Rural Sociology Commons^™

Child Labor In Agricultural Production And Socioeconomic Variables Among Arable Farming Households In Nigeria, Albert Ukaro Ofuoku, David Eduvie Idoge, Bishop Ochuko Ovwigho

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This study was conducted to determine the level of child labor involvement in arable crop farming. A multistage random sampling method was used to select the respondents. Data were collected with the use of a structured interview schedule and questionnaire. Most farming household heads were males (60.61%) and 65% had no formal education, with an average age of 42.28 years, an average household size of 11 persons, annual average income of N192,000.00, and average farm size of 1.13ha. The children participated in field preparation, planting, weeding, pesticide, fertilizer and herbicide application, harvesting, transportation, and processing. Many (43.33%) of the children …

Rural Caregivers And Social Isolation: Some Properties And Dimensions, Ramon Hinojosa, Melanie Sberna Hinojosa, Toni Chiara

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

There are an estimated 400,000 people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the United States. Many rely on an informal caregiver for assistance. Caregivers are more likely than non-caregivers to report feelings of social isolation. Rural MS caregivers are especially prone to these feelings of isolation. We conducted in-depth interviews with rural caregivers of veterans with MS and used a grounded theory approach to data collection and analysis to illustrate some properties and dimensions of social isolation in a rural MS caregiving sample. These properties include: isolation and the rural environment; isolation from family; isolation from friends; and isolation from the …

Promoting Participation In Sustainable Living Educational Programming Events Among Nonenvironmentally-Motivated Individuals: The Importance Of Key Informant Involvement, Brooklynn J. Wynveen

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Many social science researchers agree that overconsumption of resources and consumer goods is a major problem in Western culture today, particularly in the United States. Thus, promoting sustainable behavior among the public in rural and urban areas alike is important. Although existing research offers suggestions for promoting sustainable behaviors among environmentally-motivated audiences, a void remains with respect to encouraging non-environmentally-motivated individuals to adopt more sustainable behaviors. In response, I conducted a formative experiment aimed specifically at: 1) fostering participation among non-environmentally motivated individuals in sustainable living educational programming events, and 2) promoting subsequent behavior change among those participants in the …

Why “Ritiya” Could Not Go To Sell Vegetables? Myth Versus Reality In Terms Of Caste, Culture And Livelihood, Chandu Lal Chandrakar

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This qualitative study focuses on the challenges faced by the upper-caste Brahmin women in rural areas of the district of Katihar, Bihar, India by focusing on their education, cultural values, and choosing the means of livelihood in the milieu of newly transformed rural areas in Bihar. A drastically decreasing educational quality in terms of skill and morality combined with the message of education translated as knowing the rights to maintain equity and equality have excluded the upper-caste women from the benefits of government policies. There is a paucity of research that could reflect the suppressed voice of insecurity and psychological …

Armed To Farm: Developing Training Programs For Military Veterans In Agriculture, Dan J. Donoghue, Harold L. Goodwin, Angela R. Mays, Komala Arsi, Margo Hale, Terrell Spencer, Michael O’Gorman, Shibu Jose, Ondieki J. Gekara, Joan M. Burke, Ann M. Donoghue

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Farming offers a viable avenue for returning veterans to transition into society and capitalizes on skills that made them successful in the military. However, these opportunities may be missed due to a lack of targeted training programs, guidance, and information for the veteran community. Programs directed toward educating beginning farmers, along with increased awareness and demand for local food production, have provided an opportunity for individuals interested in farming. However, few programs have focused on the needs of veterans interested in agriculture. Since 2007, our team has directly supported approximately 300 veterans interested in farming through workshops, internships, research, and …

El Proceso De Reforma Agraria En La República Dominicana 1979-83, Antonio V. Menéndez Alarcón

Antonio V. Menéndez Alarcón

El sector rural es el prinicpal pilar de le economia de Republica Domincana, ya que representa la fuente mas grande de empleo y tiene una considerable participacion en la formacion del Producto Bruto Interno (alrededor del 20%)...

El Crecimiento De Narcotráfico En Rosario: Violencia Disciplinada Y La Resistencia Social Frente A Este Sistema / The Growth Of Narcotrafficking In Rosario: Disciplined Violence And The Social Resistance To Resist This System, Caitlyn Yates

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The theoretical framework behind drug trafficking has thus far failed to mention the relationship between the growth of narcotics trafficking and structural violence. Using Farmer’s structural violence and the Foucauldian concept of biopolitcs, this paper explains the recent growth of narcotics trafficking in Rosario, Argentina. A more holistic approach to the complexity of the drug trafficking phenomenon arises by analyzing the effects of governmental corruption, relaxed politics, the criminalization of the poor, and the recent economic boom. Though this phenomenon is rather recent, the governmental and civilian resistance has none the less mobilized. Taking the theories of Farmer and Galtung …

The Significance Of Comunidade Sabiaguaba Within The Developing City Of Fortaleza, Ce, Katherine Davis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The city of Fortaleza, Ceará has experienced rapid population growth and development over the last century, especially concentrated in the last fifty years. Today, this growth results in the creation of a beautiful tourist destination that many wish to visit, but also a dangerous and unequal city in which many have to live. Many state planners view this growth in infrastructure and tourism as the solution for the economic hardships of Fortaleza. However, many residents are unsatisfied with this development plan, and feel that there is a disconnect between the needs of the people and the plans of the state. …

Opting For Elsewhere: Lifestyle Migration In The American Middle Class, Brian A. Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

Cultivating Communities Of Practice To Develop Local Preparedness For Climate Change, Konda Reddy Chavva

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this research was to study the effectiveness of field facilitators’ (FFs) community of practice in improving ways in which FFs and farmers communicate and work together to strengthen farmers’ climate change preparedness through identifying locally suitable adaptation strategies in drought-prone districts of Andhra Pradesh State in India. In development initiatives like the one studied, FFs are often the key liaison person with each community—farmers in this case. FFs interact regularly with farmers, with whom they establish and sustain critical relationships over time. Further, they take the lead in building farmers’ capacities by contextualizing technical information that professionals …

Successful Communities: What Is Desired And What Is Present In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska, 2014 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben

Nebraska Rural Poll

Rural Nebraskans are looking for many things in a community. The characteristics of a community that most believe are absolutely essential include social dimensions (sense of personal safety), economic dimensions (jobs/economic opportunities), some basic services (a quality school system, available medical services, affordable housing, quality housing and well maintained infrastructure) and environmental dimensions (a clean and attractive natural environment).

Unfortunately, when asked if these characteristics are present in their current community, some of these areas are lacking. One of the more extreme cases involves jobs/economic opportunities. Seventy-seven percent of the respondents say these are absolutely essential in order for them …

Raw Milk, Raw Power: States Of (Mis)Trust, Diana Mincyte

Publications and Research

In recent years, raw milk has emerged as one of the most contentious food commodities, considered a serious health risk by public health officials and a source of healing and nourishment by raw milk proponents. The purpose of this article is to explore the ways in which consumers construct and experience trust in food that is often procured in informal markets. Because the image of an overreaching, exploitative government features prominently in popular narratives surrounding raw milk consumption, this article is explicitly concerned with the role of the state in public food debates. Drawing on two complementary empirical cases of …

“I Pray You Enough”: Exploring Rural Early Childhood Development Through The Narratives Of Caregivers., Bethany G. Hart

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Childhood, including the antenatal period, is a time of invaluable physical and mental development – the effects of which last a lifetime. These experiences are shaped by a host of external factors (such as nutrition or mental stimulation) that are heavily affected by socioeconomic status. A study by the United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) found that South African children in rural areas are more physically and cognitively delayed than their less-rural peers (2007). Thus, the purpose of this study was to gain insight into the rearing and development of young children (5 years and under) in a rural …

Land Rights Among Subsistence Farmers: An Examination Of Madagascar’S Land Reform And Prevailing Systems Of Land Tenure In Betafo, Taylor Crowl

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In Madagascar, legal systems of land tenure have been inaccessible for the vast majority of the rural population. This has stranded millions of subsistence farmers in a sense of insecurity, as they lack legal rights for the property that they have farmed for generations. Madagascar’s land reform, launched in 2005, attempted to change these exclusionary tenure practices. This reform —known as the Plan National Foncier—created land certificates and local land offices in an attempt to make legal land tenure financially, geographically, and logistically accessible to the local population. This study discusses the successes, failures, and unforeseen consequences of Madagascar’s land …

The Sociology Of The Home An Autoethnography That Explores House Building In Rural Sandanezwe, Oliver Hayward

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project took me to Sandanezwe, KwaZulu-Natal, a rural village outside of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, where a community member, Mpume Khanyezi, had originally asked me to design and build a new home for her family. I intended to engage in a heuristic inquiry so that I could complete a daily practice of letting go of my own opinions and immersing myself in the community in order to better act as a scribe for the mother and analyze the community objectively. I attempted to gather qualitative data through interviews, active participation, direct observations with village members and building parties. Ultimately, my …

Creating Constraints To Community Resiliency: The Event Of A Rural School’S Closure, Jacquelyn Oncescu

Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy

In this study, a community resilience model is utilized to explore the impacts of a rural school’s closure and its implication on community resiliency in the Village of Limerick, Saskatchewan. The findings from four semi-structured interviews and three focus groups indicate that the school’s closure created a number of constraints that have considerable implications for community resilience. In particular, the school’s closure decreased the residents’ sense of community. In addition, as a result of the school’s closure, the community resident’s experienced diminishing civic engagement in the form of volunteerism, community recreation participation, and intergenerational relationships. This paper demonstrates the challenges …

Implications Of Global Peak Population For Canada's Future, Alain P. Bélanger, Barry Edmonston, Kevin Mcquillan, Benoît Laplante, Sharon M. Lee, Martin Cooke, Don Kerr

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

In “Imagining Canada’s Future” the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) engaged various stakeholders to help establish six Future Challenge Areas. This report elaborates on the capacity of the Canadian research community with regard to the Future Challenge Area on “What might the implications of global peak population be for Canada?” It provides answers to sub-questions associated with this theme, namely: (1) What do we need to understand in order to effectively nurture the next generations? (2) What might Canadian families look like in five, 10, and 20 years, and how might they measure their well-being? (3) Life cycle …

Food Insecurity And Psychological Well-Being Among Women Living With Hiv/Aids On Antiretroviral Therapy In The Alabama Black Belt, Andrew A. Zekeri, Youssouf Diabate

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

The objective of this research was to estimate the prevalence of food insecurity and determine if food insecurity is associated with psychological well-being among women living with HIV/AIDS. Survey data were collected from 268 women living with HIV/AIDS attending two clinics that provide medical and social support services to HIV-positive patients who live in 23 counties in Southeast Alabama. The results indicated that, using USDA food security scale, 54% of the women were food insecure. Multiple regression analysis results indicated that income, depressive symptoms, race, and participation in SNAP were significant predictors of food insecurity; employment and education were not …

A Federal Commission For The Black Belt South, Ronald C. Wimberley, Libby V. Morris, Rosalind Harris

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

Recent legislation by the U.S. Congress authorized a federal regional commission for the Black Belt South. Three southern social scientists first proposed the commission at Tuskegee University’s Professional Agricultural Workers Conference in 1990. Following congressional seminars on the Black Belt by Ronald Wimberley and Libby Morris, the first legislation for the commission was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994. After a succession of 12 U.S. House and Senate Bills, Congress finally authorized “the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission” in 2008 with support by various, and sometimes competing, groups. This paper traces and updates the chronology of sociological research, …

Organic Growers Of Alabama Cooperative, A Loosely Fitted Cooperative: Nurturing The Community And Growing Together, Wylin D. Wilson, Jose Gbadamosi, Decetti Taylor, Susan Barnes, Jan Garrett, Asabi Hunter, Cheryl Parker, Wendy Williams, Henry Williams

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

The age-old connection between the people and the land is something that seven women, who have organized themselves into a loosely fitted cooperative, are reviving. In the process of growing together as members of a cooperative, these women in Macon County, Alabama, are not only promoting healthy living and nurturing community, but are also addressing the issue of food security by making nutritious affordable produce and other agricultural products available to their community. Additionally, they are illustrating alternative strategies of community and economic development. This article examines why they chose the structure of a loosely fitted cooperative over a traditional …