Are Colombian Street Children Neglected? The Contributions of Ethnographic and Ethnohistorical Approaches to the Study of Children

Data from ethnographic notes, ethnohistorical documents, and standardized testsgiven to Colombian street children illustrated that the children functioned with adequate mental health. Using cross-cultural comparisons, including North American "runaways," it was shown that street children lived as nomadic entertainers in a politically volatile sedentary society. They were abused by society because they challenged the concept of "family" depicted by the dominant social class. Adolescence was shown to be a developmental period defined by historical and societal phenomena.