Socioeconomic, medical care, and public health contexts affecting infant mortality: a study of community-level differentials in Peru

Socioeconomic, medical care, and public health contexts are examined in Peruvian communities for their relationship to infant mortality. A deviant case analysis is used to uncover characteristics important in the social structure of Peruvian communities. Results from fieldwork in two "deviant" communities suggest that economic diversity, income disparity, social class fluidity, and women's autonomy, along with refined measures of medical care and public health resources, are important in understanding differentials in mortality. Attention is drawn to the community context and to the interplay of socioeconomic determinants affecting infant mortality.