This research was conducted at Sunshine in Trinidad and Tobago and highlights the voices of seventeen street children. Although they live at Sunshine many of them continue to frequent the streets. Published research indicates that there exists a paucity of information about the lives and experiences of these children. It is important that…

Sexual minority youth are more likely to run away from home or experience homelessness, leaving them at increased risk of victimization and negative health outcomes. In this study, the authors use a developmental perspective that considers both vulnerable beginnings in families and the risky trajectories that follow to explore the connections…

To explore sexually exploited youths' perspectives of how street outreach workers can effectively provide outreach and connections to services, we conducted qualitative interviews with 13 female participants, ages 14 to 22, in a Midwest U.S. city. Participants reported multiple types of exploitation, most first exploited by age 13, plus substance…

This narrative study is based on stories told by African American adolescents experiencing homelessness. It offers insights into their lived experiences and describes the challenges faced in negotiating the urban education system. African American youth are disproportionately represented in the adolescent homeless demographic. "Unheard and…

This article aims to contribute to understandings of youth homelessness and subjectivity by analysing identity construction in terms of young people's negotiation of the structural and institutional environment of youth homelessness. I suggest that while existing literature on this topic concentrates mainly on micro-social encounters, the…

The effectiveness of five tracking strategies (collateral contacts, Internet databases, driver's records, letters, and community visits) used in attempting to locate homeless and housed adolescents 4.5 years after they were first contacted was examined and compared. The study sample comprised 401 adolescents (252 homeless and 149 matched housed)…

This study aimed at examining the predictors of initiation into drug injection among street youth using social cognitive theory framework. A prospective cohort study based on semi-annual interviews was carried out. Psychosocial determinants referred to avoidance of initiation. Other potential predictors were: sociodemographic characteristics,…

Youth-sensitive policies are gradually gaining recognition in Africa. The release of the recent publication "Children in Ghana" by the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC) and UNICEF-Ghana attests to the value the country places on young people's perspectives. Guided by Richardson's conceptual framework on sexual citizenship,…

Homeless young women experience high levels of stress, challenges to mental health, substance use and abuse, and a lack of housing or of secure housing. This article explores one of the findings from a longitudinal qualitative study designed to follow homeless young women for a 2-year period as they make efforts to transition out of homelessness.…

This paper draws on a series of 45 interviews with recipients of social assistance between the ages of 16 and 24 to offer a critical assessment of the language of "risk" and "resilience." After briefly tracing the development of this vocabulary and approach in youth research, this paper argues in line with existing critiques (Kelly 2000, te Riele…

This article reports on interview data gathered from 27 young people involved with a street-level service for young people considered "at risk" of diagnosis of personality disorder. Interviews with a self-selecting sample of young people explored the events that led to their initial contact with the service. Using Silverman's twin-track…

The purpose of this study was to determine the benefit of an art program to children and youth living in an emergency housing facility. Factors leading to homelessness are explored and examples of the positive influence of art for children experiencing crisis and trauma are presented. Through action research, an art program was implemented where…

Although lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth with a history of homelessness (running away or being evicted from their homes by parents) report more psychological symptoms than homeless heterosexual peers, it is unclear whether symptoms are due to homelessness, given the absence of a non-homeless comparison group. This study longitudinally…

This mixed methods study investigated the impact of learning about homelessness on the civic development of privileged adolescents. Pre-post surveys, classroom observations, and qualitative interviews revealed that the participating adolescents developed a more complex understanding of the factors that contribute to homelessness; however, this…

Travelers are a migratory subgroup of homeless youth who may be especially prone to engaging in risky behavior. This study compared the substance use and sexual behavior of young homeless travelers and non-travelers to evaluate the extent and possible sources of travelers' increased risk. Data came from face-to-face interviews with 419 homeless…