Family Medicine Unit, Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Clinical Sciences and Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; and Department of Family Medicine, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria; and Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
S Afr Fam Pract (2004). 2023 Dec 14;65(1):e1-e11. doi: 10.4102/safp.v65i1.5774.
Children roaming the streets estimated at 1 in 10 by a 2021 United Nation Children's Funds (UNICEF) report is a growing problem, in cities of lower- and middle-income African countries. Studies of street children with no family ties abound, but there is a paucity of studies on children on the street who exist within families and return home daily. We explored the family dynamics of children on the streets of Ibadan, emphasising family structure, resources and relationships.
Using an exploratory design based on a qualitative approach 53 participants were interviewed, including children on the streets, parental figures, child-welfare officers and street shop owners. Participants were selected from streets in the five urban local government areas of Ibadan, Nigeria. Recorded data were transcribed, and framework analysis was performed.
The family dynamics included family structural problems, poor family resources and poor parent-child relationships. The family structural problems included: broken homes, large families and ambivalence around polygamy as subthemes. Family resources comprised: poor economic resources, poor social resources, educational challenges, cultural ambivalence and spiritual backdrops. The family relationships patterns included: poor adaptability, economic-oriented partnership, poor growth support, poor emotional connection and poor family bonding.
The dynamics driving a family's choice for child streetism in Ibadan, mostly to hawk, are devaluation of family life, parenting irresponsibility, and poor filial relationship, underscored by economic constraints and socio-cultural decadence. The results of this research buttress the need for family-level interventions to forestall the escalating phenomenon of child streetism in Ibadan, Nigeria.Contribution: This research highlights the family dynamics of children on the streets, and buttresses family-level interventions are necessary to forestall escalating child-streetism in Ibadan, Nigeria.
联合国儿童基金会（UNICEF）2021 年的一份报告显示，在中低收入非洲国家的城市中，街头流浪儿童估计每 10 个儿童中就有 1 个，这是一个日益严重的问题。有很多关于没有家庭关系的流浪儿童的研究，但对于那些有家庭且每天回家的流浪儿童的研究却很少。我们探讨了伊巴丹街头儿童的家庭动态，强调了家庭结构、资源和关系。
本研究采用基于定性方法的探索性设计，共采访了 53 名参与者，包括街头儿童、父母形象、儿童福利官员和街头店主。参与者是从尼日利亚伊巴丹五个城市地方政府区的街道上选择的。记录的数据被转录，并进行了框架分析。
家庭动态包括家庭结构问题、家庭资源匮乏和亲子关系不良。家庭结构问题包括：破碎的家庭、大家庭以及对一夫多妻制的矛盾态度等子主题。家庭资源包括：经济资源匮乏、社会资源匮乏、教育挑战、文化矛盾和精神背景。家庭关系模式包括：适应性差、以经济为导向的伙伴关系、成长支持差、情感联系差和家庭关系差。
伊巴丹家庭选择让孩子流浪街头（主要是为了兜售商品）的动力是家庭生活贬值、父母不负责任以及亲子关系不良，这主要是由经济限制和社会文化衰落造成的。这项研究的结果支持了在伊巴丹进行家庭层面干预的必要性，以防止尼日利亚伊巴丹不断升级的儿童流浪现象。
本研究强调了流浪儿童的家庭动态，并支持家庭层面的干预措施是防止尼日利亚伊巴丹儿童流浪现象不断升级的必要措施。
