Ethnicity, class and health

Summary: In 1997 the initial analyses of the large-scale Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities were presented in three volumes published by PSI: Ethnic Minorities in Britain: Diversity and Disadvantage, The Health of Britain’s Ethnic Minorities and Ethnicity and Mental Health. This new report brings together and updates the two publications on health, and draws on follow-up research. Using both the mental and physical health data from the survey, it critically examines various approaches to understanding ethnic differences in health, exploring further the complex relationship between ethnicity and health. Central to the report is a detailed examination of the contribution of socio-economic factors to differences in health, using data uniquely available in the Fourth National Survey. Ethnicity, Class and Health first examines the existing evidence on ethnic differences in health and the explanations for them. It looks at how rates of illness vary across and within ethnic groups and considers how far differences in health might be consistent across subgroups and generations. It then explores in detail the contribution of socio-economic factors to inequalities in health. The report concludes by considering the implications of its findings for our understanding of ethnic inequalities in health and raises a number of important theoretical issues for future research in this area. This report will be of interest to academics and students interested in epidemiology, public health medicine, medical sociology, anthropology and race relations; social researchers; health professionals; and policy maker

Ethnic differences in women's use of mental health services: do social networks play a role? Findings from a national survey

Objectives: The reasons for ethnic differences in women’s mental health service use in England remain unclear. The aims of this study were to ascertain: ethnic differences in women’s usage of mental health services, if social networks are independently associated with service use, and if the association between women’s social networks and service use varies between ethnic groups. Design: Logistic regression modelling of nationally representative data from the Ethnic Minority Psychiatric Illness Rates in the Community (EMPIRIC) survey conducted in England. The analytic sample (2260 women, aged 16–74 years) was drawn from the representative subsample of 2340 women in EMPIRIC for whom data on mental health services, and social networks were available. Results: Pakistani and Bangladeshi women were less likely than White women to have used mental health services (Pakistani OR = 0.23, CI = 0.08–0.65, p = .005; Bangladeshi OR = 0.25, CI = 0.07–0.86, p = .027). Frequent contact with relatives reduced mental health service use (OR = 0.45, CI = 0.23–0.89, p = .023). An increase in perceived inadequate support in women’s close networks was associated with increased odds of using mental health services (OR = 1.91, CI = 1.11–3.27, p = .019). The influence of social networks on mental health service use did not differ between ethnic groups. Conclusions: The differential treatment of women from Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups in primary care settings could be a possible reason for the observed differences in mental health service use

Book review: pricing beauty: the making of a fashion model by Ashley Mears

Mears, A. (2011). Pricing beauty: The making of a fashion model. Berkeley: University of California Press

Watch out for the Aunties! Young British Asians' accounts of identity and substance use

This paper considers how young people able to trace their origins from Pakistan or India (henceforth 'Asians'), discuss their use of, or abstention from, alcohol and tobacco in terms of religious and cultural tradition. The role of religion, ethnicity, gender and generation in the uptake or avoidance of alcohol and tobacco was explored in 19 qualitative group and individual interviews with 47 Asians aged 16–26 years and analysed in terms of pioneering and conservative forms of tradition. Religious proscriptions on alcohol and tobacco were reported to be formally gender blind, but concerns about reputation and future marriage chances, sanctioned by gossip, meant that women's behaviour was consistently more constrained than men's. Muslims' abstinence from alcohol was tightly linked with an Islamic identity in that drinking jeopardised one's claim to being a Muslim, whereas cigarette smoking was tolerated among young men. Sikhs' and Hindus' avoidance of tobacco was strongly sanctioned, but smoking did not strongly jeopardise a religious identity. Sikh men's abstention indicated manly strength central to a devout identity. Some experimentation was possible out of view of the older generation, especially the aunties, but the risk of gossip damaging young women's reputations was keenly felt. While damage to women's reputations was hard to undo, men's reputations tarnished by substance use, could be compensated for by their parents' honourable status. Discussion of tradition as innovation was rare and met with resistance. Tradition was largely experienced as a constraint to be circumvented

Perspectives on ageing, later life and ethniciy: Ageing research in ethnic minority contexts

This special issue focuses broadly upon questions and themes relating to the current conceptualisations, representations and use of ‘ethnicity’ (and ethnic minority experiences) within the field of social gerontology. An important aim of this special issue is to explore and address the issue of ‘otherness’ within the predominant existing frameworks for researching those who are ageing or considered aged, compounded by the particular constructions of their ethnicity and ethnic ‘difference’. The range of theoretical, methodological and empirical papers included in this collection provide some critical insights into particular facets of the current research agendas, cultural understandings and empirical focus of ethnic minority ageing research. The main emphasis is on highlighting the ways in which ethnic cultural homogeneity and ‘otherness’ is often assumed in research involving older people from ethnic minority backgrounds, and how wider societal inequalities are concomitantly (re)produced, within (and through) research itself – for example, based on narrowly defined research agendas and questions; the assumed age and/or ethnic differences of researchers vis-à-vis their older research participants; the workings of the formalised ethical procedures and frameworks; and the conceptual and theoretical frameworks employed in the formulation of research questions and interpretation of data. We examine and challenge here the simplistic categorisations and distinctions often made in gerontological research based around research participants’ ethnicity, age and ageing and assumed cultural differences. The papers presented in this collection reveal instead the actual complexity and fluidity of these concepts as well as the cultural dynamism and diversity of experiences within ethnic groups. Through an exploration of these issues, we address some of the gaps in existing knowledge and understandings as well as contribute to the newly emerging discussions surrounding the use of particular notions of ethnicity and ethnic minority ageing as these are being employed within the field of ageing studies.This special issue is one of the outcomes from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) seminar series on ‘Ageing, Race and Ethnicity’ (project reference ES/J021547/1),held in the UK during 2012-2014. Open access for this editorial has been provided through the University of Nottingham open access funds

Islamophobia, racism and health

Racism has been argued to be a focal element of ethnic inequalities in health (Williams 1999, Krieger 2003, Nazroo 2003, Paradies et al. 2015), impacting on the health of ethnic minority people through differential exposure to socioeconomic, environmental, psychosocial and healthcare-related pathways. In this chapter we explore the implications of this for the health of Muslim people in the UK, with the intention of illustrating how Islamophobia, racism targeted towards Islam or Muslims, harms the health of Muslim people. The evidence we draw on is mainly from studies of racism and health, so the primary focus is on ethnic minority people in general, with discussion of a range of health outcomes. Nevertheless, the conclusions from this evidence are clear on the harm of Islamophobia to health