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show profound increases for older street children for those whose homelessness lasts for
more than a year.
They propose that street life is inherently "criminogenic" in that it provides both
opportunities for criminal offending as well as the necessity to sustain existence. The fact
that the youth's participation in crime escalates after a certain period on the street points
to the probability that crime may be adopted as a "conditional survival strategy" for
coping with the economic and social strains that characterize homelessness (McCarthy
and Hagan 1991).
2.4 Young women in the street
Davis (1999) provides a study that explores the process of how girls are usually forced
into the streets. The study consisted of a case study comprising of 105 young women in
Sydney, Australia in 1992. Fifty percent of these young women were living in a shelter at
the time of the interview while 14% were located in a girls’ detention centre. The average
number of shelters each girl has gone through implies that homelessness among girls is a
serious matter because even in a rich country such as Australia, the problem exists. The
following sections provide the certain factors that could be considered reasons why
young women are in the streets according to the study of Davis (1999).
2.4.1 Family history
Family histories reveal several significant themes. First, family breakdown through death,
divorce or separation is common. Less than one-third grew up with an intact family,
almost 20% because of a parent's death, and 50% because of divorce. Additionally,
another 14% had lost siblings through death. Chronic disease also affected about 25% of
the girls' parents or siblings, with many of the illnesses occurring when they were in
infancy or throughout their childhood.
Second, parental employment patterns show that mothers or stepmothers were much
more likely to have professional or white-collar jobs, compared to fathers or stepfathers.
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