SJSU Professor Lewis Aptekar

In late February 2005, former SJSU professor Lewis Aptekar delivered two presentations in the community of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The first was centered on the subject of “To Give or Not to Give: Cultural Determinants in the Value of Giving to Others in Great Need,” and was delivered to an audience at the SETI Institute. The second was a presidential address delivered at the Society of Cross-Cultural Research, and was centered on “A Cross-Cultural View of Street Children: Research and Policy.”

Dr. Lewis Aptekar is a clinical psychologist who, between 1987 and 2016, served as a Professor in Counselor Education at San José State University’s Connie L. Lurie College of Education. He’s worked in approximately thirty-five countries, and he’s spent many years observing the plights and lives of street children in his travels. In Dr. Lewis Aptekar’s “Street Children in the Developing World: A Review of Their Condition,” he demonstrates his in-depth understanding of the subject, shedding light on the compassion that led him to numerous humanitarian efforts. Early on, Lewis Aptekar explores the lack of a clear definition of “street children.” All street children are not homeless, for example. In fact, he states that up to ninety-percent of street children in some nations live at home and work on the street to make a living for their families. Meanwhile, others are forced to live on the streets exclusively. The term “street children” refers to both groups and makes und...