Street Youth in Southern Africa

The majority of people in southern Africa today are youth, some of whom spend much of their time on streets. Structural adjustment programmes, factors associated with modernisation and AIDS have all led to an increase in the number of young people who are on the streets. Street youth are a diverse group, although the distinction between youth on the street, youth of the street and abandoned youth does not make much sense in southern Africa. This is due to the fact that most children work and these groups do not have distinct lifestyles. Street youth have attracted attention because of the problems that they face as they interact with wider society. These problems include negative perceptions by the public, health problems, deviance, and psychopathological symptoms. This article looks at the various policy approaches towards street youth and concludes that a multi‐sectored and integrated approach is needed to deal with the phenomenon of street youth.