Out Here By Ourselves: The Stories of Young People Whose Mothers Have AIDS / Edition 1

by Diane Duggan

Overview

Despite the significant number of AIDS affected youth in the United States, the plight of these young people has been largely disregarded. This book presents the stories of several young people whose mothers had AIDS or had died from the disease. They speak directly about their experiences and their concerns. Individual and common themes in their stories are analyzed to gain insight into their problems and to develop an understanding of how best to respond to their needs. Some prominent themes shared by the participants are: longstanding unstable living arrangements; serious conflict with their mothers; multiple losses in the youth's lives, even before the AIDS crisis; the mother's past drug use; behavioral problems and difficulties with limits in the family, school, and the community; unsafe sexual behavior; and childbearing within a year of the mother's death. These issues are exacerbated by the poverty, discrimination, and violence in the communities in which these and many AIDS affected young people live.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815336211
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/14/2000
Series:	Children of Poverty
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	190
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; 1. Purpose of the Study; Introduction; Research Questions; 2. Background; Introduction; Characteristics of AIDS Affected Youth; Stigma; Bereavement; Needs of AIDS Affected Youth; 3. How the Study was Conducted; My Stance in the Role of Researcher; Rationale for the Method; Recruiting Participants; The Interview Process; The Field Log; Data Analysis; Trustworthiness; Creating the Participants' Stories; 4. The Young People's Stories; Introduction; Setting; Joe; Maria; Tina; 5. Common Themes; We're Out Here by Ourselves; My Mother Had a Problem; Me and My Mother Didn't Get Along; Something to Live for; Epilogue: Where Are They Now?; 6. Discussion and Implications; Unstable Living Arrangements; Behavior and Learning Problems; Unsafe Sexual Behavior; Multiple Losses; Disclosure; Responding to AIDS Affected Youth; Implications; Application of Findings; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.