Now retired, Lewis Aptekar is responsible for many contributions to the field of clinical psychology; not only as an academic and researcher, but as a noted author and clinical psychologist. Active in the field his entire career, Aptekar has worked and taught in more than 50 countries around the world, and has authored numerous thought-provoking papers and books on a variety of subjects within the purview of clinical psychology.
One book of note co-authored by Lewis Aptekar is 2014’s Street Children and Homeless Youth; a piece offering what is considered to be a “cross-cultural perspective” of the issues, conditions and situations facing street children growing up in developing countries. Rather than referring to its central subjects as “street children,” however, the book refers to its main subjects as “children in street situations,” or CSS, primarily to illustrate the problem both in the children and in the situation they’re facing.
Street Children and Homeless Youth takes a close look at several characteristics of both the children and their particular situations, such as the homes they leave, their families of origin, their mental health and their social life. In addition, the book examines such aspects as the problems inherent in published demographics, the development of public opinion about children in street situations and the often violent reactions they receive from those in authority. Following that, the book offers a discussion on current research, programs and policies pertaining to the CSS population, and ends with recommendations regarding programs, policies and research.
With Street Children and Homeless Youth, Lewis Aptekar and his co-author are said to have provided a “comprehensive review of research on street children,” and to have provided the reader particularly poignant examples of the difficulties and considerations researchers should properly address when performing research across cultural boundaries. As noted by one reviewer, Street Children and Homeless Youth “would be a valuable resource for scholars’ interest in a variety of topics, including children in different circumstances and childhood in the majority world.”
Through the book, Lewis Aptekar and his co-author are said to offer considerable and unique insight into the current state of affairs surrounding children of street situations throughout the developing world, as well as to provide scholars, researchers and others sound, well-supported recommendations for how to approach and cope with the CSS population well into the future. Both Aptekar and his co-author have accumulated significant experience in the area, and that experience shines through and gives considerable weight to the insights and recommendations they offer throughout the book.
