Nowhere to Grow: Homeless and Runaway Adolescents and Their Families (Social Institutions and Social Change Series)
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Author: Les B. Whitbeck
Publisher: Aldine De Gruyter
Paperback:
ISBN 10: 0202305848
ISBN 13: 978-0202305844
Les B. Whitbeck and Dan R. Hoyt begin their report on street children in the Midwest with the statement, "If you live in or have visited even a medium-sized city recently, you have seen runaway and homeless young people. They congregate in certain downtown areas and hang out in malls during inclement weather . . . Mostly, they look like the other kids. . . . The difference is that they won’t be going home tonight."
This book draws on a study of over six hundred runaway and homeless adolescents and over two hundred of their caretakers from cities in four Midwestern states. It focuses on the family histories of these young people and on the developmental impact of early independence. Street social networks, subsistence strategies, sexuality, and street victimization are all considered, as well as their effect on adolescent behaviors and emotional health.
Relying on interviews and data from survey research, and working in partnership with street outreach agencies, Whitbeck and Hoyt lead the reader through the various risk factors associated with precocious independence, beginning in the family and extending to external environments and behaviors. Nowhere to Grow is an emotional account of the cumulative consequences for young people with few good options at the outset and even fewer once they are on their own.
Review
“Nowhere to Grow is based on the authors’ comprehensive study of 602 adolescents and their caregivers in a number of small and large Midwestern cities. Whitbeck and Hoyt (Iowa State Univ.) conclude that without effective intervention, the experiences of these runaways are essentially preparing them to become marginal adults whose “early adult status has come at the cost of essential developmental experiences.” Upper-division undergraduates and above.”
—B. A. Pine, Choice
“[Lew Whitbeck and Dan Hoyt] present a sobering and convincing portrait of the life experiences and tragic unraveling of human potential among a segment of America’s distressed homeless and runaway youth… Whitbeck and Hoyt are clearly knowledgeable and committed scholars, and Nowhere to Grow represents a significant contribution to the literature on runaway and homeless adolescents.”
—Leon Anderson, Contemporary Sociology
“Drawing on their study of more than 600 runaway and homeless adolescents, the authors utilize extensive quantitative and rich qualitative data to tell the stories of these youth… Whitbeck and Hoyt are to be lauded for their efforts to illuminate an elusive population so often misjudged and forgotten. The paucity of information regarding runaway and homeless youth makes their work a particularly welcome addition to our knowledge of children and families, especially regarding those found at the margins of our society whose voices are seldom heard.”
—Lee Ann De Reus, Journal of Marriage and Family
“Relying on interviews and data from a survey devised by their team, and working in partnership with street outreach agencies, Whitbeck and Hoyt lead the reader through the various risk factors associated with precocious independence, beginning in the family and then extending to their subjects’ environments and behaviors once they have opted to leave. The authors provide a poignant account of cumulative consequences for young people who had few good options at the outset, and have even fewer when they are on their own.”
—Adolescence
About the Author
Dan R. Hoyt is professor and chair of the department of sociology as well as acting director of the survey methods, statistics, and psychometric core facility at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His work has appeared in Journal of Marriage and Family, Child Abuse and Neglect, and Journal of Adolescent Health.
Les B. Whitbeck is professor of sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he specializes in the areas of drug and alcohol prevention, family sociology, and high-risk children and adolescents. His work has appeared in Society and Mental Health, Journal of Early Adolescence,and Journal of Community Mental Health. His most recent book is Mental Health and Emerging Adulthood among Homeless Young People.
