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PubMed2003

Tribal participatory research: mechanisms of a collaborative model.

Although much social science research has been conducted within American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities, relatively little research has been conducted by or for those communities. We describe an approach that facilitates the active involvement of AIAN communities in the research process, from conceptualizing the issues to be investigated to developing a research design, and from collecting, analyzing, and interpreting the data to disseminating the results. The Tribal Participatory Research (TPR) approach is consistent with recent developments in psychology that emphasize the inclusion of community members and the social construction of knowledge. We describe the foundations of the approach and present specific mechanisms that can be employed in collaborations between researchers and AIAN communities. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the use of TPR regarding project timelines and budgets, interpretation of the data, and ultimately the relationships between tribes and researchers.

Community Participation↗

PubMed2001

Disembodiment is a cyberspace myth: discourse and the self in real space.

Much social science writing about the Internet is disembodied. This paper will try show how this is rhetorically practiced by the cyberfeminist author Sadie Plant. From the work of Fred Newman, Michael Billig, and also from discourse work, comes the idea that it is not views that should be studied per se, but rather, the giving of views. To understand people, one needs to understand them when they are in dialogue with one another. Not to test them in isolation, but to study their interrelatedness as they perform social life. A social space was constructed through which embodiment could be revealed. This reality is "real space," the space that is on the other side of the screen, so to speak. To understand the psychology of the Internet is to enter into dialogue with people, and real space constitutes the embodied practice of social talk, specifically in the context of the interview. Two semistructured interviews were carried out with a student from the Ukraine. These interviews were transcribed closely. Just as real space constitutes interviews, cyberspace constitutes E-mailing. An international student born in New Zealand was questioned through E-mail. A discourse analysis was performed on selected extracts. The sequences were typified by diversity and multiplicity of theme, which included the drawing upon of embodied resources. The experience of being internationals in a U.K. academic institution were perpetually being negotiated, concomitantly to the giving of views about the Internet. The problematic issues of writing about social life are practically addressed in the discussion. I explore the realities created by real space and cyberspace by deconstructing them. Discourse work allowed for a critical self-reflection concerning the meanings that were given to the performance of the Internet.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Contributions of qualitative research to the knowledge base of normal communication.

As clinical speech-language pathology moves toward a progressive use of qualitative research methodologies and applications for clinical purposes, it is helpful to know how the qualitative paradigm has influenced our field. This article reviews a number of studies from the social sciences and their impact on our knowledge of the properties of communication and the investigation of cognitive and language acquisition. This review indicates that qualitative research currently has a significant impact on our knowledge bases in clinical speech-language pathology.

Communication↗

PubMed1995

Preparing modern nurses for postmodern families.

Postmodern insights that have occurred across the social sciences and in limited areas of nursing are focused on the field of family nursing. The article describes postmodern families against the background of cultural changes that have influenced the conditions of those families. Nurses can practice more appropriately if they have an understanding of how postmodern thought has influenced the science and subsequent theoretical explanations of families. Initial insights are offered relating postmodernism and theories of family therapy. Practice roles are described that are believed to be more appropriate and effective when nursing occurs in the context of diversity, relativity, and value plurality that characterizes postmodern families.

Family↗

PubMed1994

Cultural factors associated with health-risk behavior among the Cheyenne River Sioux.

A field study was conducted to identify cultural factors--values, beliefs, and related characteristics--associated with health-risk behavior among adult members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. The Cultural Values Survey (CVS), an instrument for measuring cultural values and related characteristics, was developed and pilot tested in the study population. This instrument, along with the Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) (an instrument developed by the Centers for Disease Control to quantify major health-related behaviors), was administered to a random sample of 429 adults in the study community. Significant differences between females and males for both cultural characteristics and health-risk behaviors were found. Females had significantly higher HRA-calculated Health Index values than males, reflecting overall healthier behaviors. Females who scored higher on cultural factors consistent with more traditional Lakota Indian lifestyles (e.g., degree of Indian blood, Lakota language spoken in the home, traditional Lakota beliefs) had higher HRA Health Index values than females scoring lower in these characteristics. Males who scored higher in factors related to self-determination (e.g., hard work, personal control, industriousness, individual action) had higher Health Index values than those who scored lower in these areas. Further testing of the CVS instrument, as well as further research from both epidemiologic and social science perspectives is essential to elucidate the nature of the relationship between cultural factors and health-related behavior.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Child sexual abuse in sub-Saharan Africa: a literature review.

OBJECTIVE: This article reviews the English-language literature on child sexual abuse in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The focus is on the sexual abuse of children in the home/community, as opposed to the commercial sexual exploitation of children. METHODS: English language, peer-reviewed papers cited in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) are examined. Reports from international and local NGOs and UN agencies are also examined. RESULTS: Few published studies on the sexual abuse of children have been conducted in the region, with the exception of South Africa. Samples are predominantly clinical or University based. A number of studies report that approximately 5% of the sample reported penetrative sexual abuse during their childhood. No national survey of the general population has been conducted. The most frequent explanations for the sexual abuse of children in SSA include rapid social change, AIDS/HIV avoidance strategies and the patriarchal nature of society. Child sexual abuse is most frequently perpetrated by family members, relatives, neighbors or others known to the child. CONCLUSIONS: There is nothing to support the widely held view that child sexual abuse is very rare in SSA-prevalence levels are comparable with studies reported from other regions. The high prevalence levels of AIDS/HIV in the region expose sexually abused children to high risks of infection. It is estimated that, approximately.6-1.8% of all children in high HIV-incidence countries in Southern Africa will experience penetrative sexual abuse by an AIDS/HIV infected perpetrator before 18 years of age.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Revisiting the concept of 'vulnerability'.

The terms 'vulnerable' and 'vulnerability' are used more and more frequently in the areas of both social science research into and prevention of HIV/AIDS, but certain difficulties arise when it comes to applying this concept to actual situations at the heart of which individuals or groups are more exposed to HIV. The concept of vulnerability must thus be clarified to reinforce its heuristic capacity and political and practical relevancy. The first part of this paper is devoted to presenting a heuristic matrix of vulnerability, used in previous research among people living with HIV/AIDS (PWHAs) and to extracting three levels of intelligibility, that is to say, first the social trajectory level, then the level on which two or more trajectories intersect, and finally that of the social context. Each of the elements belonging to these three levels must be described both objectively and subjectively. The identity construction processes are then proposed as particular observation and 'gelling' points for these various levels taken as a whole. In the second part of the paper, we have reviewed how the concept of 'vulnerability' has been defined and used in other fields, notably disaster, famine, and mental health, paying special attention to the crucial points in the debates that are raging in these fields. We have also shed light on a few concepts that are frequently associated with vulnerability, such as victimization, insecurity, and risk. In the third part, we have summarized our approach to vulnerability as a relevant concept for elucidating risk-taking processes and designing intervention programmes. The importance of analysing the inter-individual differences, the variability in time and the relational dimension of all social vulnerability has been stressed.

Crime↗

PubMed2002

Ideal types, stereotypes and classes.

Several recent articles seeking to validate the Goldthorpe class schema have implicitly raised some interesting questions about the relation between analytical techniques and theory. The favoured technique of latent class analysis actually brings this variety of class analysis close to the much older tradition of ideal-type analysis. In doing so, it helps to illustrate a much wider problem that arises in any conceptualization in terms of classes. The paper seeks to show how, just as in popular discourse around 'class', stereotypes are used to simplify and summarize a complex set of related characteristics, so similarly ideal types, as used in class analysis, are an over-simplification. As elsewhere in social science, the danger of using them is that they serve to protect a theoretical concept from empirical refutation. An alternative 'research programme' to that of class analysis is presented, based on measures of stratification arrangements that are more closely linked to the reproducing structure of inequalities.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Time, place, and consciousness: three dimensions of meaning for US institutional review boards.

In the past few years, US federal agencies governing research with human subjects and institutional review boards have taken a higher-profile path than ever before, both at home and internationally. This trend carries profound significance for US-based institutions and has implications also for the rest of the world. What does this critical moment of heightened federal scrutiny mean for the workings of US institutional review boards? We examined board activity across 3 dimensions: time, place, and consciousness. We conclude that although institutions in all areas of biomedical and social science research are adapting their practices, the field of public health is especially well positioned to adapt to, and succeed in, new efforts to ensure protection of human research subjects.

Academic Medical Centers↗

PubMed1993

The contours of demography: estimates and projections.

This paper considers the scope of demography and the various research approaches that legitimately could claim the label. As a small field lacking security in academic structures, demography has been unusually sensitive to demand factors, including those associated with perceived population problems. International health is cited as an area of increased demographic presence; reasons for this development are explored. The technology for performing research in demography is improving more rapidly than in many other areas of the social sciences, and thus is helping to improve the relative standing of the field. Taking a demand-oriented approach, the paper identifies several promising research areas in which demographers will be called on to address issues of national and international concern.

Cross-Cultural Comparison↗

PubMed2002

Attitudes to premarital counseling among students of Abha Health Sciences College.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to explore the attitudes of the students of Health Sciences College in Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) towards premarital counseling. METHODS: This study was conducted among the students of Health Sciences Colleges in Abha, KSA, during the 2nd semester of the academic year of 1999-2000. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all available students who answered it under the direct supervision of the Heads of Departments. The questionnaire consisted of 3 main parts; the first part was regarding socio-demographic and scientific characteristics, the 2nd part concerned with attitudes towards premarital counseling while the 3rd part explored the preferred items to be included in premarital counseling. Data of the questionnaire were entered and analyzed by statistical package for social sciences. Association between categorical variables were tested by Chi-square test and considered significant if (P-value less than 0.05). RESULTS: One hundred and eighty-six students responded, giving a response rate of 70%. Seventy percent of students showed acceptance of premarital counseling while 13% rejected it. Legalization of premarital counseling was agreed on by 19% compared to 41% who refused it. Family history and blood tests for hemoglobinopathies were the most common 2 items preferred to be included in premarital counseling by the respondents. CONCLUSION: This study showed that most of the students at Health Sciences College in Abha, KSA have good attitudes towards premarital counseling in spite of a few students who justify their refusal by the misunderstanding of Islamic rules. This misunderstanding needs intensification of health education in which religious leaders are involved to clarify and correct this misconception.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Accounting for EBM: notions of evidence in medicine.

This paper takes as a focus of anthropological enquiry the set of techniques and practices for the appraisal and clinical application of research evidence that has become known as evidence-based medicine (EBM) (or, more recently, evidence-based health care). It first delineates and classifies the criticisms of EBM emerging from within the health professions. It then charts the evolution of EBM in responding to these criticisms and uncovers its character as a pedagogical innovation aimed at transforming clinical practice. It identifies EBM as an indeterminate and malleable range of techniques and practices characterised not by particular kinds of methodological rigour, but by the pursuit of a new approach to medical knowledge and authority. It situates this characterisation within a contemporaneous political and economic climate of declining trust and growing accountability. This analysis provides a basis from which to consider the notions of evidence implicit in EBM itself and also in the qualitative social sciences, including anthropology, which not only critique but also contribute to these notions themselves. Finally, the paper considers possible future trajectories for EBM with regard to the incorporation of cultural and structural dimensions of health and the inclusion of qualitative material in the evidence base.

Anthropology↗

PubMed1989

An analysis of the educational levels of migrants.

"The educational level has significant bearings on the migration of population. As one of the factors that can brook no underestimation in the developing commodity economy, it determines, to a certain extent, the size, direction, and occupation or profession of population migration. The Institute of Population at the Academy of Social Sciences of China conducted a sampling survey of the migration of population in 74 cities of 16 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in 1986, and this paper presents a summary analysis of the dynamics of different educational levels of the migrating population surveyed."

Asia↗

PubMed2004

Cytogeneticists' stories around the ethics and social consequences of their work: a New Zealand case study.

This paper is based on anthropological research in three New Zealand cytogenetics laboratories involving participant observation carried out over three months and interviews with sixteen cytogeneticists in order to elucidate the distinctive characteristics of their views on the social consequences of their work in prenatal genetic testing. The discourses employed by cytogeneticists to describe their work are placed against other discourses in the contemporary debate surrounding prenatal genetic testing, i.e. clinical, ethical, feminist, social science and disability rights. In general, cytogeneticists frame their moral responsibilities in terms of the need to carry out what we have termed 'distanced care' of both the mothers being tested and the foetal cells which they cultivate in the laboratories. Certain paradoxes arise in these accounts of their work however, such as the idea of distanced care versus their demonstrated personalisation of the foetal cells with which they work and also between their burdensome awareness of the consequences for individual women of their karyotyping and their repeated references to the ethical and social consequences of their work as being determined by society not by their own actions.

Abortion, Eugenic↗

PubMed1999

Science's new social contract with society.

Under the prevailing contract between science and society, science has been expected to produce 'reliable' knowledge, provided merely that it communicates its discoveries to society. A new contract must now ensure that scientific knowledge is 'socially robust', and that its production is seen by society to be both transparent and participative.

Science↗

PubMed1978

Training psychiatrists in social research: problems and prospects.

An integrated program of psychiatric residency training and doctoral studies in social welfare has been conducted by Brandeis University and two Worcester (Mass) clinical institutions over the last five years. Its goal has been to train psychiatrists to conduct psychiatric research using social science concepts and techniques. This article reviews the advantages of such a program, as well as its problems, in the context of current trends in psychiatric education and research. This program is also compared to others with similar goals that use different models of training.

Hospitals, State↗

PubMed2001

Attitudes of future human service professionals: the effects of victim and helper qualities.

The authors determined the effects of the qualities of trauma victims (ethnic background, level of trauma, level of adaptation) and of helpers (gender, type of education, field of study) on the attitudes of future members of human service professions (law, medicine, nursing, social sciences, law enforcement) toward the victims. The respondents read 6 descriptions of a fictitious victim and rated their general attitudes toward the victim described. The high-trauma and poorly adapted victims elicited more negative attitudes than did the low-trauma and well-adapted victims. The male respondents and those from vocational institutions had more negative attitudes toward the victims. The female respondents and those from the university expressed more positive attitudes. The future police officers and legal professionals tended to have more negative attitudes toward the victims than did the future medical and social care professionals. The findings did not support the assumption that the participants would hold more negative attitudes toward other-ethnic than toward same-ethnic victims.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Drug treatment in contemporary anthropology and sociology.

The relatively slim social science literature on drug treatment is reviewed. Attention is paid to the institutionalization of treatment at the meso (local community or clinic) level and the micro (client) level rather than to the more commonly examined macro (societal or national) level. The inter-penetration across these levels of ideologies and practices around drugs is revealed through discussion of the targeting of certain populations for treatment, methods of client control in treatment settings, and the client's view of treatment. In the literature, drug users are often presented as passive individuals, subject to various forms of restrictive social control in therapeutic settings. Their perspective on the processes or efficacy of treatment is rarely sought. The concept of drug treatment as necessarily beneficial to clients is questioned in this paper.

Anthropology↗