A multisource analysis of child streetism in Nigerian urban centres

Abstract

Motivation

Child streetism, a concept that describes the desperate situations of children working, living, or surviving on the street, is a complex phenomenon and one of the challenges posed by urban poverty worldwide.

Purpose

The increased study of street children in Nigerian urban centres over the last 10 years has seen the accumulation of evidence underpin new policies to address this worldwide problem. This article summarizes the determinants of child streetism, the risks associated with it (violence, street gangsterism, drugs and substance abuse), and the intervention policies and programmes for street children in Nigeria.

Methods and approach

The article is based on a textual narrative synthesis analysis of the relevant literature published between 2012 and 2023.

Findings

Analysis of the literature shows that street children engage in harmful and risky behaviours and are caught in a cycle of abuse and poverty. Interventions to help street children are generally hampered by a lack of understanding of the causes, impacts, situations, and general characteristics. The literature suggests that the most successful interventions typically capitalize on people's strengths, incorporate elements of participation, self-help, and mutual support, and take the least stigmatizing approach.

Policy implications

Child streetism is an expression of a complicated web of determinants that require structural solutions. Any policy addressing the problem of child streetism must consider the phenomenon as a product of several complex and interrelated factors. Of these, uncontrolled urbanization, poor urban planning and management, and poverty are the most obvious.