[Opinions of Honduran adults about street children]

The purpose of this study was to determine the beliefs parents of working children and business people have about two types of street children, those who work on the street and those who are abandoned and live on the street. In 1991 forty-nine parents of working children and 49 business people from Tegucigalpa were administered a questionnaire listing 36 beliefs about the lifestyles of abandoned and working children and causes of children adopting these ways of life. Among parents of working children, education was significantly lower and mothers were more likely to be single women than in the business people sample. There were many beliefs about the lifestyles of street children on which both groups agreed, but parents of working children held the youngsters more accountable for choosing to work or live in the street. Parents also seemed to be more aware of the health risks to both types of street children than business people who felt working children were at less risk than abandoned children. Business people perceived abandoned children to be victims of single parenthood and solvent abuse. A deeper exploration of the views held by families of street children may assist those seeking to help them.