Street Children Draw the Ideal Person.

Forty-three adolescents (11-16 years of age) attending a health care program, Project Alternatives, for "street children" in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, drew randomly assigned pictures of either the ideal man or woman, engaged in some activity. These drawings were compared to samples from adolescents in various parts of the world to assess the global neurological and emotional functioning of Honduran children in relation to children of other geographical areas. Compared to a large sample of adolescents from all over the world, the current participants were significantly more likely to draw the ideal person smiling, missing a body part, working in a job, engaging in adult responsibilities, and with achievement imagery. Using Koppitz' (1984) scoring criteria, the current sample showed more emotional indicators and organic signs than U.S. students, but fewer organic signs than street children in Cali, Colombia. Contains 10 references. (Author/SR) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Street Children Draw the Ideal Person Margaret A. Di Carlo', Donald C. Kaminsky', James Wright', and Judith L. Gibbons' Saint Louis University" Department of Psychology 221 North Grand Boulevard St. Louis, MO 63103 Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine' Department of Sociology' New Orleans, LA