DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2018.v06i02.006

Pages: 317-325

The article answers the question of what survival mechanisms aid the life of street children to continue living in the street in Nakuru Town. The phenomenon of street children in urban centres globally has been increasing at an alarming rate. However, the efforts to resolve it have failed partly due to lack of adequate knowledge by the concerned stakeholders on the strategies to employ because of the street children way of life in the street. Children in the streets face many challenges as the life they lead is largely inhumane with unending abuse and suffering that jeopardizes their lives. Hence, it is important to understand the reasons why they resist rehabilitation and choose to continue with suffering in the streets. Limited studies have been done on the factors that make street children resist rehabilitation and choose to continue with hard life in the streets. The study established that street children are able to earn money through various activities that they engage in. They are also obliged to pay membership fee, which assures them of security and territorial accessibility. The group-members look for food brings them to the base where the base commander administers equitable distribution. The study recommends that interventions targeting rehabilitation of street children should understand the social economic and coping mechanisms of street children to street life in order to apply appropriate intervention.