Practitioners' views about equity within prenatal services

The British National Health Service (NHS) is based on principles of equal access, treatment and outcomes. This article reviews health professionals' aims to provide equitable prenatal services and their views on whether women could be equal in their access to services, understanding during choice-making, and satisfaction about their care. Inequalities which compromise equity, conflicting meanings of equity, and the contribution of in-hospital ethics seminars to ethical health services are considered. Qualitative research, combining sociological and philosophical methods, investigated the experiences of health care staff attempting to provide equitable services and their practical and ethical problems. A total of 70 staff at a teaching hospital and a district general hospital took part in semi-structured interviews, followed by 11 innovative in-hospital ethics seminars based on themes derived from the interviews. The 56 seminar participants usually began with clear statements of their equitable aims, but, encouraged by the health care ethicist, they went on to discuss their many concerns about obstacles which complicated the achievement of these aims. The sociological-ethics seminars provided unique opportunities for multi-disciplinary discussion of these inequalities and their impact on equitable intentions in health care. Analysis of the contradictions revealed during the seminars is guided by sociological theories that seek to explain the persistence of inequalities in health, and how NHS policies appear to perpetuate and increase them, despite practitioners' stated intentions to promote equality

Brief Report: Young Adult Women, Sexting, and Risky Sexual Behaviors

The present study explored associations between sexually explicit text messaging (sexting), social media use, and engagement in risky sexual behaviors among young adult women to determine whether online sexting and social media activity was associated with real-world sexual behaviors. Participants completed a self-administered anonymous, online survey that included 66 questions assessing demographic information, use of technology, sexting activity, and sexual behaviors. A greater proportion of participants reported sexting than in previous studies and results indicate sexting is used to maintain intimate relationships online. Results also suggest that, for young women, social media and sexting facilitate alternative intimate communication, without physical intimacy. As interactions in online settings become more common within intimate and committed relationships, attitudes toward conventional, unconventional, and riskier sexual behaviors may also become more positive. Thus, present findings are valuable for understanding technology’s role in young adult women’s sexual behaviors

Revolutionary era women in war: A move for societal reform

As tensions grew in the British colonies in the late eighteenth century, colonists began expressing their new hopes for an independent nation. While the call to action for the physical fight against the British was directed toward men, women could not help but respond in kind. After centuries of domestic confinement and the new Enlightenment period showing possibilities for secondary roles, women used the coming war as a showcase for their capabilities. Some chose to act on the home front, boycotting British goods and fundraising for the soldiers, while others stepped outside of their bounds and participated in battle. Later on, these women would use their contributions in the Patriot war effort as grounds for social and political reform. Their achievements marked the beginning of a women’s movement, as women’s secondary roles were acknowledged though later dismissed. Beginning with an explanation of the initial status of women in the eighteenth century and the rising revolutionary consciousness influenced by Enlightenment ideals, I plan to discuss the motives and efforts of famous and anonymous females throughout the Revolutionary War, ending with post-war results and consequences. My argument states that these women fought for societal reform in recognition of their efforts, with the Enlightenment serving as a primary influence for their actions, thoughts, and contributions to the war. I trace the Age of Reason and its ideologies throughout my research in order to give insight into the logic and hopes motivating the women of the revolutionary era, with the lack of substantial post-war change suggesting the dissipation of Enlightenment ideals. I have used perspectives of both sexes to maintain the reasoning for early nineteenth century outcomes

The star of the hour: one hundred years of Clarice Lispector

One hundred years since her birth, Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector is fêted around the world for her passionate, enigmatic, idiosyncratic prose, which challenges conventions of genre, form and content, word, and sentence. This chapter begins by making reference to the ways Lispector’s centenary was commemorated in 2020 and moves on to outline her life and career. It describes the narrative strategies that make her work simultaneously strange and compelling. The second half of the chapter presents some of her literary afterlives: homages to her literary originality, her beauty and aloofness, and the intimacy and bravery she inspires in her readers

Why Families Flee: A Study Of Family Migration Patterns From the Northern Triangle of Central America

The past decade has witnessed an unprecedented increase in migrant families from the Northern Triangle, the region of Central America comprised of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The mass influx in family migration has important consequences for destination countries like the United States and Mexico as well as the countries which they leave behind. This study aims to answer the question of how family migration patterns in the Northern Triangle of Central America have changed in the past decade and why. I outline the migration decisions of families through a qualitative and quantitative lens. I use newspapers and NGO reports to outline the plethora of factors which inhibit economic, social, and political progress in the region. Understanding the complex dynamics in the Triangle inform the logistic regression which provides data on the relationships between intentions to migrate and crime victimization, gender, household economic status, and household location. I used the LAPOP AmericasBarometer survey for the years 2012 and 2018 for all three countries to determine how patterns have changed and offer possible rationale for the shifts. The results indicate that crime victimization is less related to migration intentions relative to household income, gender, and rural status. This research may change the way we view migrant families from the Northern Triangle and inform policy solutions to what is now viewed as a humanitarian crisis

Cross Cultural Comparison of Factors Driving Luxury Consumption

The global luxury market continued to grow to $313-318 billion in 2018 and the market is estimated to reach about$442 billion in sales by 2025 (Arienti, Levato, Kamel, & Montgolfier, 2018). Despite the rapid growth of the luxury market, factors influencing consumers’ perceptions and purchase intentions toward luxury brands remain under investigated. Researchers found consumers rely on extrinsic attributes such as country of origin (CoO) when purchasing luxury products. The mixed results of CoO effect in prior studies yield a need for further research. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of CoO and the attitudinal functions on purchase intentions towards luxury fashion brands across three countries. This study extends the “Functional Theories of Attitudes” by adding materialistic function to social-adjustive, value-expressive, hedonic, and utilitarian functions. A total of 970 online survey responses (US: 418, Chinese: 400, German: 152) were used to test proposed hypotheses. Results identified that the utilitarian function was not a reliable construct in the US and German groups, but it was a reliable variable in the Chinese group. In the US sample, results found that CoO significantly influenced social-adjustive and hedonic functions. In German and Chinese groups, CoO had positive impact on all functions. Hedonic function had the strongest impact on purchase intentions in the three groups. Value-expressive function significantly influenced purchase intentions in the Chinese and German groups. Additional analysis revealed that CoO had much stronger impact than the effect of hedonic function on purchase intentions across cultures. These findings provide theoretical and managerial implications

«Para inglês ver»: traduções de literatura contemporânea brasileira na época dos megaeventos

Since 2007, when it was announced that Brazil would host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, the country has become the focus of international attention. This was an excellent opportunity to counter stereotypes and present a more authentic version of Brazilian culture. Indeed, several anthologies of contemporary texts translated into English were published over this period; more than ever before. This article provides a survey and a quantitative reading of five such anthologies, in order to consider how Brazil (and its literature) is portrayed for a British audience.Desde 2007, quando se anunciou que Brasil seria sede da Copa do Mundo de Futebol 2014 e dos Jogos Olímpicos de 2016, o país foi foco de atenção do resto do mundo. Foi uma boa oportunidade para contrariar os estereótipos, e promover uma versão mais autêntica da cultura brasileira. Efetivamente, no Reino Unido, foram publicadas várias antologias de textos contemporâneos traduzidos para inglês; mais do que nunca. Neste artigo fazemos uma abordagem de cinco dessas antologias de uma perspectiva panorâmica e em termos quantitativos para considerar como é o Brasil (e a literatura brasileira) retratado para inglês ver e ler