Alex Kotlowitz

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There Are No Children Here

• Alex Kotlowitz

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The 1st thing you notice about this book is that
it is very different from the others that we have
read in class it is actually an easy read. It
is not written for academics. -There are no
citations and no emphasis on specific details
-Kotlowitz does not attempt to back up his
findings with hard data and statistics
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It is closest in resemblance to an observational
study, however, the author never explicitly says
how he collects his data (interviews, direct
observation) all he says is that the book follows
Lafeyette and Pharaoh, two brothers, over a 2
year period. -If it were written for academic
consumption there would be a few problems
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1-The author employs many tactics to invoke
emotions. He uses poetic language and imagery to
make people feel for the kids in the story
(pg.45)
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2-The sources of his information would be called
into question. If he is using LaJoes and the
kids accounts of what was happening, self-report
bias would come into question. Are they telling
the actual truth or did they embellish for
effect?
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3- This book seems more like a crusade than a
study. The author went into his observations
knowing what he wanted to get across to readers,
he says so in the preface. He decided what he
wanted to write about after he wrote a small
piece on the boys to accompany a friends
photograph. He also became friends with the boys.
Thus, he was not an impartial observer. (pg. x)
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This book does a very good job of providing a
human element to all of the facts that we have
been hearing about in class so far. This book is
an excellent compliment to the academic texts
that we have been reading so far because it deals
with many of the same issues in a new
way.Examples-social disorganization
pg.13-public housing quality pg. 22
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The book also deals with-violence/gangs-the
welfare issue-overcrowding -the lack of good
examples for kids-teenage pregnancy/simple
mothers-the quality of schools and drop out
ratesIt is interesting to note that Kotlowitz
discusses things that fall into the culture of
poverty argument, without giving a structural
argument to counter-balance. If it was not for
previous readings, which took on culture of
poverty arguments, I might have seen these to be
cultural rather than structural problems. This
was particularly true of the family unit
descriptions.
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This book was also made into a movie starring
Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou. Rather than being
a story about the boys, Hollywood turned it into,
the dramatic story of one woman's battle against
the forces of crime. LaJoe Rivers attempts to
protect her two sons from a life of crime on the
streets of Chicago.
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Tonight at 11pm, CBS will be airing Living in
Bay View, which will explore the lives of
children and their families in a very violent
environment.