1. Objectifs

Intentions :
Comprendre comme ces adolescents se perçoivent et perçoivent leur environnement, non de la position d’être un enfant de la rue, mais du point de vue de l’adolescent et de découvrir le processus d’enrôlement dans ce phénomène d’enfant de la rue.

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
98 youth (67 male and 31 female) living on the streets in Toronto, Montreal and Halifax. Interviews with 42 service providers in each location.

Instruments :
Guide d’entrevues structurées

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

« The majority of literature concerning street youth has focused upon etiology and street culture with little attention placed upon the personal experiences of ’being’ a street youth including feelings, experiences and sense of identity and meaning construction. By viewing street life as a career, [the author has] attempted to shed light upon attitudes and experiences of adolescents as they move through the stages of street life. This analysis highlights how the actor ’mediates the process of becoming’ (Matza, 1969). [...] Engagement and disengagement are crafted by the individual as he or she makes sense of environment. In other words, the actor plays the pivotal role in constructing identity throughout the stages of becoming both a ’street youth’ and an ’ex-street youth’. » (p. 70)