Russia's Abandoned Children An Intimate Understanding

Subjects:

• Family Resources » Adoption
• Family Resources » Child Care & Parenting
• Multicultural Studies » Slavic Studies

Reviews:

• Fujimura provides an astonishing anthropological perspective on a virtually unexplored and forgotten group of the world's most vulnerable children. The author must be applauded first for the comprehensive and rigorous participant observation that she conducted over several years. Rarely is a researcher so devoted. In addition, she is somehow able to provide readers with a stark and shocking view of "the lowest common denominator [of children]" in a manner that is rich, comprehensive, and extraordinarily disturbing. Yet, somehow, Fujimura presents her research--the stories she uncovers--with a uniquely sensitive understanding of Russian culture, contemporary and historic. The manner in which she writes, often using the voice and subjective perspective of Russian citizens, allows readers to learn about an invisible group of children within the context of an almost forgotten world. This amazing book has the depth of rigorous research, yet reads like a novel. Highly recommended. Professional and lay readers, especially those interested in international adoption. All levels.
  —Choice July 2006
• Fujimura has written an intense and powerful book. In addition to providing a disturbing portrait of Russia's abandoned children, the book's great merit is found in the author's insights about the cultural meaning of child abandonment in Russia.
  —Smith College Studies in Social Work 2007
• [F]ascinating case studies....[c]ould stimulate good discussion on issues like the role of culture in human development and the universality or specificity of the causes and/or effects of experiences (e.g., the abandonment of children) that cross national lines.
  —PsycCritques March 1, 2006
• Draws on interview and other data to examine the lives and stigmatization of children in Russian shleters, orphanages, and streets.
  —The Chronicle of Higher Education November 11, 2005

Table of Contents:

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Entering the Doorway to Abandoned Russia
• Institutionalized, Neglected Orphans
• Victims of a Failed System, or Cold Cultural Beliefs?
• Many Forms of Abandonment
• Moscow's Homeless Children
• The Lure of the City
• Domestic Violence Contributing to Child Homelessness by Tatyana Sudakova and Sally Stoecker
• Options for the Abandoned Child
• Their World Still With Secrets and Sorrow
• Appendix
• Endnotes
• Bibliography