Local literature

In this section, an attempt is made to understand the critical and detailed reviews of literature on street
children. Available literature is arranged in a chronological order from 2015 to 2018 to facilitate quick
reference.

According to Atty. Manuel J. Laserna Jr. The problems of street children and juvenile
delinquents are much related social problems. To survive in the street you almost have to
become delinquent. Exposed to criminal elements these children are vulnerable to prostitution,
drug addiction and pushing and commission of crimes. Most street children have become
juvenile delinquents either out of necessity (because they are poor) or through force (because
of the syndicates). Young people in the streets are also criminalized and stigmatized for no
obvious crime committed. So many times the streets were cleaned up at the start of the tourist
season and as a consequence many street children were jailed because of vagrancy laws.

A large problem arose from the treatment accorded to the juveniles when they were placed in
jails. Most juvenile delinquents were not segregated from the hardened adult criminals in the
biggest jails in the Philippines, such as in the Muntinlupa jail outside Manila, so that after their
release they went back in the street with more knowledge of crime. This severely hampered the
social integration of the youth offenders after they left prison. Chances were high that these
young offenders would become chronic delinquents and eventually hardened criminals.

Poverty and Other Predisposing Factors (presenting facts and myths in the area of what factors, such
as poverty and peer pressure, have presented challenges to children, predisposing them toward at-risk
status) A challenge we have when working with the street children is that we label them as homeless,
destitute, indigent or working poor. Placing labels on these people raises challenges on the part of the
recipient and the giver. For the giver, labels can place a permanent mentality on the conditions at hand
which have led to the destitution. For the recipient, instead of trying to reach for higher opportunities,
he gives up easily, with the excuse, “it won’t make any difference. After all, I am poor. I will always be
poor. I am bad. It’s in my heredity”

The contextual viewpoint is essential to understand how a child tries to integrate her family, her
community, and her culture with her own emerging identity. Scavenger children single out going to
school as the one consistent positive experience in their lives. It is the only institution that provides a
counterculture to the life of depravity and violence in their work, their families and their community. In
their own words, school provides skills and feelings of competence, peace and enjoyment, and
opportunities to realize future goals. Education is thus also a major force in the scavenger children's
lives. It is the only institution that protects them from a culture of violence, and supports their deeper
need to grow in the right direction.
Foreign literature
Duncklee Aug 31, 2015
Laws are in existence to keep people safe and out of harm’s way. Ideally,
people will not be injured physically, financially, or emotionally if people followed all the
laws.Realistically, not all laws are followed and officials resort to creating laws to combat
lawlessness. As a wayto reduce juvenile crime, cities throughout the United States have
imposed curfew laws for minors. Thegoal of these laws is to deter the youth from committing
crimes and while this goal is admirable, theselaws may no longer be necessary or even
effective.

Jennifer L. Doleac, December 29, 2015. Juvenile curfews aim to reduce crime
throughincapacitation: if we tell young people to go home earlier at night, we hope they will
have less opportunityto get into trouble. Juvenile curfews are extremely common in the United
States-most large cities havethem, as do many smaller cities and towns. They typically apply to
those under age 18, and thepunishment for breaking curfew is usually a fine. Despite their
ubiquity, juvenile curfews are extremelycontroversial, mostly because of concerns that police
disproportionately target racial minorities whenenforcing curfew laws

Local study

Foreign study