Foreword by James Garbarino -- Preface -- Chapter 1. Vulnerable Childhood in a Global Context: Embracing the Sacred Trust -- Section I: Cultural Empowerment and Self Determination -- Chapter 2. Dilemmas of Rights-based Approaches to Child Well-being in an African Cultural Context -- Chapter 3. Undefended Children in the Classroom? Looking at Textbooks, Cultural -- Difference and Other Aspects of Indigenous Education in Mexico -- Chapter 4. The Nyae Nyae Village Schools Project: Indigenous Community-Based Education in Namibia -- Section II: Education and Schooling Experiences -- Chapter 5. Poverty and Minority Children’s Education in the U.S.: Case Study of a Sudanese Refugee Family -- Chapter 6. Boodja Marr Karl: A Whole-Community Approach to Aboriginal Education: The Development of a Cultural Framework for Aboriginal Participation in Education and Schooling -- Chapter 7. Self-Perception of Relations with Parents, Attitude Toward School, and Delinquency among African American, Caribbean American, and Ghanaian Adolescents -- Section III: Health and Well Being -- Chapter 8. Child Labor: A Child Development Perspective -- Chapter 9. Vulnerable Children?: The Heterogeneity of Young Children’s Experiences -- in Kenya and Brazil -- Chapter 10. Child Labor and Child Well-being of Children: The Case of Children in Marine Fishing in Ghana -- Chapter 11. A World Tour of Selected Intervention Programs for Children of a Parent with a Psychiatric Illness -- Section IV: Child Security -- Orphans and Fosterage -- Chapter 12. Sudanese Refugee Youth: Resilience among Undefended Children -- Chapter 13. When All the Children are Left Behind: An Exploration of Fosterage of Owambo Orphans in Namibia, Africa -- Chapter 14. Malawi Orphans: The Role of Transnational Humanitarian Organizations -- Section V: Children’s Rights -- Chapter 15. Indigenous Children’s Rights and Well-being: Perspectives from Central and Southern Africa -- Chapter 16. Traditional Religion, Social Structure, and Children’s Rights in Ghana: the Making of a Trokosi Child -- Chapter 17. Defending and Nurturing Childhood in Media, Public, and Policy Discourses: Lessons from UNICEF’s Juanita Communication Initiative in Colombia -- Chapter 18. Epilogue.

They are laborers, soldiers, refugees, and orphans. In areas of the world torn by poverty, disease, and war, millions of children are invisible victims, deprived of home, family, and basic human rights. Their chances for a stable adult life are extremely slim. The powerful interdisciplinary volume Vulnerable Children brings a global child-rights perspective to the lives of indigenous, refugee, and minority children in and from crisis-prone regions. Focusing on self-determination, education, security, health, and related issues, an international panel of scholars examines the structural and political sources of children's vulnerabilities and their effects on development. The book analyzes intervention programs currently in place and identifies challenges that must be met at both the community and larger policy levels. These chapters also go a long way to explain the often-blurred line between vulnerability and resilience. Key areas of coverage include: Dilemmas of rights-based approaches to child well-being in an African cultural context. Poverty and minority children’s education in the United States: The case study of a Sudanese refugee family. The heterogeneity of young children’s experiences in Kenya and Brazil. A world tour of interventions for children of a parent with a psychiatric illness. An exploration of fosterage of Owambo orphans in Namibia. UNICEF in Colombia: Defending and nurturing childhood in media, public, and policy discourses. Vulnerable Children is a must-have resource for researchers, graduate students, clinicians and professionals across a range of fields, including child and school psychology, social work, maternal and child health, developmental psychology, anthropology, sociology, social policy, and public health.