Abstract

BANDA CASTRO, Ana Lilia  and  FRIAS ARMENTA, Martha. Underage indigents: personal and communitarian factors related with the street life. Univ. Psychol. [online]. 2006, vol.5, n.1, pp.85-100. ISSN 1657-9267.

The purpose of this research was to test a behavioral ecologic model. 2 samples were used, one composed by minor indigents and the other by school students. Both samples were matched by family income, age and gender. The model was tested using a confirmatory multisample analysis. The findings were: the exosystem was composed of antisocial behavior, addictive behavior and communitarian violence. The microsystem was composed of intrafamiliar violence, father’s physical violence and mother’s physical violence. The ontosystem was formed of impulsivity, external control locus and the minor’s perception about the indigence. The minor indigence factor was composed of minor’s indigence behavior, minor’s antisocial behavior and minor’s addictive behavior. Both groups were compared and it was observed that the model’s structure was equivalent. The proposed model has “adjust goodness&#;; the R2 associated to minor indigence indicates the factors (exosystem and ontosystem) explains the 36% of the variance for the minor indigence factor. The exosystem exert positive and direct influence over the microsystem (positive and direct over the minor indigence factor). For the group of minor indigents the individual and communitarian factors influence in the minor indigence factor; in the case of the no-indigent minors group the factors which exert influence are the individual factor and family factor.

Keywords : communitarian factors; family factors; minor indigence; communitarian violence; family violence; ecologic model.

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