Lewis Aptekar received his PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Michigan. He has had post-graduate training in Clinical Psychology from Texas Tech Medical School and is a licensed as a Clinical Psychologist. Aptekar began his research with street children in Cali, Colombia in the 1980’s. He has since conducted studies in several continents about street children, victims of natural disasters and people displaced by war. His has focused on cross-cultural comparisons, the public’s response to street children, gender differences and the changing dynamics of adolescence. He is currently Professor of Counsellor Education at San Jose State University.