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A psycho-social exploration of 

street begging: A qualitative study 

 ARTICLE  in  SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY = SUID-AFRIKAANSETYDSKRIF VIR SIELKUNDE · JUNE 2013

Impact Factor: 0.46 · DOI: 10.1177/0081246313482632

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South African Journal of Psychology 43(2) 157 –166 © The Author(s) 2013

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DOI: 10.1177/0081246313482632 sap.sagepub.com

A psycho-social exploration of streetbegging: A qualitative study

Christopher R Stones

Abstract

The practice of street begging tends to be perceived by motorists simultaneously as a nuisance

but also perhaps as a prod to one’s social conscience. In view of its increasing pervasiveness andvisible presence on the streets of both small and large metropolitan areas, this psycho-socialphenomenon merits further investigation. This study reports on a range of experiential factors

that contribute toward the practice, and reinforcement, of begging, specifically with regard tothe South African context. Semistructured, informal interviews with seven “begging” individualswithin the Johannesburg (Gauteng) area were conducted to augment the personal experiencesof a research assistant (who engaged in a practice of begging for 2 weeks) to explore, and

better understand, why people beg and what might maintain their begging. Interview reports,observation, and anecdotal material suggest that the beggar “participants” in this study preferred

a lifestyle where the restrictions of formal employment such as having to report for duty andwork long hours for a relatively menial wage did not apply. However, the uncertainties of beggingwere experienced as stressful but not necessarily demeaning. Arising from the interview material,it became clear that issues such as unemployment and difficulty in accessing social grants as well

as poor education and homelessness were the overriding precipitating factors. Moreover, thereappeared to be a differential age-related experiential profile related to how the present situationwas perceived relative to a future orientation.

Keywords

Education, homelessness, psycho-social exploration, qualitative interviews, self-concept, streetbegging, substance abuse unemployed

The problem of begging, defined by Lynch (2005) as “the solicitation of a voluntary unilateral gift,

most often money, in a public place,” is a worldwide phenomenon but is especially problematic in

developing countries and tends to be understood as arising from several factors that have occurred

University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Corresponding author:

Christopher R Stones, Department of Psychology, University of Johannesburg, Kingsway Campus, Auckland Park 2006, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Email: c.stones@ru.ac.za

SAP43210.1177/0081246313482632South African Journal of PsychologyStones

 Article

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158 South African Journal of Psychology  43(2)

over time. Moreover, while poverty is the most frequent precipitant of begging, other factors such

as physical disability, mental illness, social security inadequacies, drugs, alcohol, and gambling are

all significant contributors to the problem (Fawole, Ogunkan, & Omoruan, 2010; Namwata,

Mgabo, & Dimoso, 2010, 2011; Ogunkan & Fawole, 2009; Olufemi, 1998; Ripley, 2010; World

Bank Organization, 2010).

While there is much social science and economic research on this phenomenon as well as recur-

ring newspaper articles about street begging, there is little, if any, qualitative research regarding the

 beggars’ own stories and perspectives on their situation. It is hoped that by allowing the beggars,

as a sample in this study, to have their own voice, the richness of our understanding might be

enhanced in such a way as to enable a better understanding of what it actually means, from an

insider perspective, to be a street beggar.

The context of this study is centered on a South African society that is currently saturated by

high levels of unemployment (approximately 25%), increasing instances of poverty and an extraor-

dinary percentage of the population living below the international poverty line (approximately

43%), low means of government assistance in terms of social grants and welfare, and a large pro-

 portion of the potential working population having been affected by the apartheid laws and govern-

ing system that was utilized by the country until the early 1990s (Cross, Seager, Erasmus, Ward, &

O’Donovan, 2010; South African Information, 2006; South African Social Security Agency, 2009;

Statistics SA, 2010; UNICEF, 2007, 2010).

The focus of this study is on better understanding the experience of begging in public spaces

(known as “panhandling,” “vagrancy,” “hobos,” and so on) and the ways in which this might be

associated with self-concept and learned helplessness, inter alia. To this extent, the study fills a gap

in the current literature on the psychological understanding of street begging. Moreover, since the

research applies specifically to a South African context, it also aims to make a unique contribution

to the general literature in the area of psycho-social dynamics.

Background

Although there may appear to be a number of obvious reasons that lead to begging depending on

the economic circumstances of the country in question, several factors are repeatedly identified in

numerous studies conducted across a range of countries, including Australia (Hills, 2009; Horn &

Cooke, 2001), Columbia (Pinzón-Rondón, Hofferth, & Briceño, 2008), Egypt (Bibars, 1998), 

Ethiopia (Abebe, 2008; Roberts, 1991), the United States (Avery, 2012; Tierney, 1999, inter alia),

the United Kingdom (Borland, 2009; Crisis, 2003; Kennedy & Fitzpatrick, 2001; University of

Glasgow, 2000), Kenya (Ayuku, Kaplan, Baars, & de Vries, 2004; Kaime-Atterhög & Ahlberg,

2008), Nigeria (Ekwenye, 2000; Onoyase, 2010),  India (Biswas-Diener & Diener, 2006), and

South Africa (Aliber, et al., 2004; Beavon, 1982; Co-ordinated Action With Street People [CASP],

2000; Cross, Clark, Richards, & Bekker, 1992; Cross, Kok, van Zyl, & O’Donovan, 2005; de Jager,

2008; Jackson, 2006; Olufemi, 2000, 2002; Tolsi, 2011; Wiener & Comrie, 2010), to cite just a few.

These studies indicate that

 • Welfare benefits are seen as inadequate in their ability to support individuals regarding their

substance abuse, as well as in aiding them to secure housing, clothing, and food for them-

selves. Moreover, begging provides cash income for immediate and urgent needs that can-

not be satisfied by approaching welfare organizations. Consequently, begging is utilized

 primarily as a means of supplementing income and helps to ensure that basic survival needs

were met.

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 • Begging is a last-resort practice for many people—it is commonly conceived as being a

more acceptable option to providing for their basic needs than resorting to criminal activi-

ties, such as shoplifting, burglary, drug dealing, and prostitution.

 • Begging is but one outcome of a range of previous life experiences, including mental illness,

that have resulted in social exclusion, isolation, and homelessness.

 • Most affected individuals do not earn significant amounts from begging: one study found

that the median income from begging was US$50 (approximately, R500) per week.

 • Those who beg often have low education and possess inadequate professional skills to sur-

vive in the modern economy.

It is thus evident that a number of commonalities exist almost universally, and in his report,

“Begging for change: homelessness and the law,” Lynch (2002) notes,

three main reasons were given by people for engaging in begging behavior. Firstly, the inadequacy of

social security payments given the costs of housing, clothing, food and medical treatment; secondly,

 psychiatric and intellectual disabilities and illnesses; and thirdly, substance, alcohol and gamblingaddictions.

Additionally, Cook (2010) points out that “the most common problem is that beggars are so

used to begging that they actually prefer not to work. Many of them also make more money from

 begging than they would if they did work.”

Continuing with this notion that an individual’s circumstances tend to lead to the practice of

 begging, it is further noted that “for many, begging is a more acceptable means of satisfying imme-

diate needs than resorting to . . . criminal activity such as theft, drug dealing or prostitution”

(Lynch, 2002).

Research conducted by Statistics SA indicates that the results of the first quarter of 2010 showthat between the last quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010, the number of unemployed per-

sons in South Africa increased by 145,000 to approximately 4.3 million, resulting in an increase of

the unemployment rate to 25.2% in 2010.

Additionally, the educational rates and levels in South Africa, although increasing since 1994,

are still not completely satisfactory. As Tudoric-Ghemo (2005) notes,

the education system is still faced with a shortage of schools, classrooms, textbooks and learning materials.

There is also a lack of allocated funds for teachers with proper qualifications, as well as for new teaching

and learning programs. (p. 45)

Currently, there are significant challenges facing individuals attempting to gain entry to the

employment market, ranging from educational processes and systems that seem not to equip its

high-school graduates for the employment market, through to unacceptably high levels of home-

lessness. Accurate statistics regarding homelessness are difficult to acquire, and there appears to be

no reliable statistics in South Africa. In this regard, according to Cross and Seager (2010),  the

estimates of street children in Gauteng alone range from as low as 300 to as high as 3500, and the

adult homeless population in Gauteng is estimated to be between 6000 and 12,000. Furthermore,

they estimate a national homeless population “between 100 000 and 200 000 when the existence of

the previously unreported homeless populations in many rural towns is taken into account” (p.

145). Matters of poverty, unemployment, disability, education, and homelessness are specific fac-tors associated with street begging. Notably, however, there is no substantial literature that points

to a nexus of any of these aspects. Moreover, there is very little written on the experience of being

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160 South African Journal of Psychology  43(2)

a beggar, which further supports the rationale for engaging in a qualitative approach as a way of

refining our thinking about the phenomenon of being a street beggar.

In their study pertaining to the income and spending patterns of panhandlers, Bose and Hwang

(2002) note that

when asked if they enjoyed panhandling, 23 participants (43%) replied “yes,” commonly because of the

opportunity to “meet people,” 26 (48%) answered “no,” often describing panhandling as “degrading,” and

5 (9%) were undecided. Overall, 38 (70%) stated that they would prefer a minimum-wage job, typically

citing a desire for a “steady income” or “getting off the street.” However, many felt they could not handle

conventional jobs because of mental illness, physical disability or lack of skills.

This belief of having a lack of skills to do anything else introduces an element that is of par-

ticular interest, namely, the idea of people resorting to begging because they have a limited self-

concept or poor self-regard (McLeod, 2007; Prochaska & Norcross, 2007). Moreover, with the

 passage of time, it tends to become increasingly difficult for someone engaged in street beg-

ging—regardless of their initial level of self-esteem—to view themselves as being capable ofdoing anything different from their current activities, or to imagine alternative ways of being and

earning a living (Learned helplessness, 2008; Peterson et al., 1993).

Methodology

The qualitative interview attempts to understand the world from the subjects’ points of view, to unfold the

meaning of peoples’ experiences, to uncover their lived world prior to scientific explanations. The

qualitative research interview is a construction site of knowledge. An interview is literally an inter view,

an inter change of views between two persons conversing about a theme of mutual interest. (Kvale, 1996,

 pp. 1–2)

Since there has been little previous experientially based research in this area, a qualitative

approach will be used to explore a range of aspects around what it means to be a street beggar

through a series of interviews in which their day-to-day activities, thoughts, and feelings are spo-

ken about. A qualitative approach aims to provide an experiential framework (in this case, the

 participants’ experiences when street begging) within which to understand the verbal accounts

relayed by the participants (street beggars) in response to the “conversational engagement” with

the researcher.

Additionally, a postgraduate student (W. S.) engaged in the practice of street begging for a

 period of 2 weeks so as to afford not only an immediate experiential account but also to facilitatea deeper understanding of—and greater rapport with—the participants. A 2-week period was con-

sidered sufficient to allow an opportunity for the coresearcher to experience the likely dynamics of

 being on the street for various periods each day, during which there was ongoing and active engage-

ment with members of the public, particularly motor vehicle drivers at street corners and

intersections.

Participant selection

It was essential that the participants finally selected for this research (a) should have insight into

their own thoughts, experiences, and feelings, especially with regard to the actual practice of beg-ging as well as the life-events that may have precipitated such a practice in the first instance; (b)

would be willing to discuss their circumstances and how these might have influenced their life

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choices; (c) indicated a willingness to meet with the researcher over an extended period rather than

 just on a single occasion; and (d) were reasonably fluent in the home languages of the researcher

(English and Afrikaans).

ParticipantsThe final seven participants (out of an initial group of more than 20) were street beggars in and

around the greater Johannesburg region (Gauteng, South Africa) who had been on the streets

for at least 3 months (but not more than 9 months). Although the street beggars did not neces-

sarily stay on the same street throughout the study, they nonetheless tended to remain within

the same broad residential areas so that it was possible to use a convenience sampling tech-

nique to select participants from places (street corners and traffic light controlled intersection)

where street beggars were generally found. However, it was not possible to ascertain the

extent to which the finally selected sample (see below) was typical of street beggars in other

 parts of Johannesburg.

While it was difficult to be sure of their ages, it is estimated that the participants’ ages ranged

from around 21 to late 20s. While being open to the interview process, the participants were vague

about their exact ages, several saying either that they had lost their ID book or that it had been

stolen. The final sample size was relatively small, comprising seven individuals. However, as

Marshall (1996) notes, “an appropriate sample size for a qualitative study is one that adequately

answers the research question” (p. 523). Moreover, that “the number of required subjects usually

 becomes obvious as the study progresses, and as new categories, themes or explanations stop

emerging from the data” (p. 523).

The seven participants on whose experiences this research is based were those who were able to

report on, and described in depth, their reasons for begging and their feelings around begging, and

how they saw their future.

Procedure

The major challenge was to develop sufficient rapport with the street beggars (on a one-to-one

 basis) to enable a psychologically meaningful conversation between the researcher and the

 participants. To do this, the researcher observed, and met with, more than 20 street beggars on

different days and across a range of different streets in Johannesburg to ascertain which pan-

handlers might meet the research-defined criteria for inclusion. Once achieved, the researcher

had regular meetings with each of the “selected” street beggars, during which time the conver-sations were about the best times to maximize donations from the passing motor vehicle driv-

ers, which streets to avoid, and so on. Only once the researcher judged there to be sufficient

rapport and mutual engagement, did he suggest that they might wish to be a participant in a

university “survey” about street begging. On occasion, the more in-depth interviews were con-

ducted over the sharing of a light meal such as a meat pie or hamburger. Throughout this pro-

cess, the discussions and even the more “structured” engagements were highly informal, and no

set agenda was followed as it was important to “grab” every available moment that participants

were able and willing to talk about their feelings and experiences. Rather than the participants

 being asked to be available at a specific time and venue as is usually the procedure in social

science research, the process here was more akin to that of an anthropologist where theresearcher is highly adaptive, making the most of every moment to capture key elements of the

day-to-day experiences of those being observed and interacted with.

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162 South African Journal of Psychology  43(2)

Ethical considerations

Several ethical considerations were deliberated and taken into account such as what to do with

any monies donated by passersby (this was given to the beggar whose street corner it was, other-

wise to a feeding charity). We were also careful not to compromise the street beggar’s location

and “earning power,” and aimed to avoid any possible perception of the researcher as havinginvaded the beggar’s “turf” when collecting the data necessary for this research. Concretely, each

of the participants was given an extensive but simple explanation as to the nature of, and reason

for, the interviews. It was stressed that the research was being conducted through a university and

that the outcome of this research was aimed at better understanding the many challenges that

often confronted street beggars. The individuals interviewed were also told that they were under

no pressure to continue meeting with the researcher and that they could withdraw at any stage.

Also, each was nominally reimbursed for the potential loss of alms during the time it took to

complete the interview, whereas they would otherwise have been on the road side. The partici-

 pants were also presented with a consent form, in which they gave their approval to be inter-

viewed and audio-recorded.In line with qualitative research methodologies, the trustworthiness of the data was paramount,

and this was achieved through follow-up interviews with the participants in which further clarity

was sought (if necessary) and the accuracy of the initial reported experiences, sentiments expressed,

and attitudes was confirmed.

Results and discussion

From the interview material, themes were identified as relevant when they, in their various nuances,

repeatedly arose during the interviews. Over time and with repeated study of the interview mate-

rial, it became clear that issues such as unemployment and difficulty in accessing social grants aswell as poor education and homelessness were the overriding precipitating factors. However,

 because they might also serve as social dynamics reinforcing begging activities, it became impor-

tant to understand the participants’ experiences of their circumstances and why begging was more

attractive to them than, for example, being a “parking attendant” or “grocery packer” in the local

supermarket.

Interestingly, many of our findings do not concur with the literature. For instance, the argument

that begging tends to be motivated by the need to support drug/alcohol abuse or arises because of

a mental disability did not apply in the current research as only one of our participants admitted to

any form of drug usage, but stressed that this only began after he took to the streets to beg as a

means of deriving an income: it was not a contributing factor to the initiation of begging. None of the respondents alluded to or reported any form of previous mental disability nor

was there any disability exhibited by the respondents or witnessed by the researcher during the

interview process. Of course, this could be a reflection of sample bias as we screened out those

who seemed not to have sufficient insight into their behavior. This, however, in turn, raises an

even more interesting question as to what would motivate individuals with intact personalities

and reasonable self-insight to beg rather than engage in some other, more socially acceptable

activity. The possibly lucrative earning potential of street begging is discounted as a major

supportive factor since the average earnings of the participants was reported to be less than

R50 a day.

Although the average earning potential amount tended to be equivalent to what could beearned through a minimum-wage job (Minimum Wages, 2010a, 2010b), the respondents overall

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viewed their freedom to choose when to work and for how long as being central to their con-

tinuing to beg, and the sentiment was expressed that unless a “real” job (in view of their lack of

skills and education) could pay significantly more, they preferred the flexibility of begging

rather than having to arrive at work at a set time and remain there for, perhaps, the full day,

noting that, in any case, car guards (as a comparison) also had to endure the outdoors weather— 

 just as they did.

An interesting (and perhaps surprising) age-related experiential profile became apparent despite

the age-gap between the two groupings being less than 3 years. There seemed to be a different

 perception that corresponded with age in that the younger participants (below the age of 23 years)

tended to be more idealistic (some might argue in denial) than the panhandlers in their late 20s.

Most of the “younger” participants saw begging as an interim activity until, for instance, they had

earned sufficient money to pay for further education, or until the winter came, or until the eco-

nomic climate had improved and so on. Moreover, most also still reported having a dream of own-

ing a home and having a secure and well-paying job—one day! By contrast, the older panhandlers

spoke about their futures with significant concern, to the point of almost not owning a future! Most

of the older participants said that while initially they had felt “awkward” when standing at the

street traffic lights asking for donations, the passage of time tended to “numb” them to their situa-

tion as they began to live day by day, with little thought of beyond the next week. A commonly

spoken about theme was the near-impossibility of securing even temporary employment because

of the increasing time-period since last being employed, and importantly, while yearning for finan-

cial security, there was also the underlying theme in the interviews that they might indeed find it

difficult to adjust again to a regular routine and being “dictated to” by an employer. It was largely

for this reason that some of the participants said they had little interest in becoming parking attend-

ants, for instance. Arising from the interviews/discussions was a seemingly unusual perspective on

morality, in that many of the participants conveyed that while begging might be precarious and an

activity of low social status, it nonetheless was vastly more respectable than thievery and cheating,

for example.

Regarding begging venues, these tended not to change once judged suitable. However, depend-

ing upon the day of the week and the weather, the participants would, for instance, vary their times

at the traffic intersections although they would still maintain some form of regularity regarding

their overall day-to-day routine. The highest incidence of street begging tended to be in the early

 part of the morning and from late morning to early afternoon, when commuters were in less of a

hurry to get to work or return home after a long working day.

When asked about their place of residence, all of our participants said that they lived with

friends or were still with family, regardless of how chaotic or fragmented the family relationships

might have been. At least, it was said, by a few of the participants, that there is a “roof over ourheads,” and importantly, in some cases, the participants were able to provide some form of income,

no matter how little it might have been.

Issues such as self-concept, poor self-regard, and learned helplessness seem only to have

 become important features after an individual starts begging, and as such may tend to reinforce the

 practice. In this study, the interview material strongly suggests that a sense of helplessness devel-

ops within a relatively short period of time, especially with regard to a future perspective.

In this regard, it appears that the factors that lead someone to engage in begging tend to be the

very factors that actually reinforce such a practice. From observations and interviews, it is apparent

that the participants continue to beg because the factors that facilitate this practice (i.e., unemploy-

ment, poor educational level, disrupted family backgrounds) remain unalleviated, therefore con-tinuously supporting the practice of begging.

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164 South African Journal of Psychology  43(2)

Conclusion and recommendations

In summary, bearing in mind the context of the study, it can be stated that individuals engage in the

 practice of begging due to a number of factors, ranging from an educational level not adequately

able to equip the individual to secure employment as well as impoverished family background to

the subsequent development of poor self-concept and negative self-regard together with learnedhelplessness.

Extending the age-range of the participants as well as the time they have been begging might

allow greater generalization of the findings. Additionally, a more diverse demographic profile of

the respondents to include participants who are disabled, of foreign nationality, and who beg along-

side or with the aid of young children might serve to provide a greater understanding of the main-

taining factors and associated experiences of street begging.

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the several student assistants who were engaged in this study, but especially Wade

Shaw who courageously took to the streets to interview—beg with—several of the “participants” on whosereports this research is based. Wade wrote up the initial pilot project as part of his postgraduate studies in

Psychology.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author declares that they do not have any conflict of interest.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit

sectors.

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