Master's Thesis of Social Work
Abstract
Given the extent and variety of issues and problems of societies, the governments inevitably sought help from non-governmental organizations so that they could solve these issues and problems with each other's help. Among these cases, we can point out the lack of empowerment of street children in the society, considering the position of children in the society as the future makers of the society, in this research, an attempt is made to examine and compare the performance of non-governmental organizations in empowering street children.
The statistical community of this research consists of two non-governmental organizations in the field of street children (Nasser Khosrow Children's House and Shush Children's House), which is based on a survey method and with the help of statistical tests such as Levene's test and Pearson's correlation coefficient. I have studied this relationship. In this research, resource theory and theories of empowerment including Allsop and Hinson, Naila Kabir, Friedman, Rocha and Roland were used.
According to the results obtained from the statistical data analysis of 200 questionnaires of street children aged 7 to 18, the performance of two non-governmental organizations Naser Khosrow Children's Home and Shush Children's Home in the four dimensions of support services, health, education and job creation (independent variables) on the empowerment of street children (empowerment dimensions) psychological and social empowerment) was investigated and the research findings showed that there is a correlation between the provision of support, health, education and employment services and the empowerment of street children. Also, in the comparison of these two institutions, the hypothesis of the difference between the two organizations in providing support services and its impact on the empowerment of street children was rejected, but the difference between the two organizations in the provision of health, education and employment services and its impact on the empowerment of street children was confirmed.
Key words: empowerment, street children, performance evaluation, The role of social workers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Introduction
One of the serious harms that threatens our society is the increasing number of street children. Street children as one of the harmful social phenomena, caused by countless factors including biological factors (such as physical, mental and motor disabilities), family factors (for example, unsuccessful marriages, incorrect educational methods, economic poverty, harassment of children, the existence of broken and disordered families, illiteracy and lack of parenting skills, lack of emotional support for children, existence of discrimination), economic and social factors at the macro level. (such as conflict and class divide in society, mismanagement and incorrect economic and social policies, lack or weakness of support institutions, migration, marginalization), political and natural events (such as wars, revolutions, droughts, floods), however, it should be noted that the phenomenon of street children and other social harms that threaten their lives are not single-cause phenomena and are rooted in economic, social, political, and cultural disturbances and have a combined state
After paying attention to the causes of this phenomenon, paying attention to the protection of the rights of children, especially street children and especially children who have been exposed to injuries caused by crises and social disturbances, is a human-social duty that is the responsibility of each individual, organization and institution. In this regard, the importance of non-governmental organizations that work in the field of these children is twofold. Undoubtedly, without paying attention to the empowerment of children and investment and planning in the matter of education, health, employment and improvement of their living standards, there is no hope of achieving a better world. 1-2 Statement of the problem Rapid population growth and increasing urbanization due to the inherent changes in it leads to the spread of social damage, especially in developing countries due to the lack of efficient and correct planning. These damages can be considered as including all phenomena such as crime, crime, poverty and overpopulation. One of the major groups that are seriously harmed in this field are children, among the most vulnerable among them, which has increased with rapid population growth and increasing urbanization (which has been accompanied by migration to big cities and the growth of urban fringes) and their issues and problems have become serious social harm, are street children. So that many experts and governments of the world believe that the phenomenon of street children is one of the main challenges facing the world (Aklima, 2018: 239).Street children are a wide range of the most vulnerable and deprived children and adolescents, whose development process, adequacy and quality of life are associated with deficiencies, delays and fundamental threats due to social and environmental reasons. The relationships of these children with their families and social and educational institutions have been disturbed and turned into exclusionary, economic, harassing and exploitative relationships (Sebahani, 1379: 130).
Analysis of statistics in this field shows the depth of this social damage. It is said that "the number of street children around the world reaches 145 million people. This figure reaches more than 250 million children, most of whom live in the continents of Asia and Africa, if we include working children. The report of some organizations and institutions active in the field of street children also shows that in 2004, about 218 million working children, including domestic jobs and similar cases, were recorded, of which 126 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 work in dangerous jobs" (Daghaghele and Kalhor, 2013: 38).
In Iran, according to the statistics provided by the Iranian Statistics Center in 2015, One million and 700 thousand children are directly involved in work in Iran. Also, 915,000 children have been registered as homeless children, of which 98.9% are girls, and the welfare statistics in 2019 show that only 6,000 street children have been organized, whose ages are between 6 and 18 years, and most of them are 12 years old. The statistics of the Association for the Protection of Children's Rights also show that about one million and eight hundred thousand working children live in Iran (the internal newsletter of the Association for the Protection of Children's Rights, quoted by Bakshinia, 2018: 4). On average, 40% of these children are malnourished, 45% are in a poor condition, and 15% are in a miserable condition, and half of the teenagers in this group are addicted, while most of the children are the breadwinners of the family, a significant percentage of these children do not have birth certificates, and some of these children are busy in school from morning to noon and are forced to work in the afternoon, and are exposed to all kinds of harm and dangers (the internal newsletter of the Association for the Protection of Children's Rights, quoted by Nia Bakshi, 1388: 4).
According to the report of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Iran, from six years ago until now, the number of street children in Iran has increased five times, and according to the available statistics, there are the largest number of street children in Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz and Mashhad, respectively, and the main reason for this is the migration of these children alone or with large families to earn money and economic livelihood (2006 report of the Street Children's Fund in Iran, UNICEF). In 1384, Tehran province with 13.7%, followed by Khorasan province with 8.76% of admission, respectively, had the highest number of street children, and the lowest admission was from the children of Kohkiloyeh and Boyer Ahmad provinces (Farjad, 1388: 47). The number of street children is increasing rapidly, as even some officials related to street children have mentioned it. Rezapour, the director general of the Welfare Organization, in a conversation with the South Khorasan newspaper, stated that the number of street children in Tehran province has increased four times in 2013 compared to the statistics of 1990[1]. Therefore, the existence of street children as an undeniable issue is important and can be condemned. Also, considering the extent and severity of the social harms of street children in third world countries, especially our country, and considering the many duties of governments and sometimes the poor performance of government organizations, along with various non-governmental organizations that play their supporting roles by giving various types of low-interest loans and grants. They serve the injured and vulnerable people, many non-governmental organizations have come to help governments with the aim of empowering street children to reduce social harm with a greater focus. Considering the serious task that these organizations have in view of their existential philosophy, therefore, in this research, an attempt has been made to compare the performance of non-governmental organizations in the field of empowering street children, to provide a basis for getting to know these organizations more. It was considered a serious and important social damage and students visited several children's homes, the collection of these events became an incentive to conduct this research.