Oppong Asante Kwaku
Department of Psychology, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2019 Jun 18;9(6):64. doi: 10.3390/bs9060064.
Several studies conducted on street youth have focused on causes of homelessness, their engagement in risky sexual behaviours and the prevalence of STIs, including HIV/AIDS. Although homeless youth are considered resilient, sparse literature exists on factors that promote resilience in this vulnerable group. Using a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 purposively selected homeless children and youth (with a mean age of 14 years) from the Central Business District of Accra, Ghana. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings showed that a strong religious belief, sense of humour, engagement in meaningful social interactive activities, reciprocal friendship, adherence to cultural norms and support from community-based organizations were identified as factors that help homeless youth cope with the multiple challenges of street life. Strengthening such protective factors could help ameliorate the impact of adverse conditions of these street youth.
针对街头青少年开展的多项研究聚焦于无家可归的原因、他们参与危险性行为的情况以及性传播感染（包括艾滋病毒/艾滋病）的流行率。尽管无家可归的青少年被认为具有复原力，但关于促进这一弱势群体复原力的因素的文献却很少。采用定性研究方法，对从加纳阿克拉中央商务区有目的地挑选出的16名无家可归儿童和青少年（平均年龄14岁）进行了半结构化访谈。采用主题分析法对数据进行分析。研究结果表明，强烈的宗教信仰、幽默感、参与有意义的社会互动活动、相互的友谊、遵守文化规范以及来自社区组织的支持被确定为有助于无家可归青少年应对街头生活多重挑战的因素。加强这些保护因素有助于减轻这些街头青少年不利状况的影响。
