Social mobilization strategy

This document outlines social mobilization strategies at the national and community levels of the Family Advancement for Life and Health (FALAH) project in Pakistan. The project aims to improve the health and well-being of women, men, and their children through tackling the major obstacles in adoption of birth spacing to improve maternal and child health outcomes and family well-being, by increasing knowledge of the benefits of birth spacing as well as knowledge, increased demand for, and effective use of contraceptive methods. The strategy aims to achieve a significant increase in couples’ knowledge and understanding of the need for and benefits of birth spacing and the recommended spacing interval; to sensitize providers to proactively inform clients and their partners on the benefits of birth spacing as well as to advise couples on the different contraceptive methods available for spacing pregnancies; and if needed to refer them to the appropriate facilities in order to meet their unmet demand

Psychobiological influences on maternal sensitivity in the context of adversity.

This study evaluated prospective longitudinal relations among an index of poverty-related cumulative risk, maternal salivary cortisol, child negative affect, and maternal sensitivity across the first two postpartum years. Participants included 1,180 biological mothers residing in rural and predominantly low-income communities in the US. Multilevel growth curve analyses indicated that an index of cumulative risk was positively associated with maternal cortisol across the postpartum (study visits occurring at approximately 7, 15, and 24 months postpartum) over and above effects for African American ethnicity, time of day of saliva collection, age, parity status, having given birth to another child, contraceptive use, tobacco smoking, body mass index, and breastfeeding. Consistent with a psychobiological theory of mothering, maternal salivary cortisol was negatively associated with maternal sensitivity observed during parent-child interactions across the first two postpartum years over and above effects for poverty-related cumulative risk, child negative affect, as well as a large number of covariates associated with cortisol and maternal sensitivity. Child negative affect expressed during parent-child interactions was negatively associated with observed maternal sensitivity at late (24 months) but not early time points of observation (7 months) and cumulative risk was negatively associated with maternal sensitivity across the postpartum and this effect strengthened over time. Results advance our understanding of the dynamic, transactional, and psychobiological influences on parental caregiving behaviors across the first two postpartum years

Profiles of academic/socioemotional competence: Associations with parenting, home, child care, and neighborhood

Studies have highlighted the need to better understand child development in rural contexts in the first years of life. This study uses a person-centered approach to determine patterns of academic/socioemotional competence profiles at 36 months of age in a sample of 1292 children living in rural poverty in North Carolina and Pennsylvania who participated in the Family Life Project. This study explores factors that contribute to profiles of academic/socioemotional competence, including parenting behavior, and home, child care, and neighborhood environments. Three profiles of academic/socioemotional competence emerged: 1) Non-Compliant Average Achiever, 2) Unengaged Low Achiever, and 3) Engaged High Achiever. These three groups significantly differed on profile indicators and on early parenting behaviors, and home, child care, and neighborhood characteristics. Study findings have implications for understanding the different profiles of young children's academic/socioemotional competence, and the need to strengthen the early care and education environments of children in rural communities

Measuring neighborhood deprivation for childhood health and development-scale implications in rural and urban context

Neighborhood deprivation plays an important role in childhood health and development, but defining the appropriate neighborhood definition presents theoretical as well as practical challenges. Few studies have compared neighborhood definitions out-side of highly urbanized settings. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate how various administrative and ego-centric neighborhood definitions may impact measured exposure to deprivation across the urban-rural continuum. We do so using the Family Life Project, a prospective longitudinal population-based sample of families living in North Carolina and Pennsylvania (USA), which also sets the stage for future investigations of neighborhood impacts on childhood health and development. To measure neighborhood deprivation, a standardized index of socioeconomic deprivation was calculated using data from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey. Families’ residential addresses when children were 2 months of age (n=1036) were geocoded and overlaid onto a deprivation index layer created at the census block group level to construct multiple administrative and ego-centric neighborhood definitions. Friedman tests were used to compare distributions of neighborhood deprivation across these neighborhood definitions within urbanized areas, urban clusters, and rural areas. Results indicated differences in urbanized areas (Chi-square=897.75, P<0.001) and urban clusters (Chi-square=687.83, P<0.001), but not in rural areas (Chi-square=13.52, P=0.332). Findings imply that in urban areas, choice of neighborhood definition impacts measured exposure to neighborhood deprivation. Although exposure to neighborhood deprivation appears to be less sensitive to neighborhood definition in rural areas, researchers should apply theoretical reasoning to choose appropriate definitions of children’s neighborhood

East Asian Welfare States in Transition

Summaries After the spectacular economic crisis of late 1997, there has been a call for social welfare reform as well as economic restructuring in East Asia. Covering Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, this article first seeks to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the East Asian welfare states. Second, it examines the pressures for reform of the welfare systems. Finally, it addresses the question of whether the low spending East Asian welfare regimes will be maintained in the future. The strength.of the East Asian welfare states mainly lies in their promotion of an ideology of developmentalism and their relatively low cost; while their weakness is that they tend to reinforce socio?economic inequalities. Economic recession and socio?economic pressures as well as inefficiencies within the welfare states create pressure for change. The governments in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have responded with reform measures appropriate to these nations' social and political context. Despite different policy responses, the welfare states in these countries will become more expensive, although they will remain low spenders among the developed nations

Sexual behaviors and their correlates among young people in Mauritius: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little is known about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Indian Ocean region, including Mauritius. National records suggest a prevalence of HIV in Mauritius of < 1% in the general population, which is one of the lowest prevalence rates in southern Africa. However, HIV-positive cases have been increasing recently in Mauritius. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in January 2003 to assess the prevalence of HIVrelated sexual behaviors and their correlates among young people aged 15–24 years in Mauritius.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We identified 1200 participants using two-stage cluster sampling. Demographic, social, sexual, and knowledge of HIV/AIDS data were obtained in face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire administered by trained interviewers. The prevalence of sexual behaviors was described in relation to gender, and the correlates of ever having had sex and nonuse of condom at last sex were analyzed using logistic regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the target population, 30.9% of males and 9.7% of females reported a history of sexual intercourse. Of the currently sexually active participants, 50.6% of men and 71.2% of women did not use condoms at their last sexual encounter. Logistic regression revealed that work experience and marijuana use were significantly associated with men's sexual experience, whereas being out of school and drinking experience were significantly associated with women's sexual experience. For both men and women, being Christian and visiting nightclubs were associated with having ever had sexual intercourse (P < 0.05). In addition, not using a condom at the first sexual encounter and lack of exposure to a nongovernmental organization (NGO) dealing with HIV/AIDS were associated with the nonuse of condoms at the last sexual encounter (P < 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Young people in Mauritius are at risk of a future HIV epidemic because behaviors predisposing to HIV infection are prevalent among sexually experienced youth. A focused prevention program targeting young people should be reinforced as part of the National AIDS Control Program, taking into account the predictors of sexual behaviors identified here.</p

Albert Pierrepoint and the cultural persona of the twentieth-century hangman

Albert Pierrepoint was Britain’s most famous 20th-century hangman. This article utilises diverse sources in order to chart his public representation, or cultural persona, as hangman from his rise to prominence in the mid-1940s to his portrayal in the biopic Pierrepoint(2005). It argues that Pierrepoint exercised agency in shaping this persona through publishing his autobiography and engagement with the media, although there were also representations that he did not influence. In particular, it explores three iterations of his cultural persona – the Professional Hangman, the Reformed Hangman and the Haunted Hangman. Each of these built on and reworked historical antecedents and also communicated wider understandings and contested meanings in relation to capital punishment. As a hangman who remained in the public eye after the death penalty in Britain was abolished, Pierrepoint was an important, authentic link to the practice of execution and a symbolic figure in debates over reintroduction. In the 21st century, he was portrayed as a victim of the ‘secondary trauma’ of the death penalty, which resonated with worldwide campaigns for abolition