This article explores the ways in which young people across Canada attempt to exit street life. Through semistructured interviews with 128 young people and 50 service providers in six Canadian cities, the goal of the research was to identify the strategies and challenges of street exiting to inform service providers and policy makers as to the complexities and struggles involved in young people's experiences with street disengagement. Findings suggest that there are several interrelated dimensions to the exiting process including contemplation, motivation to change, securing help, transitioning from the street, changing daily routine, and redefining one's sense of self.
This article reports on a qualitative study exploring the intimate (non-work) relationships of women involved in the sex trade. Women working in the sex industry and intimate partners of women in the industry were interviewed in order to understand how intimate relationships are perceived as influencing the women's general health and well-being. The research suggests that intimate relationships can, and do, provide a space for feelings of inclusion and safety that are perceived as positive forces in women's general health and well-being. At the same time, however, feelings and experiences of exclusion (fuelled by the dominant stigmatizing discourse related to prostitution) can enter into intimate relationships, and are perceived as having a negative impact on the women's well-being, particularly their emotional health. Although there are attempts to keep the women's work separate from the intimate relationship, cross-over between the two spheres does occur. The research suggests that health care and service providers need to look beyond the women's working lives, and understand the relationships between work and home, as well as the ways in which intimate relationships can influence women's lives and health through both positive and negative forces.
Employing in-depth interviews with street children and service providers, and case analyses, this article explores programs and/or organizations in Toronto, Montreal, and Guatemala City that have been successful in attracting street children. Four keyelements regarding service delivery are proposed: provide direct and immediate basic services; build a sense of community that is safe and supportive; create linkages to mainstream culture; and, advocate for needed resources and/or better treatment.