Wandera Stephen, MA.
Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi
There is a
growing concern of street children in the cities and small towns today, who
because of their vulnerabilities cope by engaging in risk and dangerous
behaviors to themselves and the public, which involve raping, killing,
pick-pocketing, and mugging. While they stay all day begging for a live for a
living, the situation is different at night when new survival options have to be
exhibited, such as prostitution, waylaying pass-bys to conduct robberies and
murder, and to sustain those activities further through substance abuse. Their
existence is not by accident or their own making, but a product of global,
regional and national development wrongs. By the end of
2010, there were 64 million people living in extreme poverty. In 2008 and 2009,
the problem hunger was registered highest (MDG Report, 2010). Being the face of
the country, the city tells more about the country. The presence of
street-beggars on streets misrepresents the country, as much as it causing
crime fears among tourists. It is also
surprising to note the increasing presence of street-beggars; why they are
attracted or pressured into it, which makes it necessary to study the
vulnerabilities, not only on the part of the street children, but on the nation
and the rest of the world. This breaks down the research topic to show the
details of how the variables influence in one another. It’s a magnification of
the topic to discover the underlying components of the study. The framework
shows the conceptual status of the things being studied, and their relationship
to each other. Pre-specified research questions are often accompanied by a
clear conceptual framework, and developing and describing that framework can
help in clarifying the research questions (Punch, 2000). The study focused on contribution of new knowledge on beggars to
the academia and general readership. It will generate policy guidelines for
policy implementers to adopt in efforts to protect child beggars, women
beggars, vulnerable families, and the general public from the wider costs of
street-begging and the increasing indulgence in it; so that they can live a
purposeful and productive lives to their families and country.
