Children of Katrina

The Katrina Bookshelf

by Alice Fothergill, Lori Peek

When children experience upheaval and trauma, adults often view them as either vulnerable and helpless or as resilient and able to easily “bounce back.” But the reality is far more complex for the children and youth whose lives are suddenly upended by disaster. How are children actually affected by catastrophic events and how do they cope with the damage and disruption?

Children of Katrina offers one of the only long-term, multiyear studies of young people following disaster. Sociologists Alice Fothergill and Lori Peek spent seven years after Hurricane Katrina interviewing and observing several hundred children and their family members, friends, neighbors, teachers, and other caregivers. In this book, they focus intimately on seven children between the ages of three and eighteen, selected because they exemplify the varied experiences of the larger group. They find that children followed three different post-disaster trajectories—declining, finding equilibrium, and fluctuating—as they tried to regain stability. The children’s moving stories illuminate how a devastating disaster affects individual health and well-being, family situations, housing and neighborhood contexts, schooling, peer relationships, and extracurricular activities. This work also demonstrates how outcomes were often worse for children who were vulnerable and living in crisis before the storm. Fothergill and Peek clarify what kinds of assistance children need during emergency response and recovery periods, as well as the individual, familial, social, and structural factors that aid or hinder children in getting that support.

Genres: Nonfiction

345 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2015

Reviews

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this for my sociology of disaster class, and it was was fascinating. you can tell that the authors (one of which is my professor!) really care about the people they talked about in this book, which is nice because i worry that people who study people sometimes care more about proving their hypothesis than actually listening to and helping people. also, focusing on children in disasters is very important; children are too often overlooked in many areas.

this is one of the first books i've read for school that i actually had a good time reading. it was not hard to read at all, there's no clunky academic language that you see a lot in academic books. i would definitely recommend it even if you know nothing about disaster sociology (a niche but cool subject).

[Daniel Te · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the fact that this book is based on a variety of experiences and trajectories following a disaster. Instead of asserting a definite point on recovery, it more provides evidence of all the different possibilities, and I think that's more insightful as a whole (as opposed to other books on Katrina, which may spend more time focusing on specific aspects such as racial issues, bureaucracy, etc.).

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors have definitely achieved their goal of capturing the “tone, texture, and feeling” of these children’s stories. It’s so impressive how they intertwine genuine emotion with disaster literature.

And as a disaster researcher, the appendix detailing their methodology working with people, particularly children, in disasters is just as enlightening as the book itself.

[Annabelle Paushter · Rating 2 out of 5]

i read this book for college course. i think the stories about the children's lives were extremely insightful, however it's not my type of book. this isn't my usual choice of literature and therefore didn't enjoy it as much.
*rating based on enjoyment, not quality of work

[Dev Scott Flores · Rating 3 out of 5]

Methodologically difficult terrain - a 7 year, 650+ study that exemplifies the resilience and grace found in the children of Katrina

[Kaitye O'sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives lots of insight on the impact of Hurricane Katrina on families and especially children looking at key areas for resilience

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me cry a lot

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delight. Read for my Sociology of Disasters course. I was only assigned to read half of the kids' stories, but the text flowed by so well I read it all. The information is conveyed clearly, and at times doesn't feel academic (a compliment)! While a lot of the main points seem pretty obvious, this is partly because there is so much evidence to back them up, and also the fact that disasters don't completely avoid kids, consume them, or act as an equalizer of socioeconomic status etc. is already believable to me without reading a book about it. After reading several journal and magazine articles, watching films, listening to podcasts, and working on GIS maps regarding Hurricane Katrina, many of the facts were already familiar to me. But I was struck by 1) how long the recovery process is, and how much that these kids are faced with six years down the road can be directly attributed to Katrina, 2) influence of media coverage of the disaster impacting displaced kids' school bullying and acceptance chances, and 3) the extent of dire poverty endured by many residents of New Orleans, disaster or no.