Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Gender Differences In Brazilian Street Youth’S Family Circumstances And Experiences On The Street, Marcela Raffaelli, Silvia H. Koller, Caroline T. Reppold, Mateus B. Kuschick, Fernanda M. B. Krum, Denise R. Bandeira, Carson Simões

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: It has been proposed that homeless street girls are more likely to be from dysfunctional families and exhibit psychological distress than homeless street boys, reflecting cultural factors that result in differential norms for male and female behavior. The current analysis examined whether male and female street youth in a mid-sized Brazilian city differed in their family circumstances and day-to-day functioning on the street.

Methods: The opportunity sample consisted of 33 male (mean age 14.3, range 10-17 years) and 33 female (mean age 14.6, range 11-18 years) street youth who participated in a sentence completion task and structured interview examining …