Sociology 2267A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 13: Chronic Poverty, Truancy, Deinstitutionalisation
26 Apr 2018
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Chapter 13-street involved youth in Canada
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
11:06 AM
Introduction
• Street-involved youth experience a decrease in rights, opportunities, and social supports, are at
higher risk of developing mental health problems, becoming involved in survival/obligatory sex,
developing physical health concerns, getting involved in criminal activity and using drugs
Defining street-involved youth vs. homeless adults
• Street-involved youth =young people 25 years of age or younger who do not have a safe home or
are under housed; have been forced to leave their family of origin (throwaway); who have run
away from their home without the consent of their parents or guardian; or who left foster or
group care placements (runaway)
• Homelessness for adults is described first and foremost as a housing and poverty issue
• Street-involved youth have experienced many of the same individual risk factors associated with
the adult homeless population, including high rates of childhood maltreatment, child welfare
improvement, mental health concerns, incomplete education and drug use
Typologies of street-involved youth
• Youth who experiment with street life by occasionally running away or practicing truancy
• Children who run away from home to escape maltreatment or harm
• Young people who have spent years living on the streets and are firmly entrenched in the street
lifestyle
• Life-cycle model
o Proposes a series of stages that youth encounter on the street and includes:
• Initial engagement in street life
• Stage where youth become comfortable with street life
• And period of crisis during which some youths may transition off streets
• Many youth who exit streets may become re-involved
Numbers of street-involved youth
• No accurate estimate for Canada
• 1.6 million in US are street involved
• Homeless youth =youth who either have left or have been urged to leave home with the full
knowledge of legal guardians, they have no alternative home in which to live
• Several critical issues to consider when planning an estimate of the number of street-involved
youth:
o What criteria determine street involvement
o How should street-involved youth be contracted
o Should shelter numbers be used as a basis for prediction of the uncounted street involved
population who do not use shelters or services?
Perspective on street-involved youth
• Prior to 1960s: seen as delinquents
• During 1960s: counter-culture movement saw an increased number of middle-class teens living on
city streets
• With the end of the 20th century and beginning of 21st, structural factors now play an increasing
role in our understanding of street-involved youth
o Increase in HIV/AIDS, chronic poverty, inadequate housing, unemployment,
deinstitutionalization, and the challenged and overworked systems of child welfare all have
a critical impact on street-involved youth in Canada
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Document Summary
Street-involved youth experience a decrease in rights, opportunities, and social supports, are at higher risk of developing mental health problems, becoming involved in survival/obligatory sex, developing physical health concerns, getting involved in criminal activity and using drugs. Street-involved youth have experienced many of the same individual risk factors associated with the adult homeless population, including high rates of childhood maltreatment, child welfare improvement, mental health concerns, incomplete education and drug use. Life-cycle model: proposes a series of stages that youth encounter on the street and includes: Stage where youth become comfortable with street life: and period of crisis during which some youths may transition off streets, many youth who exit streets may become re-involved. Increase in hiv/aids, chronic poverty, inadequate housing, unemployment, deinstitutionalization, and the challenged and overworked systems of child welfare all have a critical impact on street-involved youth in canada: ecological perspective.
