A Special Form of Child Abuse: Using Children for Begging and its Psychosocial Effects on the Behavior of Children

Minaye, Abebaw (2003) A Special Form of Child Abuse: Using Children for Begging and its Psychosocial Effects on the Behavior of Children. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

[img] PDF (A Special Form of Child Abuse: Using Children for Begging and its Psychosocial Effects on the Behavior of Children)
ABEBAW MINAYE.pdf - Accepted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only

Download (827kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

The main objectives of this study were to see the effects of using children for begging on the psychosocial development of children, reason for using children for begging, magnitude of using children for begging, and attitude of people towards using children for begging. In light of these objectives, 30 children used for begging by adults were selected and observed for a month using an observation rating scale, which consists of problems these children face. Seven of the subjects were lost after some time while 23 of them took the psychosocial tests prepared to gauge their cognitive, language and social competence. Chi-square test showed that the condition of the children is worse except for three of them. Of the 26 problems listed, many are very severe and only few are found to be less severe. Simple linear regression analysis and one-way analysis of variance showed that increased severity level in the problem is highly associated with lower performance in the psychosocial tests except for the phonemic discrimination test. Thirty comparison children were taken from Wereda 11, Kebele 14 Kindergarten. The tests were administered to both groups. A t-test of the mean comparison of the performance of the two groups showed that the abused children performed significantly below the comparison group in all the tests. In three days of observation around each of the ten churches and two mosques selected, and two days of observation of the ten streets, 2420 children were found being used for begging by 1812 adults of whom most were around the church. From the 1812 adults 1379 (76.10%) are normal, 145 (8.00%) blind, 220 (12.14%) old, and 60 (3.31%) physically handicapped. Interview with 30 adults who use children for begging indicated that they are accompanied by children for they have found it lucrative. Interview with 60 people selected arbitrarily showed that they are aware of the severity of the problem the majority arguing that adult beggars are accompanied by children to get better alms. The interviewees were also found to be cognizant of the consequences of this form of abuse on the physical, social, mental and psychological growth of the children. Finally an interview with heads of three organizations dealing with the protection of child rights and prevention of child abuse and neglect indicated that although much effort is made a lot remains to be done for, there is no organization that specifically deals with the prevention of this form of abuse. In summary from the findings one can concluded that children being used for begging are facing tremendous physical, cognitive, psychological and social problems, this in turn has a deleterious effect on the nations social progress for children are the foundation for a healthy future growth of a given community. Based on all these findings, the researcher recommends that emphasis should be given around religious institutions in order to curb the practice. Religious authorities need to excommunicate and preach against this practice. The government has to prohibit this practice through the police and justice courts by taking legal action against the exploiters. A specific organization responsible for checking this problem also needs to be established. Finally adult beggars accompanied by children should be trained with subsistence skills to help them look for a different means of life.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
Uncontrolled Keywords: Educational Psychology
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
L Education > L Education (General)
Divisions: Africana
Depositing User: Andriamparany Edilbert RANOARIVONY
Date Deposited: 02 Aug 2018 09:27
Last Modified: 02 Aug 2018 09:27
URI: http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/8236

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item