Living conditions and the health of two social groups inhabiting a squatter settlement in Calcutta, India

Squatter dwellers are found in almost all the Third World countries. Poor living conditions are the characteristic features of all the squatter settlements. Again, poor living conditions are also associated with the health condition of the squatter dwellers. In the present study an attempt has been made to compare and contrast the living condition of two social groups (Hindu and Muslim) inhabiting a squatter settlement in Calcutta, India. The results show that the overall living condition of the Muslim is worse than that of the Hindu. The morbidity pattern is also worse in the Muslim than in the Hindu.     

The moral polity of forced migration

We can speak of a moral polity, in which many countries in Europe receiving refugees have signed human rights conventions. Yet we also find externalization of migration control and widespread rejection towards receiving forced migrants. This observation raises two questions. First, what are the main mechanisms fuelling the dualism of human rights on the one hand and an unwillingness to accept forced migrants on the other hand? More generally, what is driving political perceptions around forced migration? Second, the practical question is: How can we (de)construct political perceptions around forced migration which lead to categorizations that exclude migrants from living in safety? In doing so, this analysis seeks to deconstruct forced migration from the point of view of critical theory, literary theory and social theory. The conclusion then asks, inspired by feminist-queer theory, whether there is a creative opening in escaping inequality-producing categorizations of forced migration.     

Does infectious disease cause global variation in the frequency of intrastate armed conflict and civil war?

Geographic and cross‐national variation in the frequency of intrastate armed conflict and civil war is a subject of great interest. Previous theory on this variation has focused on the influence on human behaviour of climate, resource competition, national wealth, and cultural characteristics. We present the parasite‐stress model of intrastate conflict, which unites previous work on the correlates of intrastate conflict by linking frequency of the outbreak of such conflict, including civil war, to the intensity of infectious disease across countries of the world. High intensity of infectious disease leads to the emergence of xenophobic and ethnocentric cultural norms. These cultures suffer greater poverty and deprivation due to the morbidity and mortality caused by disease, and as a result of decreased investment in public health and welfare. Resource competition among xenophobic and ethnocentric groups within a nation leads to increased frequency of civil war. We present support for the parasite‐stress model with regression analyses. We find support for a direct effect of infectious disease on intrastate armed conflict, and support for an indirect effect of infectious disease on the incidence of civil war via its negative effect on national wealth. We consider the entanglements of feedback of conflict into further reduced wealth and increased incidence of disease, and discuss implications for international warfare and global patterns of wealth and imperialism.     

Health,humanitarian relief,and survival in former Yugoslavia.

Since the World Health Organisation''s effort in former Yugoslavia started in July 1992 it has been concerned with the public health policies of survival. It has provided advice to the United Nations High Commission for refugees, helped the voluntary agencies coordinate their work, assessed health needs, and provided practical help in the field to all parties to the conflict. Three features of the Bosnia war have particularly deplorable effects on health: ethnic cleansing, deliberate attacks on hospitals, and systematic rape. The WHO''s response has included initiatives in nutrition, winter survival, and medical supplies. This experience shows that the WHO can have a useful role complementary to that of other agencies in situations where the basic elements for survival of the population are seriously compromised by war.     

10-year survey of 485 sterilizations. Part II: patients' views on their sterilization.

As part of a study of the complications after sterilisation 485 of the 547 women who had been sterilised by a modified Pomeroy procedure in one unit over 10 years were interviewed. They were asked whether they regretted being sterilised and about the quality of their sex lives, mental health, social relationships, and marriages. Most women were pleased to have been sterilised, only 24 regretting it. Regret was more pronounced among women who had been sterilised in association with a third caesarean section, those sterilised for medical reasons, and those whose marriages had ended in divorce. In each case where a woman regretted a sterilisation that had been performed on the recommendation of a psychiatrist, the psychiatrists were still prepared to defent their opinions. On their sex lives, mental health, social relationships, and marriages, more women reported improvement than deterioration, and in most cases the deterioration could not be attributed to the sterilisation. The overall benefits from sterilisation to the women in this series therefore seemed to outweigh substantially the adverse consequences experienced by a few.     

Movements,moments and moods. Generation as unity and strife in Peruvian migration

This article discusses the meaning and use of generation in migration studies. It argues that the term is useful to examine how migrants create linkages between their pre- and post-migration lives. The article draws on Mannheim's notions of ‘generational units’ and ‘fresh contact’ to scrutinize how Peruvians engage resources from their previous lives in Peru to achieve social mobility in the USA, Japan, Spain and Argentina. In particular, the article focuses on the role of education, ethnicity and conflict in Peruvians’ efforts to create support networks and form migrant institutions. It suggests that generational units grow out of migrants’ shared experience of mobilizing the same resource to establish fresh contact with their receiving society. The article concludes that while generational belonging can generate a strong sense of solidarity among some groups of migrants, this often happens at the cost of the unity and inclusion of the migrant community at large.     

Association between Social Integration and Health among Internal Migrants in ZhongShan,China

Internal migrants are the individuals who migrate between regions in one country. The number of internal migrants were estimated at 245 million in China in 2013. Results were inconsistent in the literature about the relationship between their health statuses and social integration. The main difference exists on how to measure the social integration and whether health statuses of internal migrants improve with years of residence. To complement the existing literature, this study measured social integration more comprehensively and estimated the internal migrants’ health statuses with varying years of residence, and explored the associations between the migrants’ social integration and health. We used the data from 2014 Internal Migrant Dynamic Monitoring Survey of Health and Family Planning in ZhongShan, China. Health status was measured from four aspects: self-reported health, subjective well-being, perception of stress, mental health. We measured social integration through four dimensions: economy, social communication, acculturation, and self-identity. The analyses used multiple linear regressions to examine the associations between self-reported health, subjective well-being, and perception of stress, mental health and social integration. The analytical sample included 1,999 households of the internal migrants and 1,997 local registered households, who were permanent residents in ZhongShan. Among the internal migrants, Adults in the labor force, who were aged 25 to 44 years old, accounted for 91.2% of the internal migrant population, while 74.6% of the registered population were in that age group. Median residential time among migrants was 2.8 (1.3–6.2) years, and 20.2% of them were migrating in the same Guangdong province. Except for mental health, other health statuses among migrants had significant differences compared with local registered population, e.g. self-reported health was better, but subjective well-being was worse. However, these health measurements were improved with more years of residence. Moreover, our results show that two aspects of social integration, economic integration and self-identity, were significantly associated with health status. Subjective feeling of relative social status levels were more associated with health, which prompted the attention to social fairness and the creation of a fair and respectful culture. More interventions could be experimented, such as encouraging internal migrants to participate in community activities more actively, educating local registered residents to treat internal migrants more equally, and developing self-identity among internal migrants. Better social, economic, and cultural environment can benefit internal migrants’ health statuses.     

When the refugee status becomes an economic asset: how Malians in a Burkinabé City negotiate the “refugee” category

ABSTRACT

Since early 2016, part of the Malian urban refugees living in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, have to “capitalize” on their refugee status to make ends meet. By examining when, why, and how the refugee status transmutes into an economic asset, this article shows how the possibilities to negotiate with the refugee category vary significantly within this group of forced migrants. Indeed, categories are not only imposed on people, but are negotiated by the actors themselves in their interactions and within their social and political economies. My article shows how the refugees’ ability or possibility to participate in the co-construction of their category is shaped by both the social and political context in which they are, as well as by wider intersectional and structural dynamics in which their lives are situated, such as socio-economic class, gender and race.     

Health profile of two social groups living in a squatter settlement in Calcutta

Health and well-being of individuals largely depend on socioeconomic and environmental conditions. The low socioeconomic groups face the highest health burdens. In the present study an attempt has been made to compare and contrast the health related traits prevalent in two social groups (Hindu and Muslim), living in a squatter settlement in Calcutta, India. The study has been conducted on women between 20 to 40 years of age. The results show that the Muslims are more frequently affected with respect to most of the traits than the Hindus, but the difference is significant with respect to only a few traits. Thus, micro-cultural traits associated with religion do not seem to have much effect on the health related traits considered in this study.     

Social ties at work: Roma migrants and the community dynamics

This research examines how the internal social dynamics of Roma communities at home shape their propensity to migrate. It is theoretically grounded in the literature on social capital and focuses on two core concepts: ‘migration-rich’ and ‘migration-poor’ communities. The research is based on in-depth interviews and informal discussions with Roma from six (mainly rural) communities of Transylvania (Romania) and includes qualitative data gathered from migrants as well as from people who did not migrate. The findings challenge existing conceptualizations of Roma migration as either explained by poverty alone or by cultural arguments (such as nomadism). This paper indicates that even in the context of severe poverty, social networks are actually decisive for migration. It demonstrates that the patterns of migration tend to be community-specific and shaped by a locally shared culture (ethos) on migration. The research suggests policy choices according to the community profile and its internal dynamics.     

Diversity,Conflict, and Recognition in Hospital Medical Practice

The hospital is a place of encounter between health care providers, patients and family members, the healthy and the suffering, migrants and non-migrants, as well as social and cultural minorities, and majorities of various backgrounds. It is also a space where multiple conceptions of care, life, quality of life, and death are enacted, sometimes inhibiting mutual understanding between caregivers and the cared for, a scenario that in turn may provoke conflict. Through the lens of conflict, we explore in this article the theme of Otherness within the clinic, basing analysis on an ethnographic study conducted in recent years in three cosmopolitan Canadian cities. Daily practices and—on a larger scale—the social space of the clinic become material here for reflecting on recognition (and non-recognition) of the Other as actors in the clinical encounter. The examination of structural and situational conditions that contribute to the emergence of conflict offers an understanding of the diversity of values that pervade the clinic. By way of conclusion, we argue that recognition of diversity, at least on the part of practitioners, is a key condition for the emergence of a pluralist normativity in the social space of the clinic.     

Roma migrant children in Catalonia: between the politics of benevolence and the normalization of violence

In this article, I engage with the current debate on Roma migrant children. Taking Catalonia as a case study, I tackle the separation of Romani children from their parents and the completion of pay-to-go schemes for marginalized Romanian Roma families. The focus lies within the allegedly humane logic of state institutions and civil-society organizations that reflect structural oppression and unveil everyday racism against Roma as a group. Specifically, I seek to explain the relation between the “voluntary return” practices and programs for child protection. The benevolent practices towards the migrant Roma families are considered to be grounded on child well-being. At the same time, the common and widespread practice of pay-to-go for poor Romani migrants push the families into a vicious circle of forced mobility. Therefore, I employ the theories of humanitarianism, and the critiques on the politics of benevolence, to reveal the institutional racism against the Romani migrants.     

Reproductive health status, knowledge, and access to health care among female migrants in Shanghai, China

As the largest labour flow in human history, the recent rise in migration in China has opened up unprecedented opportunities for millions of Chinese to rearrange their lives. At the same time, this process has also posed great challenges to Chinese migrants, especially female migrants, who not only face a bias against 'outsiders' but also have a greater need for reproductive health-related services in their migratory destinations. Based on data collected via multiple sources in Shanghai, China's largest metropolis, this study profiles the changing characteristics of female migrants, presents data on self-reported symptoms of reproductive health-related problems and knowledge on reproductive health issues, compares maternal and child health measures between migrants and local residents, and examines factors related to reproductive health knowledge and migrants' access to health care in urban China. Results of this study show a relatively low level of self-reported reproductive health problems among female migrants, coupled with a relatively high level of ignorance in knowledge related to STD. Both self-reported health status and knowledge of reproductive health are related to migrants' educational attainment and length of stay in the urban destination. This study also finds ample evidence that female migrants' access to urban health care is limited by a number of institutional barriers.     

Childhood conditions, migration, and mortality: migrants and natives in 19th-century cities

Migrants often have lower mortality than natives in spite of relatively unfavorable social and economic characteristics. Although migrants have a short-run advantage due to the selective migration of healthy workers, persistent health and mortality differences between migrants and natives may be long-run effects of different experiences in childhood. We made use of a natural experiment resulting from rural-to-urban migration in the mid-19th century. Mortality was much higher in urban areas, especially in rapidly growing industrial cities. Migrants usually came from healthier rural origins as young adults. Data used in this study is available from 19th-century Belgian population registers describing two sites: a rapidly growing industrial city and a small town that became an industrial suburb. We found evidence of three processes that lead to differences between the mortality of migrants and natives. First, recent migrants had lower mortality than natives, because they were self-selected for good health when they arrived. This advantage decreased with time spent in the destination. Second, migrants from rural backgrounds had a disadvantage in epidemic years, because they had less experience with these diseases. Third, migrants from rural areas had lower mortality at older (but not younger) ages, even if they had migrated more than 10 years earlier. We interpret this as a long-run consequence of less exposure to disease in childhood.     

Behavioural processes in social context: female abductions, male herding and female grooming in hamadryas baboons

The formation of bonds between strangers is an event that occurs routinely in many social animals, including humans, and, as social bonds in general, they affect the individuals' welfare and biological fitness. The present study was motivated by an interest in the behavioural processes that drive bond formation in a social context of hostility, in which the incumbent partners vary greatly in physical power and reproductive interests, a situation in which individuals of many group-living species find themselves often throughout their lives. We focused on the quantitative analysis of female abductions via male aggressive herding in a nonhuman primate, the hamadryas baboon, in which intersexual bonds are known to be strong. We tested three hypotheses informed by sexual conflict/sexual coercion theory (male herding-as-conditioning and female grooming-as-appeasement) and by socioecological theory (unit size and female competition). The results supported the predictions: males resorted to coercive tactics (aggressive herding) with abducted females, and abducted females elevated the amount of grooming directed at their new unit males; in fact, they escaped from the otherwise negative effect of unit size on female-to-male grooming. These findings reveal that conflicts of interest are natural ingredients underpinning social bonds and that resorting to coercive aggression may be an option especially when partners differ greatly in their physical power.     

Bird diversity in the savanna habitats of Akagera National Park,Rwanda, in the post-war recovery period

The biodiversity of Akagera National Park (ANP), Rwanda, has reportedly been declining since 1990 due to conflict and war in the country between 1990 and 1994. In this paper, we describe bird diversity in the post-war recovery period. We used systematic plots, point counts and presence–absence surveys to estimate bird species richness and diversity in acacia savanna habitats of the park between 2009 and 2011. We recorded a total number of 301 species, of which 75% were resident and 22% migrant, including a large number of Palearctic visitors and Afrotropical migrants. Particularly notable were four endemic species of the Lake Victoria region, four globally threatened and nine near-threatened species as well as species that had not previously been recorded in the park and those overlooked by past records. Estimated species richness and diversity at the landscape level were 346 and 0.98, respectively, mean estimates per plot were 42 and 0.86 for species richness and diversity, respectively. Our results highlight regional and international importance of ANP in protecting important bird diversity. We also emphasise that ANP is the only savanna habitat in Rwanda where typical savanna birds occur. Our findings provide new insights for further strengthening of efforts to conserve the park's biodiversity.     

Suffering Child: An Embodiment of War and Its Aftermath in Post-Sandinista Nicaragua

This article considers how the ripple effects of war and its aftermath are embodied and lived even after being mediated by time, space, and social status. Through a case study of a Nicaraguan boy and his natal family, I argue that the legacy of war, structural violence, and endemic poverty are chronic and lingering and emerge from internationally and locally produced traumatogenic social relations. I use a phenomenological approach to distress to minimize the clinical tendency to pathologize individual sufferers, and to illuminate the destructive capacities of politically and historically produced conditions of social "normal abnormality." The continuum of lived experience of social suffering is poignantly articulated by a member of one of society's most vulnerable sectors, a ten-year-old child, [children, social suffering, war and structural violence, phenomenology of distress, Nicaragua]     

Examining complexities of forest cover change during armed conflict on Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast

The effects of armed conflict on biodiversity are an emerging concern in conservation due in part to the occurrence of war in biodiversity hotspots, though few studies have addressed it. We investigate this topic by examining changes in forest cover on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua from 1978 to 1993, a period covering their civil war. We predict an increase in forest cover between pre- and post-conflict periods as residents abandoned agriculture plots and migrated from conflict areas. We used a remote sensing approach to detect changes in forest cover area and fragmentation at two study sites. Results confirmed that in the first 5–7 years of the conflict, reforestation was greater than deforestation, but in the latter years of the conflict deforested land almost doubled that which was reforested. Although some forest loss was due to Category 4 Hurricane Joan, several conflict-related factors were partially responsible for these results, such as mass human migration and land reform. Understanding how and why forest cover changes during periods of conflict can help conservationists protect resources both during war and in the tumultuous period following the cessation of violence when nascent governments lack the power to effectively govern and community institutions are fractured by war. In areas where the livelihoods of people are directly dependent on local resources, anticipating ecological and social impacts can help improve future conservation efforts.     

Newspaper Portrayals,Local Policies,and Dog-Supportive Public Space: Who's Wagging Whom?

ABSTRACT

Dog-walking promotes physical activity and positive social interactions, and thus dog-walking has implications for people's physical and mental health. As a result, experts in public health have endorsed designing and managing public space to support dog-walking. Nevertheless, the presence of dogs in public space is subject to negotiation and can be controversial. Generally, municipal governments or local councils exercise political jurisdiction over both dogs and public space. As a case study, we systematically collected and analyzed a local newspaper's portrayals of issues relating to dog-walking in public space. Our purpose was to understand how public and policy agendas were being represented by local media, during a period of time when local policies on dog ownership and dog-supportive public space were being reviewed and revised. The analysis involved three phases: 1) thematic content analysis; 2) issue framing analysis; and 3) policy analysis. Thematically, we found that social conflict predominated. In terms of issue framing, local policy and individual dog owner behavior were both problematized. Over time, the policy agenda evolved to emphasize the design and management of public space, especially park land. Policy-makers presented this emphasis on public space as a proactive strategy to reduce social conflict and to promote compliance with existing rules on dog ownership. When it comes to promoting dog-walking to benefit animal welfare and human health, our findings underscore the importance of paying close attention to local policies and media coverage. In fact, we found that endogenous conflict and public controversies can actually represent significant opportunities to bring about positive changes in the lives of humans and nonhuman animals.     

Childhood conditions,migration, and mortality: Migrants and natives in 19th‐century cities

Abstract

Migrants often have lower mortality than natives in spite of relatively unfavorable social and economic characteristics. Although migrants have a short‐run advantage due to the selective migration of healthy workers, persistent health and mortality differences between migrants and natives may be long‐run effects of different experiences in childhood. We made use of a natural experiment resulting from rural‐to‐urban migration in the mid‐19th century. Mortality was much higher in urban areas, especially in rapidly growing industrial cities. Migrants usually came from healthier rural origins as young adults. Data used in this study is available from 19th‐century Belgian population registers describing two sites: a rapidly growing industrial city and a small town that became an industrial suburb. We found evidence of three processes that lead to differences between the mortality of migrants and natives. First, recent migrants had lower mortality than natives, because they were self‐selected for good health when they arrived. This advantage decreased with time spent in the destination. Second, migrants from rural backgrounds had a disadvantage in epidemic years, because they had less experience with these diseases. Third, migrants from rural areas had lower mortality at older (but not younger) ages, even if they had migrated more than 10 years earlier. We interpret this as a long‐run consequence of less exposure to disease in childhood.