2017/01/28 by Somidha Ray
Health Professions · Psychology · #Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health #Homelessness and Social Issues #Migration, Health and Trauma
paper · doi:10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2560
openalex publication_date 2017/01/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
The research project entitled – “A Street Child’s Perspective: A Grounded Theory Study of How Street Child Experience and Cope with Grief,” seeks to understand and explain how street children experience and cope with grief. Grief is multi-faceted and highly subjective. However, most street children, sharing the same contexts and backgrounds show some commonality in their experiences and coping styles. The paper attempts to understand grief as it is subjectively experienced by street children. The research employed qualitative techniques – In-Depth Interviewing, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and field notes. The researcher contacted an NGO and through them, gained access to street shelters. The sample comprised of 18 street children - 9 boys; 9 girls, selected through purposive and snowball sampling. After the data was collected using the aforementioned methods, Constructivist Grounded Theory was subsequently used to analyze the data. The results emphasize how similar backgrounds – familial, educational, religious – and shared experiences have influenced expressions of grief and coping styles. Most street children come from broken families and are migrants; they lack enhanced level of literacy; and religion defines their existence – all these factors coalesce to shape their perspective on grief. Street children experience grief collectively, rather than as separate individuals. Their coping styles reflect underlying common patterns that help them connect with one another and experience grief together.