Journal of Social Development in Africa (1993), 8,2, 91-104 
Book Reviews 
Refugee Children - Theory, Research, and Services, Frederick LAhearn, Jr and 
Jean L Athey (eds), Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1991 (230 pp). 
(ISBN 0-8018-4160-7). Price £30. 
This collection of authors will be familiar to those working in the field of refugee 
children's services in the United States. The mental health issues discussed do not 
stray far from that focus. While not written for use in other countries, it still 
provides a body of relevant information regarding children, mental health and 
refugees that could be useful in emergency settings. The title suggests a purely 
theoretical approach, but the book itself is divided into three fairly practical and 
applicable sections on Theoretical Overview, Research Studies and Services and 
Treatment Issues. The most informative comes at the beginning of the book with 
a thoughtful and well written overview of mental health issues for refugee children 
by the editors, Jean Athey and Frederick Ahearn. 
The TheoreticalOverview starts withreference to the early FreudandBurlingham 
studies of children in 1943, under the heading of "Stress and Coping", then moves 
on to the "Refugee Family and Child Development" and then the "Larger 
Community and the Refugee Child". Within these three areas such topics as 
trauma, loss, deprivation, coping, culture and social relations are touched on. 
Following the review, John Berry's theory of acculturation is presented; while it 
is generally applied to the integration of refugee families into host countries, the 
basic premise of how minority groups are integrated and/or isolated from the 
mainstream culture, is certainly applicable where refugees are seeking asylum, 
even temporarily, within a larger, host country. Third in this presentation of 
theoretical approaches is a timely discussion of child abuse and maltreatment 
definitions within a cultural context and a view to cross-cultural examination of 
such events. 
As stated in the chapters on Research Studies, the amount of research available 
on the emotional and social adjustment of refugee children is quite limited. This 
section focuses on three different countries, the first of which examines the many 
variables influencing adaptation of Indo-Chinese adults and their adolescent 
children. These variables are then assessed for their effects on psychological 
distress. This is followed by a study of Cambodian children, documented as having 
experienced massive trauma and the resulting effects over time. The third study 
looks at the correlation between levels of exposure to violence prior to arrival in 
a new country and how present stress adds to the difficulties of Central American
92 Book Reviews 
children. Subsequent chapters on stress, trauma and adaptation are useful in the 
repetition of recognisable behaviours of children within different cultural settings. 
The final section concerning Service and Treatment is understandably focused 
on provision of services within the United States. However so little has been 
written to date on mental health services for refugee children that the chapters 
presented will be of interest to anyone working with refugee mental health. Joseph 
Westermeyer's chapter on psychopathology among refugee children is a good 
exampleof identifying emotional problems within acultural context, emphasising 
the need to always work within a cultural framework. The case examples illustrate 
this point, and he concludes with an interesting presentation of a model treatment 
programme, again pointing out that "therapeutic modalities are not uniquely 
culture-bound". Finally the brief presentation on pharmacotherapy and adaptions 
of therapy for different cultures stimulates important questions concerning such 
methods, especially within an emergency setting. 
The information of service delivery in "Recovery and Rebuilding" is difficult 
to translate from resettlement to emergency settings but it includes interesting 
points for service providers to consider in their overall approach to children, 
families and linkage within a community. The book closes with a reminder of the 
importance of continuing efforts to research, document and prepare information on 
the crucial role the community and family play in children's survival under 
extreme trauma and stress. 
"Survivorsare the bridge between the past and the future. Their experiences 
have given them a view of life to be shared in order to spur personal and 
social change. They are the voices that challenge complacency and the 
denial of reality as they know it" (Families After Trauma, Moffat and 
Moffat, 1984). 
Reviewed by Jan Williamson, International Consultant for Refugee Children's 
Programmes 
There are No ChBdren Here - The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other 
America, Alex Kotlowitz, Anchor Books, Doubleday, New York, 1991 (323pp). 
(ISBN 0-385-26552-5). Price US $12. 
One might question the relevance of a book written in the United States to the 
developing nations of Africa. Yet the appalling reality of poverty and violence in 
US inner-city public housing projects portrayed by Alex Kotlowitz, a writer for the 
Wall Street Journal, is far closer to life in the impoverished, civil war-torn areas 
of some developing countries than most Americans would imagine or admit
Book Reviews 93 
The book follows the lives of two brothers in a family of eight children over a 
period of two years, beginning from when they were nine and twelve years old. 
They live in a Chicago public housing project where their mother also grew up and 
now struggles as a single parent to feed, clothe and protect her children from the 
hostile environment surrounding them (an estimated 85% of households in the 
project are headed by single women). The project, located one mile from the city's 
prosperous business district, remains, in many respects, isolated and abandoned. 
Stores and homes stand in physical ruin, often serving as headquarters for gangs 
and drag dealers; shoot-outs are such a common event that mothers constantly fear 
for their children's lives. 
Against this backdrop of urban poverty, chaos, cultural isolation and 
unpredictability, the author plays out the straggle of children exposed to almost 
unrelenting violence as they seek some sense of normality in daily routines of going 
to school, playing with friends, and finding some quiet space within themselves 
and their families for hopes and dreams to begin to grow. Despite the despair felt 
at the bleak social issues raised in this book, the author manages both an empathetic 
and hopeful portrayal of individual lives, focusing on the resiliency and sheer 
stamina of the main characters of the book, Pharaoh, Lafayette and Lajoe Rivers. 
Throughout the book the author refers to statistics regarding American inner 
cities, particularly Chicago's predominantly black housing project areas. One in 
five children in the United States lives in poverty, according to the Children's 
Defence Fund (a lobbying group for children in the USA, with the numbers 
increasing to one in three children in cities like Chicago. Unemployment is 
officially reported at 19%, though unofficially, it is considered to be much higher. 
Lack of employment is partially due to businesses moving from inner city areas to 
more suburban locations, indirectly contributing to youth involvement in drag and 
alcohol use, gang violence and drag-related crime. 
88% of the population in inner-city Chicago is black and 46% lives below the 
poverty level. According to the author, Mother Theresa of the Missionaries of 
Charity was so appalled by such conditions that she established a soup kitchen, a 
shelterfor women andchildren,andachildren'safter school programme, following 
a visit to Chicago. 
The author's discussion of the public school system is sobering. Up to 93% of 
students enrolled in inner-city schools in Chicago are black; most schools are 
extremely over-crowded, some requiring two sessions per day to accommodate 
enrolment. Between 50-75% of freshman students (first-year secondary school) 
nevermake itto their senioryear and graduation. In 1985,seniorreadingtestscores 
(of those who did make it) were in the 18th percentile nationwide. Some schools 
are so violence-ridden that plastic utensils are used in cafeterias, and security 
guards are employed to protect both students and teachers.
r 94 Book Reviews 
In reference to reasons for high school drop-out rates, the author discusses 
teenage pregnancy, involvement in drug-related gangs, the lack of belief in the 
value of formal education, and low expectations of both parents and children. 
Some solutions to the problems of inner city youth are presently being explored 
by the Chicago Commons Association, a local social service agency that includes 
an expanded literacy programme, a drug rehabilitation centre for young mothers, 
and gang and drug prevention programme for children up age 17, called "Better 
Days for Youth". 
In getting to know the Rivers family through the voice of the author, one senses 
a remarkable quality of hope and resilience in marked contrast to the overall setting 
of despair. The boys' (Lafayette and Pharaoh's) family is unusual in that their 
mother, Lajoe, has remained married to the same man who has fathered all eight 
of her children, regardless of the fact that they have not lived together consistently. 
One of the boy's cousins, Dawn supported by Lee Rivers, has graduated from high 
school. Although the married mother of four by age 17, Dawn is seen as a model 
for the rest of the family. Lajoe has placed high value on education for her children 
and had been a steady, caring mother, instilling a sense of responsibility and hope 
for the future in her children, despite the odds against them; she is counting on them 
to 'make it'. 
The two boys, Lafayette and Pharaoh, are described as very different in 
character and in response to their life situation. 
Lafayette, the older of the two and eldest of the younger five children appears 
to be a fairly sober and serious child, turning inward in the face of violence and 
despair. He has chosen to limit his friends, fearful that he could easily be drawn 
into a gang like his older brother. He has become involved in community service 
projects through the Boys Club and sees himself as a strong support for his mother. 
(One way he copes with disappointment and fear is by cleaning the family 
apartment). 
Pharaoh, on the other hand, is portrayed as a dreamer and an achiever. He seeks 
quiet places to sit, even a small square of grass outside a building, or along the 
railroad tracks. He has developed a stammer (stutter) that becomes pronounced in 
threatening situations; yet, in spite of this, has done well in school and came in 
second in a school-wide spelling competition, emulating his cousin Dawn. He has 
also won a scholarship to a summer camp. 
So, in spite of the inhumane qualities of inner-city life in Chicago, the author has 
managed to portray a most human and compelling life story of a resilient family 
without romanticising or down-playing their struggle. This is a book well worth 
reading in regards to urban poverty, racial inequality and violence, as well as the 
demonstrated resilience of individuals living in high-risk environments. 
Reviewed by, Irene C Felsman, Public Health Consultant, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Book Reviews 95 
The Psychological Well-being of Refugee Children: Research, Practice and 
Policy Issues, M. McCallin (ed), International Catholic Child Bureau, Geneva, 
1992 (352 pp). Contact ICCB, General Secretariat, 65 Rue deLusanne, CH-1202, 
Geneva. No price listed. 
Drawn from a collection of papers presented at a conference on the psychosocial 
needs of refugee children, and sponsored by the International Catholic Child 
Bureau in September 1991, this ambitious volume only partially succeeds in its 
attempt to address an area in pressing need of attention. Despite the volume's 
weaknesses, it offers many bright spots and will prove relevant to those directly 
involved in refugee-related work and also for those concerned with broader 
emergency relief programmes and community development efforts. 
The volume's three sections are loosely organised around the following themes: 
(1) the context of intervention; (2) strategies of intervention; and (3) the response 
of the international community. Given the diversity and quality of the papers, 
including the conflicting points of view contained within them, an overview or 
preface to each section would have enhanced and strengthened the material's 
presentation. For example, one paper advocates a priority in "targeting" children, 
first and foremost when developing intervention strategies. In sharp contrast, 
another paper explicitly states "there is need to support mothers first". Missing is 
an attempt to articulate and synthesise such differing positions, which, at the field 
level, generate substantially different programme objectives and priorities. 
Introductory remarks to each section would also allow for discussion of the 
liabilities inherent in generalising about "refugees" or "camps", etc, which appear 
in some of the papers. That there can be enormous diversity between refugee 
camps, even within the same camp over time, is well-established. Factors such as 
the make-up of a particular camp's refugee population (the degree of ethnic and 
cultural similarities or differences), the nature and conditions of refugee "flight" 
(anticipatory versus overt crisis), whether the camp is "open" or "closed", the style 
and approach to camp administration (eg trained social workers in Zimbabwe as 
contrasted to military and police personnel in Hong Kong), the availability of 
material resources, and the nature of the services and programmes offered by 
various organisations within the camp, are examples of the factors that contribute 
to such diversity. These factors should temper the tendency to generalise about 
"the refugee experience", etc. 
The opening chapter, which is one of the strongest, provides a review of relevant 
information on child development, including the area of risk research. Issues such
96 Book Reviews 
as the impact of cumulative risk factors, the difference between being exposed to 
acute versus chronic danger, and the role of adaptive coping styles, as contrasted 
to those more maladaptive in nature, are well-presented. That the chapter draws 
upon general child development research and examines its implications for the 
refugee context is a salient point. It brings into clear view the paucity of original 
refugee research that has focused on the time frame prior to the stage of final, third 
country, resettlement. A more thorough review of the basic methodological 
problems in doing refugee research would also have been helpful, as such issues 
as sampling, language, instrumentation and the need to consider ethical problems 
(eg valid informed consent, confidentiality, etc) are not adequately considered. 
The concerns noted above are illustrated by comparing a few findings on 
Mozambican children in twodifferentpapers in the volume. Specific to Mozambican 
children's exposure to violence, one author reports that up to 35% of children had 
either witnessed, or knew someone who had been murdered. In contrast, a second 
paper states that 77% of children had been witness to such atrocities. Similarly, the 
firstpaper states that up to 8.4% of children had been forced to be combatants, while 
the second paper provides a much higher figure of 28%. A more in-depth 
discussion highlighting the differences in methodology, including where and how 
the data was collected (a refugee camp in Zambia as contrasted to deslocado 
communities within Mozambique), the marked contrast in the findings, and how 
these differences impact on programme development wouldhavebeen fascinating. 
One senses that a rich debate must have been generated by the paper presentations 
during the conference, a debate not reflected in the book. 
In summary, this collection of papers as a whole strongly supports the position 
that the psychosocial needs of refugee children, in the context of their families and 
communities, are intrinsic to healthy growth and development As fundamental 
needs, they require both clear articulation and a genuine programme response 
within large relief and emergency efforts that tend to focus too narrowly on the 
delivery of food, shelter and medicine, etc. The book also succeeds in emphasising 
the importance of understanding, supporting and building upon the strengths and 
inherent coping capacities already existing within the refugee community. Such a 
perspective naturally leads to ahigh degree of refugee participation in establishing 
both the priority areas to be addressed and, of equal importance, the nature of the 
programme delivery developed to meet expressed needs. The volume's flaws 
serve as a catalyst, helping point out the specific areas in need of applied research 
and more well-developed intervention strategies. 
Reviewed by KirkFelsman, sub-Regional Advisor, Children and War Program, 
Save the Children Federation (USA), Harare, Zimbabwe
Book Reviews 97 
Changing Family Life in East Africa: Women and Children at Risk, Philip 
Leroy Kilbride & Janet Capriotti Kilbride, Pennsylvania State University Press, 
1990. (ISBN 0-271-00676-5). Price £28,45. 
This is not a book for the casual reader or for those allergic to sociological 
"inspeak". The book's message is not reassuring: Kilbride and Kilbride offer a 
bleak prognosis of the risks that women and children increasingly face in modem 
East African society, and they offer impractical and weak conclusions on how to 
redress the problems they so convincingly characterise. Kilbride and Kilbride are 
social anthropologists with more than 20 years contact with the same communities 
in Uganda and Kenya (thus their advocacy of fieldwork methodology of the 
"repeated visit" type and they haveproducedhereavery solid, if turgid, contribution 
to understanding the current predicament of the African child and woman. The 
book has significance for anthropological theory, as well as for the development 
worker engaged in working with women and children in modern Africa. It is 
strongly recommended. This review will address itself to the development worker. 
The book is divided into three parts. In the first part the authors describe their 
theoretical orientation (Interpretive Framework) and methodology (using the 
phrase "Interactive Ethnography" instead of "Participant-Observation"), but 
reiterating their commitment to structural-functionalism. They posit their theme 
of delocalisation (the process whereby old village-based agrarian economies 
become incorporated into and dependent upon the modem national and international 
economies) and the particular predicament and increasing vulnerability of women 
and children in this process. For Kilbride and Kilbride, modernisation has produced 
a move from a "genuine" culture towards a "spurious" one; their intent is to show 
that "moral erosion" is threatening children with child abuse and neglect, in a 
hostile modern environment where the extended family is under siege. 
In the second part of the book, unfortunately the shortest section, the authors 
offer a few examples of pregnancy, childrearing and childhood experiences. This 
section is not the standard anthropological description of rites of passage and 
quaint exotic customs; rather it provides a backdrop for what is to follow in the third 
section. Given the Kilbrides' undoubted rich ethnographic experiences, this 
section is disappointingly short and does not offer the smorgasbord of experiences 
that the preface would have the reader expect. They are especially successful in 
depicting the socialisation of the young and in defending the importance of 
mothering and affective experiences. In particular, the sixth chapter has valuable 
discussion of birth and infant mortality, the infant's home environment, clothing, 
food practices, infant care practices, and a fascinating discussion of comparative 
infant sensorimotor development.
98 Book Reviews 
The third part of the book is the "meat" of the book: in this section Kilbride and 
Kilbride describe the role that industrialisation, nationalism, missionary activity, 
formal education and a monetised economy are playing in marriage and family life, 
and argue that the process of cultural and moral delocalisation is now well 
underway. This section begins with a chapter on the increasing powerlessness of 
women, especially on the predicament of the bar-girl in Kampala. The second 
chapter in this section dwells on the alarm ingphenomenonofpre-marital pregnancy 
and the challenge it poses to the extended family. Kilbride and Kilbride include 
here a very pertinent discussion on the role of grandparents in relation to their 
grandchildren and also the increasingly precarious role of the extended family in 
modern marriages. This is followed by a chapter on polygamy and the economic 
and social tensions and threats which this presents to women and children. The 
Kilbrides successfully depict the increasing strain and friction within polygamous 
homes and the moral disorientation that now surrounds polygamous marriages in 
modem East Africa. This is followed by the penultimate chapter of the book which 
dwells expertly on the issue of child abuse and neglect. The book concludes with 
a summary chapter on women and children at risk. 
The Kilbrides propose that a solution to the problems they have described 
resides in an acknowledgement of three basic principles: that power differentials 
between individuals, social groups and nations exist and that those with this 
"power" have a responsibility that comes with such influence; that all action to 
redress the problems should be intra- and cross-cultural; and that a universal 
perspective must be an integral part of any resolution. Their specific conclusion 
is that there must be a "convergence of interpretative frameworks" and that 
socioeconomics, feminist theory and child-centred ideology should be combined 
and harnessed to resolve the problem. For the Kilbrides the answer lies ina"locally 
derived child-centred Africanity". This tantalising idea that whets the appetite is, 
unfortunately, never satisfactorily explored and is only articulated through the 
partial reporting of newspaper editorials: the reader is left feeling disappointed that 
this "Africanity" is not investigated more thoroughly. 
There are, moreover, inevitably in a book of such scope, some glaring omissions. 
One searches in vain, for example, for a more profound insight into coping 
mechanisms that are presumably currently evolving in the urban context for single 
mothers or, even more crucially, for more than a cursory mention of the implications 
of AIDS on the situation of children - especially in Uganda. In particular, the 
rather forced conclusion serves to detract from the work as a whole. Academic 
anthropologists might also take issue with some of the theoretical positions 
inadequately described in the first section. The book's limited conclusion and the 
excessive sociological jargon notwithstanding, it is highly recommended reading, 
especially for those interested in grappling with the difficulties and complications
Book Reviews 99 
that besiege the African family, and the enormous and growing threat that African 
children are currently confronted with. Most important, the authors give a welcome 
and unequivocal emphasis to a child-centred perspective that encompasses all 
aspects of what we normally think of as "development work". 
Reviewed by Gerry Salole, former Southern Africa sub-Regional Director, Save 
the Children Federation (USA). 
Faces in the Revolution: The Psychological Effects of Violence on Township 
Youth in South Africa, Gillian Straker with Fathima Moosa, Rise Becker, and 
Madiyoyo Nkwale, Cape Town: David Philip and Athens: Ohio University Press, 
1992 (156pp). ISBN: 0-86486-203-2 (DavidPhillip); ISBN: 0-8214-1040-7 (Ohio 
Univ) No price listed. 
Through the use of composite vignettes based on extensive interviews with 60 girls 
and boys, ages 12-22, Gillian Straker brings into clear telephoto view some of the 
psychological struggles of youth engaged in the fight against apartheid during the 
mid-1980s in Leandra, South Africa. 
Straker's analysis seeks to shed light on the diversity of trauma experienced by 
youth, to explore the self-perception of youth, and to examine the psychological 
resilience and vulnerabilities of the youth within a war context In addition, she 
addresses the important question of whether violence begets violence. 
The book represents scholarly, clinical research done in the real world. The 
method is a qualitative case-study approach involving over 300 hours of audio 
tapes. The vignettes themselves aremasterfulcompilationsofindividual experiences. 
An initial reading of the appendix serves to orient readers concerned with 
methodological issues. The experiences of the youth, which form the basis of 
Straker's analysis, are presented in six well-organised chapters. The theoretical 
underpinnings are wide-ranging, from the political analysis of Fanon (1963), to the 
mythological focus of Campbell (1956), to morepsychological theories of behaviour 
and group process (Slater, 1966; Anthony, 1987; Bion, 1961). 
Following violent confrontations with authorities in the Leandra Township, a 
group of youth fled to the Wilgespruit Fellowship Centre seeking shelter. The 
author was part of a counselling team called on to provide services to the youth. The 
data were collected during the initial stay of the youth at the Centre and during 
follow-up interviews conducted with 40% of the youth three years later. Straker's 
focus is on the individual and psychological, the boys and girls; nonetheless, she 
is careful to stress the powerful impact of war and poverty on the psychological 
development of these youth.
100 Book Reviews 
Through her eyes we come to see the force exerted by the context on their lives 
and behaviour (Chapter 1), their own unique individual resilience (Chapter 2), and 
vulnerabilities - vulnerabilities which some seem unlikely to escape (Chapter 3). 
We see Ricky, Isaac, Pretty, Silas, and others like them, as individuals, members 
of both functional and dysfunctional families, leaders, followers, freedom fighters, 
opportunists, casualties, victims and survivors of trauma and poverty. We come 
to understand the youth, some of the issues faced by the staff of the Wilgespruit 
Fellowship Centre and group process as it unfolds within the Centre. 
As other researchers have pointed out, children, regardless of the roles thrust 
upon them by war, are still children and need nurturance, protection and guidance 
from the family, community and state. We are reminded that as adolescents, these 
youth must face developmental issues of identity formation, individuation and 
belonging, but they must do so in a context that simultaneously demands of them 
the integration of opposing peacetime and wartime identities. 
Straker articulates several groupings of the youth based onmulti-modal reference 
points: observations of the youth by staff, counsellors and other youth; selfperceptions 
by the youth concerning their attitudes, beliefs and behaviour; and 
their reflections on these at follow-up three years later. Her analysis is compelling. 
She has integrated relevant psychological literature without losing sight of the 
experiences of the youth under study. This makes the book solidly-grounded and, 
importantly, highly readable and accessible to a wide audience. 
The groupings distilled from the data highlight the range of meaning that may 
be given to objectively similar acts of violence in the context of war and the 
complexity of understanding the psychological effects of violence on youth. While 
the topologies of groupings are a point of departure and will help to guide future 
research, it is clear that they are fluid categories; Straker rightly avoids the tendency 
to simplify rich experience into tightly-bound categories or topologies. 
In Chapter 6 Straker focuses on the future and the need for healing. There is a 
tone of guarded optimism and an informed awareness of the need for multi-modal 
interventions that build and support the family, community as well as the youth as 
individuals. Deep changes will need to occur on social and political levels if the 
rootcausesofconflictandracialhatredaretobe truly addressed. South Africamust 
educate itself in tolerance and peace. 
An urgent question, and one which Straker herself briefly addresses in the final 
chapter, is the need to systematically examine the effects of violence and racial 
hatred on South Africa's white youth. These are issues that necessarily verge on 
the political. However, as researchers, practitioners and professionals we must be 
careful as we investigate the victim's responses, not to perpetuate unwittingly the 
acceptance of a violent system, by not being equally attentive to the destructive 
consequences of violence for all members of a society.
Book Reviews 101 
In summary, true to its purpose, the book provides a striking view of the faces 
in therevolution. Through theparticulars,Straker provides insight into the general, 
which both enriches the field at a theoretical level and guides it at the level of 
clinical and community intervention. Her analysis inspires us to action and 
conveys the reality that there is plenty of work to be done as mental health workers, 
researchers, social service workers, policy makers, and community activists. 
References 
Anthony E (1987) "Risk, vulnerability and resilience: An overview", in E J 
Anthony & B J Cohler (eds) The Invulnerable Child, Guildford, New York (pp 
3-49). 
Bion W (1961) Experiences in Groups and Other Papers,Tavistock, London. 
Campbell, J (1956) The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Meridian, New York. 
Fanon F (1963) The Wretched of the Earth, Penguin, Middlesex. 
Slater P (1966) Microcosm: Structural, Psychological and Religious Evolution 
in Groups, Wiley, New York. 
Reviewed by Joan W Duncan, Professor of Psychology, Long Island University, 
Brooklyn, New York. 
Refugee Women, Susan Forbes Martin, Zed Books, London and New Jersey, 
1991,140 pp. (ISBN: 1-85649-001-7). Price £10,95. 
This book introduces the reader to the situation of refugee women from various 
parts of the world and the problems that they face and on a day-to-day basis. She 
'sets the scene' by introducing the reader to the whole question of the refugee 
problem and also gives statistics on refugees. The second chapter addresses the 
crucial issue that faces any refugee: the changing of roles that occurs when people 
move from their own countries or homes. The third chapter focuses on what can 
be done to provide safety to refugee women, including obtaining refugee status. 
The fourth and fifth chapters focus on the provision of basic services such as 
food, water and education and the involvement of refugee women in economic 
activities. Chapter six looks at what the author calls "durable solutions" for those 
who have been forced to leave their homes, and the options that are available to 
them. While some refugees are lucky to be resettled in other countries within their 
regions, some find themselves in developed countries where they have to cope with 
new ways of living. The author successfully draws attention to the problems that 
these refugees may face. Finally she outlines what the United Nations bodies have
102 Book Reviews 
and are doing to assist refugee women. She also provides a list of international 
organisations that are involved in work with refugees. 
Throughout the book the author stresses the need for refugees to participate 
actively in decision-making in all matters that affect their lives and she sees their 
participation as a tool which can empower refugee women to sustain development. 
She manages to capture the lives of refugee women vividly and highlights the 
common, but untalked about problems that refugees experience, such as sexual 
harassment and rape. However, because the author addresses many issues she does 
not go into a lot of detail on these. Her ability to suggest solutions to some of the 
problems makes her book very useful to anyone interested in work with refugee 
women. The book is written simply and her case studies enable the reader to 
conceptualise and appreciate the problems that women face. I view it as an eyeopener 
and hope that anyone involved in development work will have a chance to 
read the book which covers the gap that was existing in as far as literature on 
refugee women is concerned. 
Reviewed by Perpetua Gumbo, Director of Fieldwork, School of Social Work, 
Harare 
Homeless Children: The Watchers and the Waiters, Nancy A Boxill (ed), The 
Haworth Press, New York, 1990, pp 156. (ISBN: 0-86656-789-5). No price listed. 
This book is a unique collection of eight articles about homeless children in the 
United States of America. The relevance of this book cannot be overstated as 
homelessness is a growing problem in all societies; developed, developing and 
underdeveloped. It is more so in the latter two where resources are usually meagre. 
The authors have viewed homelessness and its impact on children from several 
perspectives. Each author presents a professional discourse of the phenomenon of 
homelessness and caps this with recommendations on policy and practical 
intervention. Thus, this book is ideal for use by field workers and policy makers 
tackling the issue of homelessness and in particular homeless children. 
In the first chapter Leanne G Rivlin sets the tone of the book by presenting an 
analysis of the impacts of various forms of homelessness on children and the 
meaning of personal space and personal place in the lives of children. Rivlin 
outlines the significance of the environment to children's social, emotional and 
cognitive development The author takes the reader into a discussion of the 
powerful and enduring impacts that environmental experiences have on children, 
considering implications of shelters, welfare hostels and street environments to 
children's welfare and lives. The author offers the concept of attachment to place 
and underlines the direct functions of attachments, stabilising children's lives and 
rationalising their stimulation and preventing alienation.
Book Reviews 103 
The second chapter explores the specific psychological effects of growing up in 
shelters and welfare hostels and discusses various coping strategies that homeless 
children have developed to adapt to the stress of homelessness. The authors present 
quantitative and qualitative data resulting from psychological measures and 
assessments conducted on homeless children in Massachusetts. They make an 
interesting conclusion that emergency sheltering facilities exacerbate the children's 
existing problems and create new ones. This should provide food for thought to 
emergency relief agencies who provide shelters to deslocado communities in the 
Zimbabwean context. 
In the third chapter, the reader is taken through the experiences of children on 
the move, a transient group of children and their families or friends who are moving 
across the country and are not yet living in shelters. This group of homeless 
children live in vehicles, buses or train stations and is highly mobile, changing 
location more often than the sun's daily changes in horizontal position. The 
authors, Hall and Moza, conclude their article outlining intervention strategies and 
implications for policy, public education and short and long-term solutions that 
address the economic, social and psychological needs of the homeless. 
In the fourth chapter, Boxill and Beaty challenge the reader to reconsider 
conceptions of mother-child relationships among homeless women and their 
children. The authors describe how the delicate and important dyad of mother and 
child is affected and distorted by shelter-living, volunteer and "professional" 
intervention. This brings to fore the critical usefulness of the concept of popular 
participation in programme planning and implementation. Boxill and Beaty 
conclude their article with concrete recommendations based on data obtained 
through participant observation and phenomenological inquiry. 
The fifth chapter by Wright takes the reader away from psychosocial issues to 
the physical health problems of homeless children, youth and women seen in the 
National Health Care for the Homeless Programme (HCH) during the Programme's 
first year. Homeless people stand out as being more ill and children suffer from 
chronic physical disorders at about twice the rate of occurrence among similar 
ambulatory patient populations/Wright attributes the health problems directly to 
the conditions of a homeless existence. 
The sixth chapter by Rosenman and Stein focus the reader on concrete 
programme problems and public policy failures. The authors describe the great 
hardships and inadequacies createdby under-funded, less coordinated and politically 
unpopular programmes for homeless children. The authors highlight the various 
social service needs of homeless children and they present recommendations for 
effective intervention. They emphasise the need for a national policy to address the 
problem of homelessness.
104 Book Reviews 
In the seventh chapter, Battle explores poverty in the context of homeless 
women and children and how national policy has affected the lives of families in 
the United States. The author takes the reader on a journey tracing social welfare 
policy from Elizabethan Poor Laws through the New Deal, the War on Poverty and 
up to Reaganomics. Battle notes that national social welfare policy has over the 
years either succeeded or failed to alleviate the plight of the poor because of sociopolitical 
factors in the United States at different points in history. This brings to fore 
how powerful interests may water down policies and programmes with noble 
intentions. 
The eighth and final chapter by Connolly caps the volume by looking at the life 
style of street children in two of South America's cities. The author offers a moving 
discussion of a comparison of street children in Bogota, Colombia and Guatemala 
City. Connolly concludes the chapter by suggesting a national policy review to 
avoid a similar scenario in the United States. The chapter provokes serious 
thoughts and raises critical comparative analysis. The reader is forced to consider 
how Zimbabwe is different from the Latin American countries that Connolly writes 
about. In Zimbabwe there are already indications that street children are a growing 
phenomenon and the critical question is and will be: what is our response to street 
children? 
The volume raises moral questions about societal responses to homelessness, 
distribution of resources and national policy formulation. It offers concrete 
solutions to how and why we should respond to homelessness. However we must 
all agree that children are not" watchers and waiters". Children are active 
participants in the biggest game called life. We need to appreciate the role children 
play in influencing the final outcome of the "game". 
Reviewed by Backson Muchini, former Field Coordinator, Children and War 
Program, Save the Children Federation (USA), Chambuta Refugee Camp, 
Zimbabwe.