Sociology Commons^™

Thomas Braga's Portingales: A Celebration Of Portuguese American Culture, Reinaldo Silva

Ethnic Studies Review

Profoundly fascinated by and connected to the ancestral culture, Thomas Braga in Portingales (1981) believes he can best express his condition as a so-called hyphenated American if he expresses himself in English rather than in Portuguese. Fully aware that English, as opposed to Portuguese, will connect him with broader audiences so as to convey his ethnic experience, Braga's poems are subtle reminders to mainstream America of the enormous contributions of the peoples of Portuguese descent to the building of the United States of America.

W. E. B. Du Bois On Brown V. Board Of Education, Stanley O. Gaines Jr.

Ethnic Studies Review

The 1960s have been described as the "civil rights decade" in American history. Few scholar-activists have been identified as strongly with the legal, social, economic, and political changes culminating in the 1960s as has African American historian, sociologist, psychologist W. E. B. Du Bois. Inexplicably, in 2003, the 100-year anniversary of Du Bois' classic, The Souls of Black Folk (1903), came and went with little fanfare within or outside of academia. However, in 2004, the 50-year anniversary of the initial U. S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) presents an opportunity for ethnic studies in general, …

[Review Of] Patricia V. Symonds. Calling In The Soul: Gender And The Cycle Of Life In A Hmong Village, Jeremy Hein

Ethnic Studies Review

Hmong Americans are a diaspora group that came from Laos after leaving southern China in the early 1800s. The U.S. C.I.A. recruited a Hmong army during the 1960s to assist with the American military campaign against communism in Southeast Asia. Hmong refugees began arriving in the United States in 1975 following the collapse of the pro-American Laotian government. There are now about 200,000 Hmong Americans.

How And Why Lslamophobia Is Tied To English Nationalism But Not To Scottish Nationalism, Asifa M. Hussain, William L. Miller

Ethnic Studies Review

Muslim minorities throughout Europe are under threat of collateral damage from the Blair/Bush 'War on Terror.' In Scotland they also have to cope with the added possibility that Scottish nationalism might develop an 'ethnic' as well as a 'civic' dimension. But is Scottish nationalism part of the problem or part of the solution? Paradoxically, Muslims are under less pressure in Scotland than in England, despite Scotland's move over recent decades--psychologically as well as institutionally--towards nationalism.

Ethnic Studies Review

Ethnic Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Time To Make History, Time To Educate Women: A Narrative Of The Life And Work Of Christiana Thorpe Of Sierra Leone, Whitney Mcintyre Miller

Education Faculty Articles and Research

An examination of the life of Christiana Thorpe, a former nun from Sierra Leone who worked to improve education for girls and served as the only woman in a cabinet of nineteen members (as Minister of Education), then worked with the United Nations Development Programme and UNESCO amidst war and rebellion in her country.

Integrating Adolescent Livelihood Activities Within A Reproductive Health Programme For Urban Slum Dwellers In India, Mary Philip Sebastian, Monica J. Grant, Barbara Mensch

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This project, whose collaborators included CARE, the Centre for Operations Research and Training, and the Population Council, tested the impact of economic skills training among girls in a slum in Allahabad, India. Recognizing the relative disadvantage of adolescent girls, the study aimed to build an evidence base for adolescent livelihoods programs. Participating girls and their parents welcomed the program, and the baseline survey clearly indicated the appropriateness of an intervention that addresses the capabilities and opportunities available to adolescent girls—including both vocational training and savings schemes. However, few girls turned their new skills into economic gain, in part because of …

An Exploratory Study Of The Impacts On Gardening To Older People : Case Study To "Tsuen Wan Golden Organic Farming Project", Asia-Pacific Institute Of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University, Produce Green Foundation

APIAS Working Paper 工作論文

Aims

This was an exploratory study to investigate how gardening could enhance and strengthen the physical health, psychological well-being and social networks of older participants.

Design and participants

Qualitative research methodology was adopted in this study. Interviews were conducted on ten elderly people. In order to check and confirm the information collected in the in-depth interviews and provide more useful information for our study, four older participants and four volunteer workers were invited to join our two focus group discussions (N=8) upon the completion of the in-depth interview. Data was collected between March and July of 2004.

Findings

In this …

Involving Men In Maternity Care In India, Leila Caleb-Varkey, Anurag Mishra, Anjana Das, Emma Ottolenghi, Dale Huntington, Susan E. Adamchak, M.E. Khan, Rick Homan

Reproductive Health

The Men in Maternity study investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and cost of a new, more comprehensive model of maternity care that encouraged husbands’ participation in their wives’ antenatal and postpartum care. The study was conducted in India, in collaboration with the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Delhi Directorate at their primary health facilities called dispensaries. The study found that men accompanied their wives to the clinics and participated actively in the intervention. There were significant changes in family planning knowledge and behaviors of both men and women; although there was little acknowledgement of STI risk, knowledge and use of dual …

Opiniones Y Respuestas: Resultados De Una Encuesta De Opinión A Médicos Mexicanos Sobre El Aborto, Diana K. Lara, Lisa Goldman, Michelle Firestone

Reproductive Health

En México es incuestionable el papel crucial que los médicos juegan en la oferta de servicios seguros de aborto legal y en la atención a las mujeres con abortos en evolución, espontáneos o inducidos, y abortos complicados. Sin embargo, ningún estudio dirigido a personal de salud, y específicamente a médicos, se había realizado con una muestra representativa a nivel nacional. Una brecha de ese tipo en la literatura científica justificó la realización, entre julio y agosto de 2002, de una encuesta nacional en la cual se recopiló información sobre los conocimientos y las opiniones de médicos gíneco-obstetras, médicos familiares y …

The Implications Of Early Marriage For Hiv/Aids Policy, Judith Bruce, Shelley Clark

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This brief is based on a background paper prepared for the WHO/UNFPA/Population Council Technical Consultation on Married Adolescents, held in Geneva, Switzerland, December 9–12, 2003. The final paper is entitled “Including married adolescents in adolescent reproductive health and HIV/AIDS policy.” The consultation brought together experts from the United Nations, donors, and nongovernmental agencies to consider the evidence regarding married adolescent girls’ reproductive health, vulnerability to HIV infection, social and economic disadvantage, and rights. The relationships to major policy initiatives—including safe motherhood, HIV, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive rights—were explored, and emerging findings from the still relatively rare programs …

Including Married Adolescents In Adolescent Reproductive Health And Hiv/Aids Policy, Judith Bruce, Shelley Clark

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The majority of sexually active girls aged 15–19 in developing countries are married, and married adolescent girls tend to have higher rates of HIV infection than their sexually active, unmarried peers. Married adolescent girls represent a sizable fraction of adolescents at risk and experience some of the highest rates of HIV prevalence of any group. Nonetheless, married adolescents have been marginal in adolescent HIV/AIDS policies and programs and have not been the central subjects for programs aimed at adult married women. This paper offers a partial explanation for why married adolescents have so often been overlooked, the reasons why marriage …

Married Adolescents: An Overview, Nicole Haberland, Erica Chong, Hillary J. Bracken

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The nascent work reviewed in this compendium indicates that married girls experience significant social isolation and limited autonomy. Across the studies examined, on indicators of mobility, exposure to media, and social networks, married girls are consistently disadvantaged compared to their unmarried peers. Similarly, across studies, on most of the domains explored here (mobility, decision-making, control over economic resources, and possibly gender-based violence), married girls tend to be less empowered and more isolated than slightly older married females. There may also be health issues associated with marriage during adolescence. Married girls are frequently at a disadvantage in terms of reproductive health …

Married Adolescents: A Review Of Programmes, Auralice Graft, Nicole Haberland, Rachel E. Goldberg

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Historically, major adolescent and reproductive health initiatives have failed to explicitly consider the needs of married adolescents. This paper provides insight into what is being done—or not being done—to support married adolescent girls and boys, how these populations’ needs are being conceptualized, and the extent to which social context is factored into program design. Some early work with adolescent mothers (married and unmarried) is considered. The degree to which selected adolescent programs have been able to reach married girls with their activities is briefly examined. A few basic parameters of potential interventions for married adolescents are presented, including an inventory …

Sexual Coercion: Young Men's Experiences As Victims And Perpetrators, Deepika Ganju, William Finger, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, Vijaya Nidadavolu, K.G. Santhya, Iqbal Shah, Shyam Thapa, Ina Warriner

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Available evidence suggests that a considerable number of young people experience nonconsensual sex across the world, however research has mainly concentrated on the experiences of young girls and their perspectives of perpetrators of violence. Little is known about coercion among young males as victims or perpetrators. Case studies presented at an international consultative meeting in September 2003 in New Delhi, India, challenged the common assumption that only women are victims of violence, and shed light on the experiences of young males as victims of sexual coercion. These case studies also discussed the perspectives of young males as perpetrators of violence …

A World Apart: The Disadvantage And Social Isolation Of Married Adolescent Girls, Nicole Haberland, Erica Chong, Hillary J. Bracken

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This brief is based on a paper prepared for the WHO/UNFPA/Population Council Technical Consultation on Married Adolescents, held in Geneva, Switzerland, December 9–12, 2003. The consultation brought together experts from the United Nations, donors, and nongovernmental agencies to consider the evidence regarding married adolescent girls’ reproductive health, vulnerability to HIV infection, social and economic disadvantage, and rights. The relationships to major policy initiatives—including safe motherhood, HIV, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive rights—were explored, and emerging findings from the still relatively rare programs that are directed at this population were discussed. Despite the program attention and funding that have …

Too Young To Be A Mother: A Description Of The Lives Of Married Adolescent Girls In Egypt, Omaima El-Gibaly, Susan M. Lee

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Improving the status and health of women is high on the agenda of the Ministry of Health and Population in Egypt. Investing in the lives of women who marry in their teens has long-term benefits for these girls and their children. Valid information is needed, however, to address these girls’ special needs. Adolescent health is currently one of the major concerns of the Ministry of Health and Population, as is delaying early marriage and addressing the reproductive and other health needs of married girls. The Ministry was a fieldwork partner with the Population Council, providing data collection from primary health …

Socioeconomic Disadvantage And Unsafe Sexual Behaviors Among Young Women And Men In South Africa, Kelly Hallman

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This study investigates how relative socioeconomic status influences the sexual behaviors of young women and men aged 14–24 years in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa—an environment characterized by high HIV prevalence and high rates of poverty and inequality. Relative economic disadvantage is found to significantly increase the likelihood of a variety of unsafe sexual behaviors and experiences. Poorer young people, especially females, also have significantly lower access to media sources for family planning information. Without sufficient attention in the design and placement of HIV prevention programs to the economic and social conditions in which individuals live, the potential effectiveness of the …

Growing Up In Pakistan: The Separate Experiences Of Males And Females, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Monica J. Grant

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Population Council working paper examines gender differences in transitions to adulthood in Pakistan. The survey covers key aspects of adolescents’ lives, including the timing of several adult transitions and a detailed accounting of time use over the previous 24 hours. The results of the analysis confirm the fundamental importance of schooling to transitions to adulthood. Those without any schooling, which still includes 15 percent of young men and 46 percent of young women, assume the work burdens of adults prematurely and are deprived of the opportunity for learning in an institutional setting outside the family. Those who do attend …

Bridging The Gap Between Evidence-Based Innovation And National Health-Sector Reform In Ghana, John Koku Awoonor-Williams, Ellie S. Feinglass, Rachel Tobey, Maya Vaughan-Smith, Frank K. Nyonator, Tanya C. Jones, James F. Phillips

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Although experimental trials often identify optimal strategies for improving community health, transferring operational innovation from well-funded research programs to resource-constrained settings often languishes. Because research initiatives are based in institutions equipped with unique resources and staff capabilities, results are often dismissed by decisionmakers as irrelevant to large-scale operations and national health policy. This article describes an initiative undertaken in Nkwanta District, Ghana, focusing on this problem. The Nkwanta District initiative is a critical link between the experimental study conducted in Navrongo, Ghana, and a national effort to scale up the innovations developed in that study. A 2002 Nkwanta district-level survey …

Urban Poverty And Health In Developing Countries: Household And Neighborhood Effects [Arabic], Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In the United States and other high-income countries, where most people live in cities, there is intense scholarly and program interest in the effects of household and neighborhood living standards on health. Yet very few studies of developing-country cities have examined these issues. This paper investigates whether in these cities the health of women and young children is influenced by both household and neighborhood standards of living. Using data from the urban samples of 85 Demographic and Health Surveys, and modeling living standards using factor-analytic MIMIC methods, we find, first, that the neighborhoods of poor households are more heterogeneous than …

The Experience Of Adolescence In Rural Amhara Region, Ethiopia, Annabel Erulkar, Tekle-Ab Mekbib, Negussie Simie, Tsehai Gulema

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This study aims to broaden the understanding of young lives in rural Ethiopia, specifically, Amhara Region. It finds that over half of the adolescents in the sample had never been to school. The most common reason for boys and girls not attending school was poverty, followed by early marriage for girls, and too many work responsibilities for boys. It finds that over half of the adolescents interviewed were illiterate. The study offers suggestions to address the programmatic needs of rural youth as well as neglected subgroups of adolescents.

Linking Reproductive Health To Social Power: Community Health Workers In Belize And Pakistan, Susana Galdos, Lucella Campbell, Patricia Mohammed, Debbie Rogow, Saumya Ramarao, Ali M. Mir, Nicole Haberland

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This issue of Quality/Calidad/Qualité focuses on two traditional family planning programs that undertook projects to help women enlarge their zone of influence in both the private and public spheres. The first case study focuses on the Belize Family Life Association (BFLA), a nongovernmental organization in a small Caribbean country. The second case study recounts the experience of the Pakistani government, which has an enormous, but entrenched, target-oriented family planning program. Both programs began by recognizing that women’s lack of social power is a major obstacle to their being able to protect their own health. Both trained village workers to regard …

Adolescent Life In Low Income And Slum Areas Of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Annabel Erulkar, Tekle-Ab Mekbib, Negussie Simie, Tsehai Gulema

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Ethiopian Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture has long considered attention to the lives of Ethiopian adolescents as a priority intervention area for research and programs in the country. This study conducted with the Population Council gives critical insight into the lives of adolescent girls and boys in the low income and slum areas of Addis Ababa. Research and programs for young people tend to homogenize the adolescent population into one genderless mass, with little regard to age or social context. Greater segmentation of the adolescent population is needed in the design and content of programs, as well as …

Popular Perceptions Of Emerging Influences On Mortality And Longevity In Bangladesh And West Bengal, Sajeda Amin, Alaka Malwade Basu

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Although new environmental and pathological threats to human survival and longevity have been documented, relatively little is known about how these threats are perceived in the popular imagination. During fieldwork in rural Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, researching the changing costs of and motivations for reproduction, the authors included survey questions on respondents’ perceptions of changing mortality. Child-mortality levels were perceived to have fallen drastically in recent times, but for the middle-aged and the elderly, the past was seen as a better time in terms of health and survival. The decline in adult health is attributed to environmental deterioration and …

Gender Differences In Time Use Among Adolescents In Developing Countries: Implications Of Rising School Enrollment Rates, Amanda Ritchie, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Monica J. Grant

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Researchers at the Population Council have been involved in the collection of data on time use from adolescents in India, Kenya, Pakistan, and South Africa. Three questions are addressed in this working paper: (1) How does time use change during the transition to adulthood? (2) Does gender role differentiation intensify during the transition? (3) Does school attendance attenuate gender differences? The data document differences in time use patterns between students and nonstudents. Although female adolescent students still work longer hours than male adolescent students, the gender division of labor that typically develops during adolescence is greatly attenuated among students when …

Long-Range Trends In Adult Mortality: Models And Projection Methods, John Bongaarts

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Population Council working paper has two objectives: (1) to test a new version of the logistic model for the pattern of change over time in age-specific adult mortality rates, and (2) to develop a new method for projecting future trends in adult mortality. A test of the goodness-of-fit of the logistic model for the force of mortality indicates that its slope parameter is nearly constant over time. This finding suggests a variant of the model that is called the shifting logistic model. A new projection method based on the shifting mortality model is proposed and compared with the widely …

The Effect Of A Livelihoods Intervention In An Urban Slum In India: Do Vocational Counseling And Training Alter The Attitudes And Behavior Of Adolescent Girls?, Barbara Mensch, Monica J. Grant, Mary Philip Sebastian, Paul C. Hewett, Dale Huntington

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Population Council working paper examines whether an experimental intervention for girls aged 14–19 that provided reproductive health information, vocational counseling and training, and assistance with opening savings accounts in slum areas of Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, India had an effect on their attitudes and behaviors. Although the livelihoods program was acceptable to parents and feasible to implement, the project had only a minimal impact on the behavior and attitudes of adolescent girls in the experimental slums. The greatest changes between the baseline and the endline surveys were found in those outcomes that most closely reflected the content of the …

Job Exit Queues: Corporate Mergers And Gender Inequality, Terceira A. Berdahl, Helen A. Moore

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Purpose: to explore the experiences of employees in a local bank merger in the United States and examine the concept of job exit queues. We introduce the concept of a job exit queue, which describes how workers position themselves or are positioned by employers to leave jobs and enter new jobs following the announcement of a corporate merger.
Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative interviews with mid-level managers, technical specialists and low status workers during the sale and merger process were conducted and coded thematically. We explore: 1) how workers and managers describe the job search as an “opportunity” or as a recurring cycle …

Back To The Future: The Future Of Long-Term Care In Massachusetts, Deborah H. Thomson, John J. Ford

Gerontology Institute Publications

The state of Massachusetts, like the rest of the United States, is facing an approaching crisis in long-term care. Over the next few decades the number of Massachusetts residents age 65 and older will soar. As these numbers increase, so will the need for long-term care.

Massachusetts is ill prepared to provide the services that will be needed. Our current system of health care benefits leaves many elders with gaps in coverage. Those individuals who need long-term services often impoverish themselves and their spouses before the state pays for their care. Others languish on waiting lists to receive services. Our …