Author(s): Khushboo Tripathi and UV Kiran

Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to determine the self-esteem of street children living on street. Self-esteem may be defined simply as favorable or unfavorable attitude towards self. In today’s life self-esteem has been viewed as an important tool to face the competitive life. The study was conducted in some selected areas of Lucknow city. All the street children in the age group of 5-16 from various places were selected. Self-esteem was taken as dependent variable. Self-esteem was assessed using Rosenberg’s Self –Esteem Scale (RSES).Independent variables considered under the study were age, gender, category of children and parent presence. The data was analyzed by t-test and one way ANOVA. The findings of the present research revealed low self-esteem among street children. Results revealed that through non-significant differences were obtained in self-esteem, comparison of mean scores revealed that street children in the age group of14-16 had better self-esteem in comparison to the street children in the age group of 5-7 years. The study indicates that development of positive self-esteem play important role in the life of street children.