indicated by
the value of Co-efficient of correlation is .542 which shows that there is moderate relationship
between the variables.
158

Q. 1.10 & Q. 1.6
Table: 12 & 08
Ho-
Living on the streets by children at early age is related to second marriage of their
parents.
Hi-
Living on the streets by children at early age is related to second marriage of their
parents.
At what age did

you start living
on the streets?
By Birth
nd
2 Year
Three Years
Four years
Five to Six
Seven to Nine Years
Ten and above years
Total
Have your father have second wife?

Yes
No
Don't Know
5
5
6
18
9
5
21
14
34
36
85
29
18
50
34
5
5
5
5
6
5
103
181
116
Total
16
32
69
150
102
15
16
400
Chi-Square Tests
Value
Pearson Chi-Square
Likelihood Ratio
N of Valid Cases
Df
Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
56.971(a)
12
.000
56.523
5.013
12
1
.000
.025
400
Symmetric Measures
Value
Asymp. Std.
Error(a)
Approx. T(b)
Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal
.353
Pearson's R
.112
.053
2.250
.025(c)
Ordinal by Ordinal
.102
.054
2.047
.041(c)
N of Valid Cases
400
159
.000
Interpretation

Calculated P value Asymp. Sig. .000 with
The Independence test has been used to the data given in contingency table No. 2. The chi-squire
test is applied to test the independence of two variables. The value of chi-squire (X2) is 56.971
which is greater than its table value, at 12 degree of freedom and calculated P value is .000 level of
significance, therefore the null hypothesis is rejected and the original hypothesis Living on the
streets by children at early age is likely to be related to second marriage of their parents is
accepted.
It is now revealed that second mother plays a vital role in becoming street child for
children. The relationship as indicated by the value of co-efficient of correlation is .353, which
shows that there is less relationship between the variables.
160
Q. A City & Q. 3.1

Table No: 1 & 23
Ho-
Feeling living comfortably is not related to causes of being on streets by street

children in urban Sindh.
Hi-
Feeling living comfortably is related to causes of being on streets by street children

in urban Sindh.
With whom do you feel most comfortable?
Parents
Urban
Area
(City)
Karachi
Service Providers
Total
Friends
110
66
91
267
Hyderabad
41
18
26
85
Sukkur
20
32
Larkana
Total
16
177
94
129
400
Chi-Squire
Value
Pearson Chi-Square
Likelihood Ratio
N of Valid Cases
df
34.078(a)
43.994
12.103
400

12
12
1
.001
.000
.001
Symmetric Measures
Value
Asymp. Std.
Error(a)
Approx. T(b)
.280
Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal
Pearson's R
-.174
.049
-3.529
.000(c)
Ordinal by Ordinal
-.177
.049
-3.590
.000(c)
N of Valid Cases
400
161
.001
Interpretation

The Independence test has been used to the data given in contingency table No.3. The chi-squire
test is applied to test the independence of two variables. The value of chi-squire (X2) is 34.078,
which is greater than its table value at 12 degree of freedom df and calculated P value is .001 level
of significance, therefore the null hypothesis is rejected and the original hypothesis Feeling living
comfortably is likely to be related to causes of being on streets by street children is accepted. It is
now revealed that living comfortable with freedom on the streets is also among the basic causes of
street children in urban Sindh. The relationship as indicated by the value of Co-efficient of
correlation is .280, which shows there is less relationship between the variables.
162

Q. 2.2 & Q. 1.2
Table: No. 18 & 4
Ho-
There is no impact of living condition of street children on their income sources in

urban Sindh.
Hi-
There is impact of living condition of street children on their income sources in

urban Sindh.
Where do you live?

Home
What are
your
income
Sources?
R. Stations
Bus Stand
Garbage Picking
56
30
Bagging
39
28
83
Seeling things
36
52
105
Car washing
49
75
Hawker
11
34
191
126
29
29
25
400
Total
Streets
Gardens
Total
103
Chi-Squire
Symmetric Measures
ValueValue
PearsonbyChi-Square
Nominal
Nominal
Likelihood
Ratio
Interval
by Interval
Pearson's R
66.764(a)
.378
Ordinal by Ordinal
Asymp. Std.
df
Error(a)
N of Valid Cases
N of Valid Cases
Interpretation
Calculated value of chi-square (X2) = 66.764(a)
163
20
66.882
-.050
.059
.982
-.088
.050
400
400
Approx.Asymp.
T(b) Sig.
Approx.
Sig.
(2-sided)
20
1
.000
.000
-.991
.000
.322(c)
-1.766
.078(c)
.322
test is applied to test the independence of two variables. The value of chi-squire (X2) is 66.764 (a),
which is greater than its table value at 20 degree of freedom and calculated P value is .000 level of
significance, therefore the null hypothesis is rejected and the original hypothesis Income sources
of street children are likely to be related to living condition of street children in urban Sindh is
accepted. It is now revealed that conditions where street children are living is related with their
income resources. The relationship as indicated by the value of Co-efficient of correlation is .378,
which shows there is less relationship between the variables.
164
Q. A City & Q. 4.9

Table: No. 1 & 37
Ho-
There is no impact of cities where street children are living on drug abuse by street
Hi-
There is impact of cities where street children are living on drug abused by street
Do you like to take Glue, Petrol and other
drugs like these?
Yes
No
Urban Area (City)
Karachi
Hyderabad
Sukkur
Larkana
101
19
7
5
132
Total
Chi-Squire
Value
Total
166
66
25
11
268
df
267
85
32
16
400
14.186(a)
.003
Likelihood Ratio
15.910
.001
12.892
.000
Pearson Chi-Square
N of Valid Cases
400
Symmetric Measures
Asymp. Std.
Error(a)
Value
Approx. T(b)
Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal
.185
Pearson's R
.180
.041
3.645
.000(c)
Ordinal by Ordinal
.182
.045
3.698
.000(c)
N of Valid Cases
400
165
.003
Interpretation
Calculated value of chi-square (X2) = 14.186(a)

Degree of freedom 3 (df)
significance, therefore the null hypothesis is rejected and the original hypothesis Drug abuse by
street children is likely to be related to cities where they live is accepted. It is now revealed that
there is difference in drug abusing by street children different cities of urban sindh. e.g. street
children of Karachi like to take drugs more than Hyderabad and in Larkana there is no concept of
drug use. The relationship as indicated by the value of Co-efficient of correlation is .185, which
shows there is less relationship between the variables.
166

Q. 5.1 & Q. 2.2
Table: No. 38 & 18
Ho-
Health of street children is not related to the type of work they do for income in
urban Sindh.
H1-
Health of street children is related to the type of work they do for income in urban
Sindh.
What are your Income Sources?
How is your
health since
last 5 years?
Garbage
Picking
38
Good
Suffering
Diseases
Weak
Healthy
Total
Begging
27
Selling
things
27
26
30
34
6
104
Total
Car washing
Hawker
32
13
137
30
20
111
20
35
18
10
117
13
35
83
105
75
33
400
Chi-Squire
Value
Pearson Chi-Square
Likelihood Ratio
df
29.727(a)
15
.013
28.155
15
.021
.000
.987
N of Valid Cases
400
Symmetric Measures
Value
Asymp. Std.
Error(a)
Approx. T(b)
Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal
Pearson's R
-.001
.055
-.016
.987(c)
Ordinal by Ordinal
-.005
.053
-.092
.927(c)
.263
N of Valid Cases
400
167
.013
Interpretation

significance, therefore the null hypothesis is rejected and the original hypothesis Health of street
children is likely to be related to the type of work they do for income sources is accepted. It is now
revealed that type of work that street children do for income sources plays vital role in their health
e.g. the health of street children working as garbage picker is more at risk than those who wash cars.
The relationship as indicated by the value of Co-efficient of correlation is .263, which shows there
is less relationship between the variables.
168
Q. 5.1 & Q. 4.9

Table: No. 38 & 37
Ho-
Health of street children is not related to Drugs they are getting.
H1-
Health of street children is related to Drugs they are getting.
Do you like to take Glue, Petrol and

other drugs like these?
Yes
No
How is your health
since last 5 years?
Good
Suffering Diseases
Week
Healthy
46
40
37
5
128
Total
Total
98
87
81
6
272
144
127
118
11
400
Chi-Squire
Value
Pearson Chi-Square
df
.953(a)
.813
Likelihood Ratio
.902
.078
3
1
.825
.780
N of Valid Cases
400
.
Symmetric Measures
Value
Asymp. Std.
Error(a)
Approx. T(b)
.049
Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal
Pearson's R
-.014
.051
-.279
.781(c)
Ordinal by Ordinal
-.010
.050
-.190
.849(c)
N of Valid Cases
400
169
.813
Interpretation

which is lesser than its table value at 3 degree of freedom and calculated P value is .0813 level of
significance, therefore the null hypothesis Health of street children is not related to Drugs they are
getting is accepted and the alternate hypothesis is rejected.
170
Q. 4.7 & 1. 8
Table: 36 & 10
Ho-
Taking of substances like alcohol, hashish, marijuana, opium is not related to

education of their parents.
H1-
Taking of substances like alcohol, hashish, marijuana, and opium is related to

education of their parents.
Are your parents educated?
Yes
Do you like to take Liquids and drugs

like alcohol, Hashish, Marijuana leaf,
opium?
Total
No
Yes
43
114
157
No
68
175
243
111
289
400
Total
Chi- Squire
Value
.017(b)
Continuity Correction(a)
.000
Likelihood Ratio
.017
1
1
Asymp. Sig. (2sided)

.897
.988
.897
.017
.897
N of Valid Cases
400
Pearson Chi-Square
df
Fisher's Exact Test
Exact Sig. (2sided)
.910
Exact Sig. (1sided)
.495
Symmetric Measures
Value
Asymp. Std.
Error(a)
Approx. T(b)
.006
Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal
Pearson's R
-.006
.050
-.129
.897(c)
Ordinal by Ordinal
-.006
.050
-.129
.897(c)
N of Valid Cases
400
171
.897
Interpretation
Calculated value of chi-square (X2) = .017
The Independence test has been used to the data given in contingency table No8. The chi-squire test
is applied to test the independence of two variables. The value of chi-squire (X2) is .017, which is
lesser than its table value at 1 degree of freedom and calculated P value is .897 level of
significance, therefore the null hypothesis Taking of substances like alcohol, hashish, marijuana,
opium is not related to education of their parents is accepted and the alternate hypothesis is
rejected.
172
Q. 4.1 & 1.2

Table: 31 & 4
Ho-
Living area of street children in urban Sindh has no impact on their sexual
relationship.
H1-
Living area of street children in urban Sindh has impact on their sexual relationship.
Chi-Squire
Symmetric Measures
Asymp. Std.
Value do you live?

Where
Error(a)
Nominal by Nominal
Do
you have any
sexual relation?
Ordinal by Ordinal
Home
Streets
Yes Pearson's R 67
No Spearman Correlation
156
Total
N
of Valid Cases
223
Gardens
R. Stations
.145
Approx.
Sig.
Total
Bus Stand
61
-.083
80
-.119
6
.050
.050 6
141
400
13
12
Value
Pearson Chi-Square
Approx. T(b)
df
.071
.097(c)
-2.394 6
255
.017(c)
11
400
-1.663
145
8.621(a)
.071
Likelihood Ratio
9.218
.056
2.754
.097
N of Valid Cases
400
Interpretation
Calculated value of chi-square (X2) = .8.621
173
test is applied to test the independence of two variables. The value of chi-squire (X2) is .8.621,
significance, therefore the null hypothesis is rejected and the original hypothesis Sexual
relationship of street children is likely to be related to area where they are living is accepted. It is
now revealed that living area of street children is related to sexual relationship of street children.
This means children who are living at service centers have less sexual relations than those who are
living on the streets children. The relationship as indicated by the value of
Q. B & Q. 4.1
Table: 2 & 30
174
Co-efficient of
Ho-
Working conditions of street children has no impact on sexual relationship of street

H1-
Working conditions of street children has impact on sexual relationship of street

What is Respondents Working Condition?
Working Under
Supervision
Do you have any sexual

relation?
Yes
No
Working Without
Supervision
63
103
166
Total
Total
82
152
234
145
255
400
Chi-Squire
Value
Pearson Chi-Square
df
Asymp. Sig. (2sided)
.356(b)
.551
Continuity Correction(a)
.241
.624
Likelihood Ratio
.355
.551
Fisher's Exact Test
Exact Sig. (2sided)
.598
.355
N of Valid Cases
400
Exact Sig. (1sided)
.311
.551
Symmetric Measures
Value
Asymp. Std.
Error(a)
Approx. T(b)
Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal
.030
Pearson's R
.030
.050
.595
.552(c)
Ordinal by Ordinal
.030
.050
.595
.552(c)
N of Valid Cases
400
Interpretation
Calculated value of chi-square (X2) = .356
Calculated P value Asymp. Sig.551
175
.551
test is applied to test the independence of two variables. The value of chi-squire (X2) is .356, which
is lesser than its table value at 1 degree of freedom and calculated P value is .551, level of
significance, therefore the null hypothesis Working conditions of street children has no impact on
sexual relationship of street children in urban Sindh is accepted and the alternate hypothesis is
rejected.
Q. 5.2 & 4.8

Table: 39 & 37
176
Ho-
There is no impact of drugs used by street children for suffering from allergies in
urban Sindh.
H1-
There is impact of drugs used by street children for suffering from allergies in urban
Sindh.
Do you like to take Glue, Petrol and

other drugs like these?
Yes
No
Do you suffer from any
allergies?
Yes
No
Don't Know
33
62
33
128
Total
Total
79
99
94
272
112
161
127
400
Chi-Squire
Value
Pearson Chi-Square
Likelihood Ratio
df
5.578(a)
.061
5.566
.443
2
1
.062
.506
N of Valid Cases
400
Symmetric Measures
Asymp. Std.
Error(a)
Value
Approx. T(b)
Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal
.117
Pearson's R
.033
.048
.665
.506(c)
Ordinal by Ordinal
.035
.048
.703
.482(c)
N of Valid Cases
400
Interpretation
177
.061
Calculated P value Asymp. Sig..061

degree of freedom 2 (df )
The Independence test has been used to the data given in contingency table No.11. The chisquire test is applied to test the independence of two variables. The value of chi-squire (X2) is
.5.578, which is greater than its table value at 2 degree of freedom and calculated P value is
There is impact of drugs used by street children for suffering from allergies in urban Sindh is
accepted. It is now revealed that there is relationship between allergic diseases among street
children and drugs abuse by them. The relationship as indicated by the value of Co-efficient of
178
Q. 6.1 & 1.2

Table: 44 & 4
Ho-
Living area of street children has no impact on education of street children in urban
Sindh.
H1-
Living area of street children has impact on education of street children in urban
Sindh.
Where do you live?
Home
How long have

you attended
School?
Primary to Middle
Matriculation to Inter
Nil
Total
Streets
72
Gardens
Total
R. Stations
Bus Stand
70
159
28
137
67
213
217
142
17
13
11
400
Value
Pearson Chi-Square
Likelihood Ratio
N of Valid Cases
df
31.948(a)
28.322
4.896
400
12
12
1
Asymp. Std.
Error(a)
Value
.001
.005
.027
Approx. T(b)
.272
Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal
Pearson's R
-.111
.047
-2.224
.027(c)
Ordinal by Ordinal
-.134
.049
-2.704
.007(c)
N of Valid Cases
400
179
.001
Interpretation

31.948, which is greater than its table value at 12 degree of freedom and calculated P value is
Education of street children is likely to be related to their living area is accepted. It is now
revealed that education of street children is related with area where street children are living in
urban Sindh, The relationship as indicated by the value of Co-efficient of correlation is .272,
which shows there is less relationship between the variables.
180
Q. 6.3 & 3.7

Table: 46 & 29
Ho-
Interest of street children in education is not related to spending most of their time in
urban Sindh.
H1-
Interest of street children in education is related to spending most of their time in

urban Sindh.
Where do you spend most of your time?
Are you involved in any

educational activity?
Yes
Service
Centers
10
With
Friends
12
34
44
No
Total
Hotel
Sleeping
Total
Watching
Film
Most of
above
31
153
47
63
29
43
369
165
51
67
30
43
400
Chi-Squire
Value
Pearson Chi-Square
Likelihood Ratio
N of Valid Cases
Df
18.587(a)
.002
17.808
10.073
5
1
.003
.002
400
Symmetric Measures
Asymp. Std.
Error(a)
Value
Approx. T(b)
Approx. Sig.
Nominal by Nominal
.211
Pearson's R
.159
.035
3.211
.001(c)
Ordinal by Ordinal
.170
.047
3.431
.001(c)
N of Valid Cases
400
181
.002
Interpretation
Calculated value of chi-square (X2) = .18.587

Calculated P value Asymp. Sig .002
18.587, which is greater than its table value at 5 degree of freedom and calculated P value is
.002, level of significance, therefore the null hypothesis is rejected and the original hypothesis
Interest of street children in education is likely to be related to spending most of their time is
accepted. It is now revealed that education of street children is related to time spending of street
children in urban Sindh, this means street children who are spending most of their time with
friends; hotels etc. do not take interest in education. The relationship as indicated by the value of
Co-efficient of correlation is .211, which shows there is less relationship between the variables.
182
4.5. Qualitative Analysis/Group Discussions
The present part covers the view points of various stakeholders relevant to topic and
conclusions of the qualitative analysis.
Finding out the various factors related to the problems which could not be identified by
quantitative data, qualitative techniques of data collection were also used. Qualitative analysis is an
effective tool for obtaining information regarding values, beliefs, options and behavior of specific
population. Qualitative analysis in present study was mainly based on group discussion of different
stakeholders, or key informants and interviews. Main stakeholders are the persons who are directly
or indirectly involved in the issues like, representatives from NGOs which are working for street
children, government representative from social welfare department, education department and
police department who have some role for the street children, parents, and local community
representatives.
A focus group is a group of individuals selected and assembled by researchers to discuss and
comment on, from personal experience, the topic that is the subject of the research. As a research technique,
the focus group employs guided, interactional discussion as a means of generating the concept of problem.
(Powell, R.A., & Helen. M.S. 1996)
Different people have different capabilities for explaining and verbally expressing
information however, it is useful to take small number of persons in any community as good key
informants. The focus group represents a qualitative method of social research which consists in
recruiting one or more groups of six to twelve individuals selected from criteria of homogeneity,
initiating open discussion of topics under consideration and then producing an immediate analysis
by collating the viewpoints of the participants.
183
In present study total five group discussions were organized, first focus group discussion
was held in Karachi in the office of Intiator Human Development Foundation, a Non Governmental
Organization working for street children. In this group discussion total number of participants were
16, all were related to different professions related to street children problems like NGOs working
for street children, Police Department, Education Department, representative from Sindh HIV AIDS
Control Program, representative from SPARC, represetntative of Social Welfare Department,
Religious leaders, representative of print as well as electrinic media, focusing the large population
and number of stakeholders. Another focus group discussion was also conducted in Karachi, in
which total participates were 13 from various related fields like NGOs, Social Welfare Department,
Education Department, Police Department, lawyer, Youth etc. Third focus group discussion was
conducted in Hyderabad city in the office of Social Welfare Department in which number of
participants were 14 from different fields related to street children problems. The fourth focus group
discussion was held in Larkana with professionals who were related to the problems of street
children and fifth and last focus group discussion was organized in Sukkur with 16 participants
related to Social Welfare Department, NGOs, Police Department, Education Department, religious
person, psychologist, sociologist etc.
The core aim of these group discussions was to analyze different views of different
stakeholders according to their experiences and six major problems were discussed.
i. Demographic Problems
ii.
Socio - Economical and resources Problems
iii. Social Behaviors and Socio- Psychological problems

iv. Risk Behaviors and Drug Use Problems
v. Health and Awareness Problems
184
vi. Education, Skills, Trainings and Rehabilitation

4.6. Results and Discussions
The main focus of the study was to find out the problems of street children in urban Sindh,
therefore focus group discussions were arranged to explore the overall situation of street children.
All the participants were allowed for threadbare discussion and even probing questions were asked
to get better results. Most of the participants were expressing their views in English, views
expressed in Urdu and Sindhi were translated into English.
4.6.1. The Demographic Problems
Demographic situation was discussed in all five focus group discussions. Most of the
participants were of the views that rampant population growth in the country, low literacy rate, and
poverty are the basic causes of multiplying number of street children. Some participants suggested
that in order to find out proper demographic problems of street children it was important to
categorize the types of children according to social and economical situations, age, and relationship
with parents or environment where they were living.
Elaborating on the situation, a participant from Larkana district noted that basing on the
working definition offered by some related organisations the number of street children living in
Larkana was minimal or even nil. Discussing situation of Larkana city most of the participants were
of the view that there were three types of street children. The first type of children are those who
leave their homes daily to attend school, but instead of joining classes keep on wandering on the
roads, railway stations etc. till the end of school time and then go back to homes. The second type
consists of all those children who are working without any supervision and are engaged in selling
goods, polishing shoes, washing cars on petrol pumps and taxi stands, hawkers, garbage pickers etc.
and third group comprises of children who are working under supervision at various shops, garages,
185
hotels, auto shops etc. A participant, from an NGO working on street children in Larkana, said that
children from Afghanistan and Pathan families were comparatively less in number in Larkana than
in Karachi and Hyderabad.
During discussion in Sukkur on the demographic situation and problems of street children, it
was revealed that street children are also less in number in Sukkur than in Karachi or Hyderabad. A
participant was of the view that improper education system and behavior of teachers in the schools
is basic cause of increased dropout ratio of children who later become street children and gradually
start living on the streets and get away from their homes. A participant noted that electronic games
and hotels are pull factors for children to come on the streets. A participant strongly felt that failure
of family institution was the basic demographic problem and one of the major causes for children to
come on the street. According to participants of Sukkur discussion forum most of the children were
related to minority castes like Baghri, Christians etc. One participant said that in Sukkur Street
children can be divided into two groups: those who are working under supervision and those who
are working without supervision.
Results of discussion on demographic situation of street children in Hyderabad showed that
population of street children in Hyderabad was larger comparing to Sukkur and Larkana, even
demographic situation in these cities was quite different. Most of the participants said that number
of garbage picking children was very high and the number of children working under supervision at
garages and shops is also remarkable. According to participants of Hyderabad group discussion,
some street living children were found near railway station, Halla Naka and Civil Hospital,
Hyderabad. The participants informed that the age of these children was10 to 18 years.
Two focus group discussions were held in Karachi, results were mostly similar in both.
According to participants, number of street children was increasing rapidly, and count was more
186
than all over the country. The participants noted that a large number of street children were
belonging to Afghani community, Burmi, Christians, etc. The focus group discussion revealed that
the number of street girls in Karachi was low and mostly existence of street living girls without their
families was rare or nil. Age group of street children was 6 to 18 years. A participant of first focus
group discussion said that in Karachi, street living children were also less in number than those who
go back to their homes in night time.
In all group discussions it was observed that most of the participants were not clear about
the definition of street children. They were confused to differentiate between street children and
child labor. One of the participants, working against child labor, was of the view that street children
phenomenon implied that children were attached emotionally, socially and psychologically with
streets. However, he added, child labor referred to a situation in which minor children work as labor
in factories, large stores, various industries etc. Referring to his own view he further said that a
street child may be involved in child labor but all street children were not engaged in child labour.
Focus group discussion revealed that with proper classification of street children we can identify
proper street children and even all the stakeholders can work specifically for street children.
During focus group discussions it was observed that can we define street children according
to economical, social and cultural situation of the area. A sociologist was of the view that causes for
being on street and problems of street children were different all over the world. Therefore, a
universal definition of street children cannot be properly evolved, and this brings confusion to all
those organisations working for street children. Another participant said that cultural situation of
Europe was different from Asia, even in our own country there are different cultures and subcultures, therefore causes for being street children and the nature of their problems were different.
He suggested that a definition of street children can be evolved according to situation of a specific
187
area or country. A participant was of the view that the notion of ownership of children vary from
culture to culture and society to society. In this regard he gave some examples saying that Pushto or
Afghani families allow their children to live and work on the street while Punjabi families do not
treat their children at same level. He further said that there were rare or nil number of street children
from Sindhi families but street children from Baloch families did exit in small number than
Afghani, Punjabi, Bangali, Barmi or Urdu Speaking children.
All these views indicate that number of street children vary from city to city, although
children from different ethnic groups and castes exist on the streets. Being largest urban city,
Karachi has largest population of street children. By classification of children and focusing work we
can give area and situation wise definition of street children phenomenon. For example, the number
of street children from Afghani, Bangali, Baghri and minority communities is largest in urban
Sindh.
4.6.2. Socio - Economical and Resources Problems
During the focus group discussions socio-economic and resource problems of street children
were discussed in detail. The street children phenomenon was deliberated in the backdrop of
prevailing cultural and economical situation of urban Sindh, The participants offered their views
according to their respective city and its situation, therefore, views of participants from Karachi
were different that of from Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana.
A variety of responses were recorded. A psychologist from Karachi sharing her experience
said, In Karachi family institution is damaged and most of the population is suffering from socio
economical problems, parents cannot give proper time to their children and communication gap
between parents and children eventually become a push factor for children to be on the streets. A
participant observed, we can generalise overall economic situation of urban Sindh that compel
parents to leave their children behind at home due to economical problems. In focus group
188
discussion at Karachi an expert, having good experience with street children and their problems
noted, The major problem of street children in Karachi is poor economic condition because money
is only mean to survive when they are not taken care of by their parents. He added that in order to
meet their daily needs of food, clothes, drugs, and entertainment street children put themselves in
various types of risks, like sexual abuse, thieving, child labor etc.
A participant from Hyderabad remarked that street working children also help their
families economically, and it is difficult to diagnose whether children working on the streets for
bearing problems of and supporting their families in their childhood are really street children who
are vulnerable to various types of exploitations.
All these views indicate that poverty is not the only cause for children being on the streets,
failure of family institution, behavior of society and state is also among the causes. Street children
are facing economic problems and it is very difficult for them to meet their daily life needs and face
various types of exploitation to earn their livelihood. Most of the children come on the streets to
support their families also and society plays an important role in the life of street children and their
socio economic problems.
4.6.3. Social Behaviors and Socio- psychological Problems
The Quantitative Analysis of present study shows that a large number of respondents were
socially interacted with their families and societies, even for getting their food, clothes, shelter and
other requirements, therefore, behavior of society and relatives play an important role in their lives.
Focusing on the related discussion and probing mixture of views come forward during the
focus group discussions, the behavior of society towards the street children also came under
scrutiny. One of the participants was of the view that street children are not portrayed properly,
they are not taken care of by society and they are even labeled as negative characters of the
189
society. A participant from Hyderabad was of the view that society can play an important role in
personality development and transforming behaviors of children because environments are
developed by society. He further noted that if a society collectively decides to solve the problems
of street children it is possible to change the scene. A participant of the focus group discussion
sharing her views said, The living environment of street children and societys behavior leave
lasting imprints on their minds that manifest in their reactions against the society. She added that
most of the street children like villain characters in their life, fight with each other individually and
in groups. A participant from a service provider organisation for the street children observed,
Street children behave like adults and self-righteous even though their responses and acts show
that they are wrong. Another expert from a non-profit organisation noted that Age factor also
plays an important role in psychological behavior of street children, e.g. near the age of adolescence
their needs and demands increase manifold and in order to meet them they become involved in pick
pocketing, thieving, drug smuggling, etc. He added that police also get various types of benefits by
misusing them. During discussion a participant said, There is lack of awareness among street
children about their socio-psychological problems; he added that in our society certain important
subjects are prohibited to discuss openly, therefore children remain unaware about the consequences
of certain problems. A religious person was of the view that religion is the sole institution
preaching reward and punishment concept, and if children were educated better about religion, the
socio-psychological problems could be reduced. During discussion, a representative of education
department opined that school textbooks/syllabus needs some additions for promotion of positive
behavior in the society. He added, Children want to live independently, therefore a remarkable
number of children who are not taken care of by their parents do not attend their schools and
wander on the streets for being independent. A participant from print media said, Transition from
190
childhood to adolescence is time of personality grooming but living environment of street children
creates psychologically ill minds. During this period street children experience exploitation and
various abuses and simultaneously get appreciation from their friends for their pessimistic behavior
like fighting, drug using, and sexual activities etc.
In this regard similar responses were received, all remarks indicated that living environment
of these children was dangerous and risky, children change their behavior and psyche on peer
pressure, even push factors from family responses and pull factors from the streets environment
change their lifestyle. It was also identified that ill education system and failure of law enforcement
agencies help create minds of deviant behavior - and street children are example of this. Although a
considerable number of children are related to their families but street environment pulls them
towards street life.
4.6.4. Risk behaviors and Drug Use Problems
Showing the beauty of focus group discussion, important comments were collected on risk
behavior and drug use problems. The representatives from social welfare department, medical field,
police department, and NGOs took keen interest in all group discussions and gave their inputs. The
representative of police department observed, High risk behavior of street children is their
attachment with criminals and they are used by them in drug trafficking, pick pocketing, thieving,
beggaring etc. He admitted that in many cases the behavior of police with street children come to
be negative. During group discussions in Sukkur and Larkana it was revealed that drug use
problems among the street children in these cities was less or nil, and no child was found using
Samad Bond and Glue like substances, etc. but Cigarette, Tobacco, Pan, Chhalia Ghutka are used
by children in these cities. However, some participants from Hyderabad pointed out those street
children were then getting involved in drug use and at some places they had found some children
191
using Samad Bond or Glue. They pointed out that Opium, Hashish, and some other drugs are rarely
used by street children of Hyderabad. During group discussion at Sukkur and Larkana it was found
that street children in these cities are also involved in crimes. A participant noted that some street
children were found to be involved in drug trafficking and pick pocketing in Sukkur and Larkana.
It was a common assertion by the discussants that sexual risk behavior is at high level
among the street children, they are involved in sexual activities in their groups, with their friends,
police and traffic personnel, and adults who are living in the streets. A participant was of the view
that sexual harassment, various types of exploitations and abuses were among the risk behaviors
problems of street children. A representative of health department said, A large number of children
are engaged in garbage picking and this is very risky because waste from hospitals, homes,
factories, shops bears uncountable infective materials and this is highly risky for children to find out
their needs from garbage. A participant who was running a rehabilitation centre for street children
and other drug users said that it was very much difficult to get away street children from drugs
because environment where they were living plays an important role.
During the discussion a Sociologist from Social Welfare Department noted, Unprotected
and unsupervised children are also at the risk, because adults use children for sex, begging, child
labor etc. A participant observed, Children living at Madrisas are also at high risk of sexual
exploitation, physical abuse, verbal abuse etc. Another participant noted that electronic as well as
print media played role to develop negative and risk behaviors through movies, mini cinemas, and
internet cafes and blue print films.
The result of all responses shows that sexual exploitation, drug use, physical abuse,
involvement in crime, abuse by police, teachers, parents, friends in groups are the risk behaviors
and problems of street children. Moreover it was revealed that situation is different in all cities like
192
Sukkur and Larkana where there is less risk of drug uses. The risks of involvement in crime and
drug use exist in Hyderabad and Karachi.
All group discussions were focused on the health and awareness problems of street children.
In this regard a number of experiences were shared by all the stakeholders. A participant said that
there was no training or awareness program for the street children about health problems while a
number of infected diseases like HIV, HBS, HCV Malaria, typhoid, skin diseases, allergies were
exist in living environment of street children. During the discussions a term Survival Sex was also
discussed and most of the participants were of the view that street children were facing different
problems to survive. For example, they need place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear according to
seasons, medicine for treatment if they get ill. In exchange for meeting these needs adults from
some group like police, street living adults, and habitual homosexuals get street children involve in
sex activity and this is what is called Survival Sex.
A participant from health department noted that during sexual activity street children were
not or less aware about safe sex practices, even their sexual partners did not like to use condoms or
other devices for safe sex. Another participant said that while taking drugs through injections they
did not use new disposable syringes; this may also cause various infectious diseases. He further
informed that during garbage picking they may get infected by viral or bacterial diseases and
allergies. A participant from Social Welfare Department said that during change of weather - cold
or hot - the street children did not have clothes to meet seasonal needs, therefore they become ill
and get health problems like, heatstroke, common cold, and GIT disturbance due to unbalance diet.
Results of discussion on health and awareness problems show that there is lack of awareness
programs and treatment facilities by the government and/or non-government organisations
193
especially for street children who are facing viral, bacterial, and fungal as well weather changing
health problems. It was further revealed that lack of food, clothes, and place to live as well as living
and working environment of street children may expose them to sexually transmitted and other
diseases.
In this part of focus group discussions probing questions were made, written suggestions
were sought and other group work techniques were used. Real situation of street children and views
emerged; important suggestion and recommendations were also collected. Most of the participants
were of the view that a large number of vulnerable children were interested to get formal or non
formal education but institutions and facilities are not available. The street children intend to get
technical training for their future planning but services are not available. It was also found that for
the rehabilitation of street children there was a need for joint action by State and humanitarian
organizations. It was found out that in Karachi and Hyderabad some service centers and drop in
centers are available but Sukkur and Larkana have none of them. A participant said that for a huge
population of street children in Karachi there was only few service providing centers.
After threadbare discussions, following suggestions were collected from all stakeholders in
all focus group discussions.
We can start rehabilitation centers near the religious Mazars and places, because street children
get psychological satisfaction there and also can get free food and fulfill their other needs from
there.
Awareness giving and life skills training centres for street children may be established by the
related Government departments.
There is need for a uniform education system for children throughout the country.
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The family institution be restored and rehabilitated.
Laws and rules relating to human rights affecting street children may be implemented in total.
Training for police and law enforcement agencies is also compulsory about children rights and
processes.
Before launching a project related to street children, proper work plan and identification of
problems by development sector is important.
Technical education centers must be established for the street children.

Free education, accommodation centers may be established by state with all basic needs and
facilities.
Electronic games may be prohibited.

For the sake of health protection hand gloves may be provided to street children engaged in
garbage picking.
Media may be involved in projecting and solving the problems of street children.
The sitting parliament should revisit existing child protection policy and new legislation should
be promulgated for rights of street children.
Parents should understand their responsibilities.

Population Control is the best way to solve problems of street children.
4.7. Concluding remarks

This chapter included views of various stakeholders related to the problems of street
children. The major stakeholders are government institutions and non government institutions. The
focus groups discussions of this study included representatives from social welfare department,
education department, police department and health department from the government sector and
195
Psychologists, NGOs, Sociologists, Religious Persons, Lawyers, and Media representatives from
Non Government sector.
During collection of views of the above representatives the process of focus group
discussion was found advantageous because with and after probing questions and collective debate
some of the participants changed their views and study got pure and filtered ideas about the street
children phenomenon in urban Sindh. During discussion collective and sincere role of society and
related institutions was suggested to address and resolve street children problems. It was strongly
felt that proper funding for bringing about improvement in the lives of street children were required.
The results of the present study affirmed that most of findings of quantitative and qualitative
analysis were in close agreement.
The summary, results and conclusion of the study and recommendations for concerned
stakeholders are presented in the next chapter.
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CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY, RESULTS, CONCLUSION
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY AND SUGGESTION
FOR FURTHER STUDIES
This chapter includes summary of procedure and findings of the study as well as conclusion.
Separate recommendations have been made for policymakers at the government level and for
humanitarian organisations working for street children. Some suggestions have also been made for
further studies on the subject.
5.1. Summary
The present study Problems of Street Children: A Sociological Study of Urban Sindh was
conducted in the Sindh province. Major urban cities of the province were selected for study because
it was found through the previous studies that most of the population of street children exists in
urban cities of the country. Purposive sampling procedure was used for selection of the subjects
with the help of NGOs working for street children in each city, reference of street children and other
stakeholders. The population of street children in targeted cities was quite different, according to
various studies and NGOs approximate number of street children in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur
and Larkana was up to 16,000, 8,000, 5,000 and 2,000 respectively. Thus, 400 street children were
taken from four cities with different percentage. The number of interviews conducted in Karachi,
Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana were 267, 85, 32 and 16 respectively. The present study is
exploratory research initiated with personal and professional dialogue with the children and other
stakeholders to collect information by involving 400 street children. In order to evaluate social
problems of street children the methodological approach used was Qualitative and Quantitative.
Information on demography, problems, socio-economic and resource problems, social
behaviors and psychological problems, risk behavior and drug use problems, health and awareness
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issues, education trainings and rehabilitation variables were collected through organised interviews
scheduled for street children. Questions were grouped according to concepts and influence of
variables was observed on street children and their life. Index of questions and problems was
constructed and informal and formal meetings were organised with various stakeholders. On the
basis of socio-economic conditions of cities, Karachi and Hyderabad were metropolitan and
industrial cities and Sukkur and Larkana were less populated and less industrial cities; therefore two
cities were divided in two groups Karachi and Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana and situations were
observed accordingly.
For qualitative analysis, five focus group discussions were conducted, two in Karachi and
one each in Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana. Representatives from government sector, social
welfare department, police department, health department and education department attended the
sessions. NGOs, religious leaders, psychologists, sociologists, lawyers, and media representatives
also participated in the focus group discussions. Results of qualitative analysis are given in chapter
five.
The quantitative analysis was made by using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS)
version 17. Subject wise results, based on quantitative data are presented in the succeeding
paragraphs.
5.2. Results
5.2.1. Demographic Information & Problems
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The majority population of this study was born in Sindh (77.3%) while only 1% born in
Balochistan. Though 58.8% respondents were living in their own homes they spent most of their
time on the streets. Only 36.3% were living on the streets. The mother tongue of 43.8% respondents
was Urdu while Sindhi speaking children constituted 16.3%. According to study 59.8% parents of
respondents were living at their homes, 9.0% parents lived at the streets, 7.3% parents were living at
the work place, and 24.0% of respondents did not know whereabouts of their parents. Familieswise, 10.0% families comprised of up to three members, 32.0% families comprised of four to five
members, 32.8% of the population of study have families up to seven to nine members and ten and
above members were in 101 families of the respondents. 25.8 % respondents said that their fathers
had second wife, 45.3% said that they have no second mother, and 29.0% were unaware whether
their fathers had second wife or not. Data shows that parents of 78.8% street children were living
together, 12.3% parents were not living together, parents of 3.3% were divorced, and 5.8% street
children did not know about their parents status. The study shows that 27.8% parents of street
children were educated and 72.3% parents were illiterate. The data shows that 71.1% street children
were Muslims, 20.0% were Hindu, 4.0% were Christians, 4.5% were Bagri, and 0.5% were others.
4.0% street children started their life as street child by birth, 8.0% at the age of two years, 17.3% at
the age of three years, 40.5% at the age of four years, 25.8% at the age of five to six years, 3.5% at
the age of seven to eight years and 1.0% at the age of ten and above years. The data revealed that
20.8% of street children have groups up to three children, 38.8% have groups up to five children,
3.8% have groups up to nine children, 36.8% have groups up to ten and above children. Data shows
that 26.5% street children were not in contact with their families, and 73.5% were still in the contact
of their families. Out of 400, 117 (29.3%) respondents said that they will not go back to their
families, 46 (11.5%) said that they wanted to go back to their families, while 237 (59.3%) said that
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they were already living with their families. According to data parents of 84.8% children were
responsible to push them to the streets while 15.3% chose to live on streets at their own will.
Data revealed that 154 (38.5%) out of 400 street children engaged in work to earn their
livelihood under supervision and 246 (61.5%) have their activities without any supervision.
5.2.2. Socio Economic and Resources Problems
According to family status of respondents 3.0% came from rich families, 55.5% belonged to
poor families, 30.0% hailed from lower middle class families, and 11.5% had very poor families.
Regarding income generation, 26.0% street children earned their livelihood through garbage
picking, 20.8% got some money by begging, 26.3% by selling small things/items, 18.8% by car
washing, 6.8% were hawkers, and 1.5% street children were engaged in stealing/thieving things to
earn their livelihood. Data shows that 57.0% street children were getting money from their parents
and 43.0% were self supporting. As far as usage of income is concerned, 27.3% street children were
using their income for their food, 27.3% for drugs, 10.0% were spending their income on friends,
29.8% were supporting their families, and 5.8% had interest to save money with service providers.
28.8% respondents were getting meals from their parents, 8.8% from the service providers, 34.0%
from friends and 28.5% were self providers. It was found out that 25.8% street children were
supporting their families, and 74.3% were not supporting their families.
5.2.3. Social Behavior and Socio psychological Problems
Data revealed that 47.5% street children were feeling most comfortable with their parents,
20.0% with service providers, 31.3% with their friends, 0.3% with their teachers, and 0.5% with
their employers. It was found that 41.3% street children had no beloveds, 46.5% were involved with
male partners and 12.3% with females. It was found out that 16.5% fought when they felt angry,
32.0% remained tolerant, 12.8% tried to sleep, 20.5% took drugs, 11.0 % hurt their bodies or got
200
them wounded and 29% had mixed activities when they were feeling angry. It was found out that
62.8% of street children were not providing sex in exchange of affection or other needs while
13.5% were providing sex, or having sexual activities whereas 23.8% gave no answer. According to
study, 78.5% respondents said that they were as strong as others while 21.5% felt that they were not
strong enough comparing to their peers. As far as recreation is concerned 7.8% street children got
recreation through electronic games, 37.0% by watching films, 9.3% by playing cricket, 5.5% by
passing time in the roadside small restaurants, 0.5% by gambling, 0.8% by swimming, 1.8% by
taking drugs and 37.0% had mixed activities for recreation. The study revealed that 11.0% of street
children spent most of their time at the service centers, 41.0 % with friends, 12.8% in the
restaurants/hotels, 16.8% by sleeping, 7.5.0% by watching films and 10.8% in different activities
and at places other than stated above.
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Sexual activities are also one of the risk problems of street children. Finding out the
situation, it was revealed that 36.3% street children had sexual relationship and 63.8% were not
involved in sexual activities. Regarding harassment by police and other adults, the response of
76.5% street children was in affirmative while 23.5% said NO. Fighting between street children is
one of the deviant behaviors among street children. In this regard 69.8% street children said that
they used to be involved in fighting while 30.3% responded in negative. Street children have
various risk behaviors and drug/substances use is one of the major problems. The results showed
that 57% were feeling guilty about substance use and 42.5% children had no guiltiness about their
drug using. Regarding availability of protection/treatment facilities for drug addicts, 33.2%
responded YES while 67.0% said NO. The study revealed that 39.3% street children liked to take
liquids and drugs like alcohol, hashish, marijuana leaf and opium, while 60.3% did not like to take
liquids and drugs like alcohol, hashish, marijuana leaf and opium. The Study further revealed that
78.0% street children liked to take Pan, Ghutka and Cigarette while 22.0% did not like to take Pan,
Ghutka and Cigarette. The study also found out that 57.0% street children liked to take Glue, inhale
Petrol and take other drugs, while 43.0% did not like to these substances/drugs.
Regarding health, 36.0% street children had good health since last five years, 31.8% were
suffering from diseases since last five years, 29.5% had weak health since last five years, and 2.8%
were healthy since last five years. Allergies are common health problems among the street children.
In this regard, 28.0% street children were suffering from allergies, 40.3% were not suffering from
allergies and 31.8% did not know about
allergies. Regarding physical disabilities, results show that 3.0% have long term disabilities and
97.0% were not suffering from long term disabilities. Sexual practice is also one of the major risk
behaviors among the street children. They have different modes of sexual satisfaction, 2.8%
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practiced masturbation, 8.8% have opposite sex enjoyment practices, 20.0% were homosexual,
1.0% have Bestiality practices and 67% did not give any response. Body development is natural
process but at the age of adolescence body undergoes some changes and street children feel some
stress about it. The study shows that 44.0% were feeling stress after body development, 42.3% were
not feeling any stress after body development and 13.8% did not give any response. Growth in size
and appearance is also another factor of body development. According to results, 15.8% were
worried, 76.5% were not worried about body development and 7.8% had no response in this regard.
While finding out level of education among street children, it was found that 39.8% attended
school up to primary level, 6.5% went up to matriculation level, 0.5% have some technical
education, and 53.3% never attended school. Discussing their future and a need of any technical
education to earn their livelihood, 26.0% responded in affirmative to have computer training, 28.8%
needed to learn Mobile Phone repairing training, 21.0% to learn electronic work training and 24.3%
needed to learn any technical training. When asked about their educational activities, it was found
that 7.8% street children were still engaged in educational activities while 92.3% were not engaged
in any education activity. The study proved that 13.0% of street children were trained technically to
do some jobs, while 87.0% were not trained. Data revealed that 53.3% street children agreed to go
back to their schools while 46.85% did not agree to go back to their schools. Finding out the
intentions of street children to change their life style, it was found that 86.3% of them intended to
get some support to change their life style while 13.8% did not need any support or they did not
want to change their life style. Responding to the question as to how can they stop getting drugs or
substances, 34.5% said that with the help of friends they could stop taking drugs, 51.8% were of the
view that with the help of NGOs they could stop taking drugs, 0.8% thought that with the help of
parents they could stop taking drugs, 6.8% opined that with self-esteem they could stop taking
drugs, 6.3% said that with the help of someone or all of the above they could stop taking drugs.
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When asked as to how can the increasing number of street children could be stopped or decreased,
23.5% said that the increasing number of street children could be arrested with the support of
Government, 57.8% were of the view that it could be done by alleviating poverty, 11.3% thought
that it could be done with the support of friends, 1.3% opined that education could stop increasing
number of street children. However, 6.3% said that increasing number of street children could be
stopped with the collective efforts of all of the above actors.
5.3. CONCLUSION
Most important results have been found through qualitative and quantitative analysis of the
phenomenon of street children in urban Sindh. Study revealed this phenomenon as one of the major
social problems. The study found out that majority of street children population were born in Sindh, and
few belonged to Balochistan. It was identified that majority of children were living in their own houses
but spend most of their time in the streets or out of the home, large number of street children speak Urdu
rather than the Sindhi language. Study also found that large numbers of parents of street children were
residing in their homes rather than on the streets while a lesser number of street children did not know
about their parents or not attached with them. Study revealed that behavior of step mother also plays a
role in making a street child, because one fourth of the street children have their second mother. Study
revealed that large numbers of parents of street children are uneducated, these finding led to the
conclusion that illiteracy plays a vital role in family disturbances and uneducated parents can not tie up
their kids with the family interaction. Study shows that a huge number of street children were Muslims
showing that it is not necessary that minorities are in social problems.
5.4. RECOMMENDATIONS
5.4.1. For Government/State
Children, back bone of a nation, are insecure at homes as well as on the streets. The
government should make effective legislation and ensure strict implementation of the laws
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concerning child rights, education system and awareness. All institutions, from top to bottom,
should be activated to save children from uncertainty and vulnerability.
Quantitative and Qualitative analysis indicated that a large number of children is available on
the streets and poverty, breakdown of family institutions, illiteracy are major causes; therefore,
income resources may be increased by developing industrial sector and spread it in all over the
Sindh province.
The study indicated that existing number of street children are extremely vulnerable and their
lives are at stake for various types of risks, they are facing physical, sexual abuses and
harassment. In this regard rehabilitation and skill development canters for street children may be
established to change their life and save them.
Research analysis indicated that street children are living in difficult circumstances; they cannot
meet basic needs: food to survive, clothes to meet seasonal needs, treatment to save themselves
from diseases, space to live. In this regard all the government departments may be activated to
do the job of their part and save the lives of these future stars.
The study reveals that street children were involved in drug abuse, sexual abuse and other
deviant behaviors; even they are misused by law enforcement agencies, traffic police, and other
adults. In this regard existing rules and laws may be implemented and drugs, ingredients like
glue and samad bond may be prohibited, awareness trainings may be arranged to traffic police
and other law enforcement agencies to save street childrens lives.
Foreign funding project for all types of children may be utilized properly and according to an
assessment.
Qualitative analysis indicated that different types of education system and lack of qualitative
education keep away children from primary and other education institutions. In this regard
205
universal education system may be adopted in all over the country and reforms in education
system may be adopted. Especially, female literacy rate may be enhanced.
To Keep the children away from streets and let them to live with their parents and family a
strong political will is needed. In this regard humanitarian activists and political leaders can play
a vital role by discussing street children issues at various platforms. In addition, government
should make more efforts to diagnose the causes and out solution of phenomenon of street
children in urban Sindh as well as in the country.
There are hundreds of children born and bred on streets. They are deprived of food, clothes,
medicines, shelter and most importantly education. In the wake of a sheer sense of deprivation and
helplessness they eventually confront society and the rich with hatred. After quite a young age, most
boys fall easy prey to terrorist organizations that provide them with life necessities while the girls
are taken away by nefarious people who use them as sex workers. By neglecting this enormous
population our government has been instrumental in promoting terrorism in the country and adding
to the strength of terrorists. It is recommended that a special department be established in the
presidents house or adjacent to it where street children can be educated and trained to become
useful members of the society.
The use of drugs is increasing day by day. Drug takers aged between eight and 19 use glue,
which is easily available. They spread glue on a thick paper or piece of cloth, roll it and then light
up or pour it into a shopping bag, hold it near their noses and inhale.
Some addicts simply eat the glue to get high. Glue-sniffing is considered to be the most
popular form of addiction after tobacco and alcohol. These sniffers live in places like footpaths,
public parks, railway stations, shrines and shopping centres. Most of them earn a living through odd
206
jobs like cleaning cars and picking garbage. Many turn to begging while some are engaged in
criminal activities like, stealing and robbery.
The effects of inhaling these substances can be as damaging if not more than alcohol and
tobacco. Such substances are highly injurious to health can cause mental illnesses and serious
respiratory disorders within six months of regular use. An exceptionally high single dose can cause
brain damage and memory loss.
Inhaling glue by covering the face causes the displacement of oxygen in the lungs and
subsequently, the central nervous system, causing breathing to cease. The main problem is that there
are no rehabilitation centres that would encourage children to completely kick off the deadly habit.
The government should establish rehabilitation centers where addicts can stay until fully
cured. Besides, awareness campaigns should be launched as soon as possible to help people realise
the gravity of the situation.
5.4.2. For Non Profit Organizations
NGOs/NPOs can play vital role in addressing the issues of street children and protect other
children from being street child. In this regard there is need of sincerity, identifying the issue at base
level, planning and implementation of the projects.
The study reveals that there is lack of awareness among the community and the children. In this
regard, NGOs may start programs for awareness building in the society, parents, teachers,
children, and even government institutions about problems of street children and their solutions.
Street children need professional skill development to change their lives. In this regard, NGO
can initiate small projects of single or multiple skill development for street children in different
areas of urban cities.
207
Study revealed that a huge number of street children are involved in garbage picking. In this
regard, NGOs can provide them awareness and life skill trainings to protect from infected
diseases. For this purpose they may be provided with Hand Gloves.
5.4.3. For Print and Electronic Media
The study reveals that street children are mostly involved in watching films, dramas, TV shows
etc. Most of them like different characters of heroes and villains presented in different
programs. Therefore, utilizing electronic media, we may address issues of street children in
positive way, give awareness about issues and solutions, and give messages to street children by
their liking personalities and characters and promotion of positive behaviors. Print media can
take useful part in the lives of street children.
At the Net-Cafes sex movies and photographs are easily accessible on different websites which
promote negative behaviors among the youth. Therefore, such websites may be blocked.
In newspapers and TV news channels problems of street children may be highlighted and
solutions may be proposed. It is advisable to invite organizations and individuals working for
street children to speak in such TV shows.
5.4.4. For Parents
The study reveals that the number of street children is increasing. The parents are directly
related to their children whether they are parents of the existing street children or those who can
save their kids from becoming street children. The parents of street children are requested to
please find out their children and get them together with families, fill social and inter-actional
gap, find out problems and issues of their children, make it possible to solve them, increase
208
interaction and communication with kids, and also get help of existing government and non
governmental institutions for their rehabilitation.
Parents who want to save their children to be street child are also suggested that interaction with
children plays a vital role in personality development; therefore they should give time to their
kids, find out their problems, give them awareness about social problems and various social
phenomenon, keep them away from excessive use of internet, films, video games, TV programs
and keep them away from unknown persons.
5.4.5. For Street Children
Street children should recognize themselves at individual level and build capacity among them to
enhance awareness about their rights, increase their knowledge and develop a sense to bring positive
change in their status.
Street children have also chances to improve their lives, they must interact themselves with those
organizations who are working for them and act on their suggestions, keep away from drugs and
sexual activities and use life saving measures in day to day activities.
5.5. Limitations of the study and suggestion for further studies

Street children are social phenomenon and problem caused by failure of society standards and
principles, and it is an extensive area of study. The present study is not end in itself rather it shows
some of its aspects; most probably focused on problems of street children, there is massive need of
further studies in this area. After completion of present study, following are recommendations and
suggestions for individuals, institutions at various levels who want to work and research to unearth
more realities in the area. Because this study could not complete this due to some limitations.
In present study it was revealed that failure of family institution is one of the major
209
Causes behind the street children phenomenon, therefore it is needed to conduct the studies on
causes, problems and consequences of failure of family institutions.
There exists no complete program for rehabilitation of street children; therefore it is needed to
study to design a complete program for street children phenomenon. Moreover, there is need to
develop universal tool kit to find out differences between street children phenomena of various
cultures and countries.
Present study is sociological study of problems of urban Sindh, further, there is need of studies
in different areas of country, and moreover need to study the impact of different cultures on the
street children phenomena; for example this study revealed that there is rare street children
count in Sindhi and Balochi culture.
Present study found out that a number of street children are involved in drug abuse, sexual abuse
and in crimes. It is needed to study on causes of these deviant behaviors among the street
children and solution.
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215
2. www.streetchildren.org.uk
3. www.streetchildafrica.org.uk
4. www.azadfoundation.org
5. www.initiator.org
6. www.hope-for-children.org
7. www.slumdogs.org/street-children-of-india.html
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216
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY, FACULTY OF ARTS,

Appendix. A
Researcher: Amir Ali Abro

Research Supervisor: Dr. Ghulam Muhammad
Interview Schedule for Selected Street Children

Date:______________ Code: ______________
Name
(not compulsory)
Area/Site
A.City / Town
B. Working Condition
1. Working under Supervision

2. Working without Supervision
217

Researcher:
Amir Ali Abro
Research Supervisor:
Dr. Ghulam Muhammad
Interview Schedule for selected Street children
Date:______________ Code: ______________
1. Demographic Information
Sr.
Questions
No.
Response
1.1
Where were you born?
1.2
Where do you live?
1.3
What is your mother tongue?
1.4
Where are your parents?
1.5
Total number of your family members?
1.6
Has your father second wife?
1.7
Do your parents live together?
1.8
Are your parents educated?
1.9
Do you practice any religion?
1.10
At what age did you start living on the

streets?
What is total number of your friends in the

group?
1.12 Are you still in contact with your family?
Would you like to go back and live with
1.13
your family?
Do you think there is any role of your
1.14
parents in becoming you street children?
2. Socio-Economic and Resources Problems
1.11
218
1. Sindh
2. Punjab 3.KPP
4. Balochistan 5. Outside Pakistan
1) Home .
2) Street
3) Garden
4) Railway Station
5) Bus Stand 6) Other.
1) Sindhi
2) Urdu
3) Pashto
4) Punjabi
5) Balochi
6) other
1) Home
2) Streets
3) Working area 4) Dont know
5) Not applicable
1) One to three 2) Four to five
3) Seven to nine 4) Ten and above
1) Yes
2) No 3) Dont Know
1) Yes
2) No
3) Divorced
4) Dont Know
1. Yes
2. No
1) Islam
2) Hinduism 3) Christianity
4) Baghri 5) Ood
6) Other
nd
1) By Birth
2) 2 year
3) Three years
4) Four years
5) Five to six year. 6) Seven to nine years
7) Ten and above years
1) One to three 2) Four to five
3) Seven to nine 4) Ten and above
1) No
2) Yes
1) No 2) Yes 3) Already living with
them.
1) No
2) Yes
2.1
What is/was your familys economic

status?
2.2
What are your income sources?
2.3
Do you get money from your parents?
2.4
Where do you use your income?
2.5
Who helps you for getting food?
2.6
1) Rich 2) Poor 3) Middle 4) Very Poor

1) Garbage Picking 2) Begging
3) Selling things
4) Car washing
5) Hawker
6) Vendor
7) Thieving
1) No
2) Yes
1) Food
2) Drugs
3) Friends
4) Family 5) Support
6) Saving .
1) Parents 2) Service
3) Providers
4) Friends 5) Any special
1) Yes
2) No
3. Social Behaviors and Socio-psychological Problems

3.1
With whom do you feel most comfortable?
3.2
Do you have any beloved? Male/Female
3.3
What do you do when you feel angry?
3.4
3.5
Do you ever provide sex in exchange for

affection and your other needs?
Are you as physically strong as everyone
else?
3.6
What is your mode of recreation?
3.7
Where do you spend most of your time?
4. Risk Behaviors and Drug Use Problems

219
1) Parents
2) Careers
4) Teachers 5) Employer
1) Yes 2) No 3) Male
1) Fight 2) Tolerate
4) Take drugs/ smoke
1) Yes
2) No
1) Yes
2) No
3) Friends
6) Sexual Partner
4) Female
3) Try to sleep
5) cut, wounds
1) Electronic Games 2) Films 3) Cricket

4) Hotelling
5) Gambling
6) Singing
7) Dancing
8) Swimming
9) Take drugs
1) Service Centers 2) With Friends
3) Hotel
4) Sleeping
5) Film
6) Cinema
7) other
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
Do you have any sexual relation?

Do street children get hassled by the
police or others because of their substance
use?
Have you/street children ever been in fight
during or after using substances?
Do you/street children feel guilty about
using substances?
Have you/street children ever been treated
for a substance problem?
Do you like to take Liquids and drugs like
Alcohol, Hashish, Marijuana Leaf,
Opium?
Do you like to take Pan, Ghutka, and
Cigarette?
Do you like to take Glue, Petrol and other
drugs like these?
1) Yes
2 ) No
1) Yes
2 ) No
1) Yes
2 ) No
1) Yes
2 ) No
1) Yes
2 ) No
1) Yes
2 ) No
1) Yes
2 ) No
1) Yes
2 ) No
5. Health and Awareness Problems

5.1
How is your health since last 5 years?
5.2
Do you suffer from any allergies?

Do you suffer from any long term
disability?
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
1) Good
3) Weak
1) Yes
2) Suffering diseases
4) Healthy
2) No
3) Dont know
1) Yes
2) No
1) Masturbation
3) Homosexual
What is your sexual practice?

Do you feel any stress after your body
development/changes?
Are you worried about growth in size and
appearance?
6. Education, Skills, Trainings and Rehabilitation

220
1) Yes
2 ) No
1) Yes
2 ) No
3) Dont know
2) Heterosexual
4) Bestiality
6.1
How long have you attended school?
6.2
What special skills do you need to work

or to earn money?
6.3o
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
6.8

activity?
Do you have any training for a job? If so,
where?
Would you consider going back to
school? (same for non-formal education)
Do you need any type of support for
future planning?
How can you protect yourself and stop
taking substances and drugs?
Can we stop the increasing number of
children like you?
1) Primary to Middle
2) Matriculation to Inter
3) Technical
4) Nil
1).Computer Repairing
2) Mobile Phone Repairing
3).Electronic
4) Any other
1) Yes
2 ) No
1) Yes
2 ) No
1) Yes
2 ) No
1) Yes
2 ) No
1) Yes
2 ) No
1) Yes
2 ) No
Appendix (B)
221
Note for participants in FGD.
Researcher:
Amir Ali Abro

Dr. Ghulam Muhammad

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS AT LARKANA & KARACHI
Welcome!
I would like to thank you for participating in todays discussion. There are several things indeed you
can do for helping me doing a good job relating to my PhD thesis.
Please share your opinions openly and candidly. Please be frank in sharing what we perhaps do not
want to hear.
Be respectful of others views and allow everyone a chance to respond. Its important that we hear
from all the participants.
Since we are having audio-recording todays conversation, please try to speak loudly and clearly so
that the recorder can pick up your comments.
We have only two hours to get through a full list of questions so there may be a time when I ask you
to summarize or shorten your remarks. If I cut you off or change the subject, it is not because I am
not interested in what you have to say. It means we have to move forward to get through all of the
questions.
According to our discussion topic our major discussion will on the following problems and we shall
discuss them number wise.
1. Demographic Problems of Street Children

222
2. Socio-Economic and Resources Problems of Street Children

3. Social Behaviors and Socio-psychological Problems of Street Children
4. Risk behaviors and Drug Use Problems of Street Children
5. Health and Awareness Problems of Street Children
6. Education, Skills, Training and Rehabilitation of Street Children
Thanks
Im sure to days gathering will be helpful for me and my research work.
Amir Ali Abro
223
Appendix (C)
Discussions Guidelines for FGD
Researcher:
Amir Ali Abro

Dr. Ghulam Muhammad

Discussions Guidelines for FGD

1. What is the definition of term Street children according to your point of view?
2. We see following types of children on the street which are the proper street children according
to you i.e.
i. Children who work with parents on the streets, live with them.
ii. Children who work individually on the streets at day time, and they are supervised by
family members and live with family.
iii. Children, who work on the streets, live in the groups under supervision at (Dera) and keep
in contact with their families.
iv. Children who live on the street, work on the street most of the time, and having no or rare
contacts with their families.
3. Can we define the street children according to cultural and economic conditions, political and
social situations of the area, if yes, then what is about universal definition of street children?
4. What is the approximate number of street children in your city/ country?
5. Why Street children leave their home?
6. What major risks do street children have on the streets.
7. What problems of adolescence do these street children experience?
8. Is survival sex/prostitution in street children is common and what are the practices of safe sex
methods in street children?
224
9. Is testing for HIV and other Sexually Transmissible Diseases (STDs) offered for street children?
10. Where do street children go for advice or treatment related to substance use?
11. What is their percentage who wants to join school or any formal or informal education?
12. Please suggest how we can stop the increasing number of street children, and how can we save
the street children from risks faced by street children in community.
225

Problems of Street Children A Sociological Study of Urban Sindh PHD Thesis-Libre

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THE PROBLEMS OF STREET CHILDREN:

A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF URBAN SINDH

Dr. GHULAM MUHAMMAD BURFAT

The Most Gracious and

Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Burfat

I am very grateful to my Research Supervisor Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Burfat without

Definition of the street children

Background of the study

Significance of the study

Some major factors which lead to the phenomenon

1.5.1. Economic and Social Factors

1.5.2. Cultural Factors

1.5.3. Social Factors

1.5.4. Dysfunctional Families

1.5.7. The Media

1.5.8. Peers Influence

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.6.2. Specific Objectives

1.7.1. Independent Variables

1.7.2. Dependent Variables

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND

2.1.2. Conflict Theory

2.1.3. Symbolic Interactionism

3.2.1. Urban sindh

Method of data collection

Interview schedule for street children

Focus group discussions

3.11. Ethical considerations

3.12. Gaining consent

PRESENTATION AND DATA ANALYSIS

Frequency Distribution Tables

4.3.3 Demographic Information

Socio Economic and Resources problems

4.3.5 Social Behavior and Socio Psychological Problems

4.3.6 Risk Behaviors and Drug use Problems

Health and Awareness Problems

Education, Skills, Trainings and Rehabilitation

Qualitative Analysis/Group Discussions

Results and Discussions

The Demographic Problems

4.6.2. Socio - Economical and resources Problems

4.6.3. Social Behaviours and Socio- psychological problems

4.6.4. Risk behaviors and Drug Use Problems

4.6.5. Health and Awareness Problems

4.6.6. Education, Skills, Trainings and Rehabilitation

SUMMARY, RESULTS, CONCLUSION

SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER STUDIES

5.2.1. Demographic Information & Problems

5.2.2. Socio Economic and Resources problems

5.2.3. Social Behavior and Socio psychological Problems

5.2.4. Risk Behaviors and Drug use Problems

5.2.5. Health and awareness problems

5.2.6. Education, skills, Trainings and Rehabilitation

5.4.1. For Government/State

5.4.2. For Non Profit Organizations

5.4.3. For Print and Electronic Media

5.4.4. For Parents

5.4.5. For Street Children

Limitations of the study and Suggestions for Further Studies.

City wise distribution

Respondents working condition

Respondents Birth Province