Why do people become beggars

They often pray for you or tell you that nice things will happen to you if you give them money, in hopes that hearing this will make you generous and give them money. Street beggers can be found in public spaces; typically, near busy stations, malls and restaurants.

Although some of these people may actually need money, most people begging for money on the street have made a profession out of it. However, the problem with beggers today is that they affect the people who actually need money as people become more and more reluctant to give money to the poor, as they are scared that they are being robbed or that they are giving money away to someone who does not need it but is doing it as a profession.

We work this street almost every day and each of us is expected to make at least LE But its series of hard-hitting posters telling the public not to hand over their cash to beggars have since been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The ASA said the posters, which claimed money given to beggars would be used on drugs, alcohol and fraud, reinforced "negative stereotypes" and were likely to cause offence. New figures released on Wednesday showed homelessness in England has risen to its highest level for nearly 10 years. With more people suffering from homelessness, the general public may feel they wish to give cash to those sleeping rough.

But London-based homeless charity Thames Reach said handing over money to beggars "can have fatal consequences". Communications manager Mike Nicholas said: "Most people begging are not individuals in temporary difficulties, but people who are dependent on a begging income. There is no need to beg on the streets in It can have fatal consequences.

Jerry was homeless for around nine years and used to beg to fund his drug habit. He now has his own flat and is clean from drugs after receiving help from Thames Reach. Following the Civil War, a number of southern states passed very specific laws that targeted newly freed slaves. The Civil War also resulted in many veterans suddenly finding themselves without employment, leaving them to wander the streets. Shortly after the war ended there was the first post-industrial economic depression in There were also immigrants from countries like Italy pouring into the United States, prompting more xenophobic fears about the motivations of these outsiders and whether they were contributing to the begging epidemic.

But Pimpare thinks classifying beggars as professionals can be dangerous because it suggests society should turn to harsher punishments for poverty. Pretty much every rich democracy on the planet has a lower poverty rate than we do.

The solution, he says, is to stop using myths that dole out blame to the impoverished, and look to other countries with greater welfare systems whose poverty and incarceration rates are lower than our own. Lorraine Boissoneault is a contributing writer to SmithsonianMag.

Begging involving children is a worldwide phenomenon [ 8 ]. Theoretically, earlier studies on child begging focused on the various faces of the phenomenon and its implication on the welfare of the child EC, [ 9 ] and were also divided about the causes of the phenomenon [ 8 ]. Other studies from different parts of the world have also unpacked the effects of the phenomenon and its future implications on countries where the practice is pervasive see [ 10 — 13 ]; Swanson, One key colonial footprint in Ghana today has been its pole position as the veritable country for child begging [ 7 , 14 , 15 ].

Conceptually, studies in Ghana have examined the root causes of child begging without providing empirical reasons for addressing the phenomenon see [ 14 , 15 , 18 ]. These studies further underscore the relative interest in the phenomenon in recent times and also highlight the complexities associated with it. On the streets of Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana, the activities of child beggars have assumed multinational and multicultural dimension.

It is mainly undertaken by children from diverse backgrounds—foreigners, indigenes, physically challenged, mentally fragile, and those without any form of deformity [ 6 ]. It is estimated that there are over 10, of such children in the city [ 6 ] and that these child beggars engage in the practice to fend for themselves or the family. Kejetia, Adum, Roman Hill, Central Market, Asafo Market, and the various heavy traffic congested areas are but few points of concentration for these beggars.

Meanwhile, Ghana has ratified many international conventions on the protection of the child such as the , , and UN General Assembly Universal Declarations on the Rights of the Child. The Millennium Development Goals in and the Sustainable Development Goals in have incorporated specific targets related to children, including the prohibition of child begging.

These and many other national legislations including the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana have recognized the need to ensure that every child has the right to survive; develop to the fullest; be protected from harmful influences, abuse, and exploitation; and fully participate in family, cultural, and social life [ 21 ]. It therefore beats credulity that begging involving children has grown to an unchallenged level on the streets of Ghana.

This is against the background that such legislations and institutional frameworks were influenced, defined, and shaped by social norms and values across time and space see Justice for Children Policy, The objective of this article is not to dabble in the raging debates or provide exhaustive discussions on the varied causality of child begging.

The intention is to contribute to existing literature by unveiling the creative tricks child beggars employ to court public sympathy, the begging outcomes, and the risks they face. We take as a point of departure, the fact that no country, community, or economy can achieve its full potentials or meet the challenges of the 21st century with many of its future leaders taking to beg in the street. The study is presented in five sections. The introduction is followed by the theoretical framework guiding the study.

The methodology is then presented in section 3 while the results and discussion are presented in section 4. The conclusion and recommendation follow in section 5.

One prominent example of this perspective, Theory of Reasoned Action, explains begging as a decision based upon the weighing of costs and benefits of that livelihood activity [ 22 , 23 ]. It is also argued that those who place more emphasis on the intertwining of family and neighbourhood history are more likely to act in accord with that legacy, adopting a particular mode of social behavior [ 24 ], so that individual social and spatial identities become intertwined.

This framework was chosen because begging for alms in Ghanaian cites is a behavioral action that is taken after careful thoughts. The basic assumption of TRA is that in most cases individuals can choose whether or not to perform a behavior. TRA recognizes that behavior occurs in the context of social influences which exert pressure to perform or not a particular behavior. From that perspective, begging by children in Kumasi is determined by behavior.

To put it another way, the act of asking people for financial or material assistance is just a normal behavior backed by intentions. In such contexts, we tend to concur with Simon findings, that the existence of begging is a product of social influences which exert pressure on beggars to ask for alms.

The choice to beg for alms is the outcome of a process which involves assessment and judgment. That is, the beggar evaluates the different livelihood options and makes a decision about which option to choose. The study was conducted in Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana [ 6 ]. The city is also regarded as the largest commercial center with the most attractive traditional settlements pattern in the country.

It boasts of the largest open-air market in the West African subregion [ 25 ]. The brisk commercial activity is attributed to its central geographical location as it links northern Ghana with other parts of southern Ghana. Kumasi also serves more than five landlocked West African countries. In , the population of Kumasi was , As at the end of , Kumasi had a population of over 2,,, representing an annual growth rate of 5.

This phenomenal growth of the urban population has resulted in escalation in the number of people without employment. The GSS [ 6 ] indicates that over the years, the percentage of people with some form of employment has decreased from Again, there is female dominance among all age groups regarding economically active population except in the age groups , , and years where the male proportions are slightly higher.

Similarly, the economically not active population not employed, not seeking nor available for work shows that female proportions are higher than those of males for all age groups, ranging from These economic indicators according to the Ghana statistical service may have accounted for higher numbers of street beggars in the city. The study employed qualitative research design in data collection and analysis.

For the purpose of this study, child beggars were drawn from five heavily congested public places in the central business district. The locations of potential interviewees were determined during the reconnaissance survey. Even though child beggars could visibly be seen plying their trade in these selected areas, getting their consent for interviews was quite a herculean task. Another reason was the distractions granting interviews would have provided; therefore, considerable effort had to be invested in building relationships and trust.

Also, they were hardly found fixed to certain specific locations for considerable length of time. Different sampling techniques were employed to select the research participants.

First, in getting the child beggars to interview, the study employed convenience sampling method to sample 55 child beggars from the selected locations.

Berg noted that convenience sampling relies on available subjects, that is, those who are close at hand or easily accessible. A semistructured interview guide was designed for the respondents. This way, the researchers had control over the line of questioning while allowing respondents adequate space to provide detailed information where necessary [ 28 ]. In order to fully understand the issues being investigated, the one-on-one story-telling interview approach was adopted as it is an effective tool which offers researchers an opportunity to get in-depth information regarding the phenomenon under investigation [ 29 ].

There were many instances where the researchers had to read the items on the interview guide over and over and also interpret them into other local languages before the appropriate responses were obtained. Issues that were probed included reasons for engaging in begging; their parents knowledge about their trade; number of years they have spent begging at their location; how much they earn in a day; who keeps the money or how the money is spent; and more importantly the risks they face.

All the interviews were conducted between The interviews with each child beggar were done at a location other than where they ply their trade, and for each respondent, the parent or guardian was present. Each interview lasted for about two hours. In all, it took three months to complete the data collection. The method provided greater insights into a wide range of attributes, behaviors, experiences, incidents, and qualities among others. It should be noted that ethical considerations of informant approval, confidentiality, and consequences were carefully adhered to.