The article, Understanding Street Culture: A Prevention Perspective by Jerry Fest, spoke of many issues that leads the nations young men and young women to end up on the streets. Most of these young men and young women ended up on the streets due to an unstable family life, broken family where mom or dad are addicts, some are victims of psychical, sexual, and/or mental abuse. These young men and young women find refuge in the streets, though the streets are no means a home for them this is the only place they see fit to stay ,where they believe they won’t become mere images of those that inflict such harsh circumstances upon them, even though some do become splitting images of there abusers.
The main goal of the article is to find ways to prevent youth from ending up on the streets. In order to do so, the article suggests that we must first understand the role that choices play in street involvement. According to the article youth choose the streets because it offers an environment where they can succeed, where they are accepted, and where they can feel some measure of control over their lives. They also perceive it as their best option for pursuing developmental needs. Secondly, the article suggest that we need to examine why family, school, and other systems are failing to meet these needs and are failing to be viewed as a more feasible option. Lastly, the article suggests that, if we want to intervene and successfully prevent youth from becoming involved in the culture of the streets we must focus on our behavior as much as we focus on their behavior. The Hawthorne effect and the Pygmalion effect suggest that opportunity for participation increases satisfaction and functioning, and people respond to high expectations. We must then, reach out and include ...