Description
Book SynopsisFor most people, the word "orphanage" conjures up images of poor little Oliver Twist pleading for more gruel. Many are convinced that the history of orphanages is a social welfare record of total devastation to the lives of the children who grew up in them. Indeed, many of the scholars who contributed to Home Away From Home began their research with the conventional negative view of orphanages. But they arrived at far more balanced assessments of the historical record: while the orphanages studied were not perfect, they were often good solutions to dire conditions for children. The future of America's most vulnerable citizens is on the line, says Richard B. McKenzie, the editor of this volume. Today's government-run child welfare system is detrimental to tens of thousands of children. Foster care, intended as a temporary solution, has turned into permanent but inadequate care for many. While adoption is a solution for some children, others are difficult to place or legally unavailable for permanent placement. In re-examining the surprising success of orphanages in the past, Home Away From Home highlights the great value of providing a truly stable environment for youngsters, and it explains how orphanages might again be a powerfully beneficial social institution.
Trade ReviewProfessor Richard B. McKenzie is an unusual man; brilliant by nature and enlightened by experience. His willingness to seek the truth and social justice for the weakest members of society, children without functional parents, is as courageous as it is important. How a society cares for its weakest members tells how just and sensitive we are as a people. In this absorbing and historically important book, Dr. McKenzie has collected a history and analysis of how societies throughout time have dealt with their most vulnerable members. This is a must read for anyone involved with child welfare or early childhood education. -- The Honorable Gary C. Byrne, PhD, President, Vesta Umbrella, LLC Eye-opening and insightful, this book does an effective job of destroying the myths of orphanages as Dickensian images of jail-like institutions. It shows them as effective, supportive, and caring with good living conditions to raise mentally and physically healthy children. -- Donald H. Whitney, Founder, President, and CEO, World Children's Center Home Away from Home is an invaluable contribution to the discussion of the value and the motivations behind orphanages and residential schools for at-risk children. -- Heidi Goldsmith, Founder and Executive Director, CORE: Coalition for Residential Education
Table of ContentsPreface 1: Orphanages in History and the Modern Child Welfare Setting: An Overview (Duncan Lindsey) 2: The Early History of Orphanages: From Constantinople to Venice (Timothy Miller) 3. Christian Charity and the Politics of Orphan Care in the Dutch Republic (Anne E. C. McCants) 4. Mooseheart: "The Child City" (David T. Beito) 5. A Home of Another Kind: An Orphanage in the Midst of Chicago's Elite (Kenneth Cmiel) 6. Fates of Orphans: Poor Children in Antebellum Charleston (John E. Murray) 7. The Transformation of Catholic Orphanages: Cleveland, 1851--1996 (Marian Morton) 8. Baltimore's Nineteenth-Century Orphanages (Nurith Zmora) 9. The Orphan Trains as an Alternative to Orphanages (Marilyn Holt) 10. Orphanages as a National Institution: History and Its Lessons (Timothy A. Hacsi) Contributors Notes Bibliography Index
