Comparing sexual behavioral patterns between two bathhouses: implications for HIV prevention intervention policy

There is a glaring lack of data to inform culturally appropriate HIV prevention interventions targeting environments such as bathhouses where men who have sex with men (MSM) practice sexual risk behaviors. This study compares sexual behavioral patterns across two bathhouse sites in order to identify important themes to address when tailoring HIV prevention interventions to bathhouse environments. We analyzed semi-structured interviews with workers and patrons at two bathhouses to explore similarities and differences. A coding scheme was established and data were organized according to conceptual themes. We found that differences between the two sites emerged in six key areas: bathhouse clientele, attraction to particular sites, sexual practices and condom use, communication about sex and HIV status, bathhouse rules, and substance use. Implications for HIV prevention intervention policy are discussed.     

Public health policy and gay bathhouses

Public health policy on bathhouses has been limited and poorly documented. This volume is intended to expand policy-makers' and prevention-professionals' knowledge and awareness about gay bathhouses. The present paper provides a context and an overview for the volume by describing the bathhouse environment and how it differs from other public sex environments, and by describing public policies that have been implemented.     

Designing an HIV counseling and testing program for bathhouses: the Seattle experience with strategies to improve acceptability

Bathhouses are important venues for providing HIV counseling and testing to high-risk men who have sex with men (MSM), yet relatively few bathhouses routinely provide this service, and few data are available to guide program design. We examine numerous logistic considerations that had been identified in the HIV Alternative Testing Strategies study and that influenced the initiation, effectiveness, and maintenance of HIV testing programs in bathhouses for MSM. Key programmatic considerations in the design of a bathhouse HIV counseling and testing program included building alliances with community agencies, hiring and training staff, developing techniques for offering testing, and providing options for counseling, testing, and disclosure of results. The design included ways to provide client support and follow-up for partner notification and treatment counseling and to maintain relationships with bathhouse management for support of prevention activities. Early detection of HIV infection and HIV prevention can be achieved for some high-risk MSM through an accessible and acceptable HIV counseling and testing program in bathhouses. Keys to success include establishing community prevention collaborations between bathhouse personnel and testing agencies, ensuring that testing staff are supported in their work, and offering anonymous rapid HIV testing. Use of FDA approved, new rapid tests that do not require venipuncture, centrifugation, or laboratory oversight will further decrease barriers to testing and facilitate implementation of bathhouse testing programs in other communities.     

Sexual orientation identification of men who have sex with men in public settings in Canada

The present study attempts to determine how men who have sex with men (MSM) identify in terms of their sexual orientation. The sexual identity of MSM has important implications for the spread of HIV. The literature suggests that gay or bisexual identifying MSM are more likely to practice safer sex than heterosexually-identified MSM. A significant number of the MSM in public settings, such as parks, are believed to be heterosexual identifying. MSM in bathhouses are presumed to be gay or bisexual identifying. Parks have been the focus of safer sex outreach efforts targeted towards heterosexually-identified MSM. Sexual orientation self-identification was ascertained from park and bathhouse users via one-on-one interactions with outreach workers from 1996 to 1998. Chi-square analysis revealed no significant difference in the expressed sexual orientation of bath and park users, with both populations consisting mostly of gay-identified men. Heterosexually-identified MSM are not found in significant numbers in public settings. The current micro educational approach used to target these men may not be cost-effective. Alternative strategies are discussed.     

Space,Agency, and the Transfiguring of Lesbian/Queer Desire

In this study, the author uses ethnographic and interview data from Pussy Palace, a lesbian/queer bathhouse in Toronto, Canada, to examine the ways in which the bathhouse space impacted participants' sexuality, behaviors, and notions of self. The Toronto Women's Bathhouse Committee (TWBC), an explicitly feminist and queer organization, is responsible for putting on Pussy Palace events and in creating an atmosphere that is simultaneously sexual and safe. Findings indicate elements of both spatial praxis and sexual agency, wherein individuals expressed being able to “take risks,” “find their sexuality,” and “discover who they are” in a safe space, where nonnormative bodies and sexualities are to be celebrated. Although participants expressed feeling “liberated,” many also described feeling anxious, awkward, and insecure. Within a sexual space where bodies are exposed and highly salient, these anxieties worked to inhibit and curtail bodily expression. The author concludes by discussing the significance of spaces like Pussy Palace for lesbian/queer individuals when it comes to sexual expression and the need for further research when it comes to examining lesbian/queer sexualities and public sexual cultures.     

Why bother to ‘downshift’? The characteristics and satisfaction of downshifters in the Brisbane-South East Queensland region,Australia

Using the data collected as part of a Quality of Life (QoL) survey in the Brisbane-South East Queensland region (SEQ) of Australia, this paper examines differences in satisfaction levels between downshifters and non-downshifters, and identifies socio-economic predictors of the downshifting phenomenon. Almost 30% of survey respondents are classified as downshifters. Multivariate Analysis of Covariance reveals significant differences between downshifters and non-downshifters in a number of life-satisfaction domains, although the degree to which they were satisfied with their life before downshifting is unknown. Analysis of Covariance shows that downshifters reported a significantly lower level of satisfaction than non-downshifters, especially with respect to satisfaction with the amount of money available to them, independence or freedom, and employment. Multivariate logistic regression analysis reveals that post-secondary education and employment were positively associated with downshifting, while age was significantly associated with downshifting. It is argued that if downshifting is associated with lower levels of satisfaction, intervention may be required to initiate programs to engage downshifters more fully in the workforce by facilitating more flexible work arrangements and an improved working environment.     

The Effect of Education on the Demographic Dividend

The impact of population structure on economic growth has been studied in recent decades using different methods to estimate the so‐called demographic dividend. Besides, education has been pointed out as a key factor in economic growth. We propose a decomposition of the demographic dividend, into age and education effects. We illustrate the potentialities of the method, deriving an application to Mexico and Spain over the period 1970‐2100. To that end, we estimate the National Transfer Accounts age profiles by schooling level and apply them to recently available population projections stratified by education level. Our results confirm the role of population age structure in the demographic dividend, but also reveal that education attainment can be even more crucial. Moreover, we find that how both age and education effects finally impact on economic growth depends to a great extent on the specific consumption and labor income age profiles in each country.     

Gender differences in factors that influence time spent planning for retirement

Retirement research has shown that planning activities are influenced by a variety of demographic and psychological variables. However, few investigations have focused on how demographic and psychological factors influence the time and effort men and women allocate to retirement preparation. In the present study, 184 individuals completed a survey designed to assess future time perspective (FTP), worry about retirement, age, and income level. Hierarchical regression techniques were used to examine how these variables influenced the amount of time men and women spent planning for and thinking about retirement. Results revealed that women spent less time thinking about retirement than men, and gender was differentially related to the factors predictive of this activity. From an applied perspective, these findings suggest that separate retirement intervention programs are warranted that meet the unique needs of working men and women.     

A conceptualization and research strategy for the study of ecological aspects of the quality of life

The centerpiece of this paper is a proposed model identifying the various factors that ought to be brought into a thorough study of ecological aspects of quality of life. The model suggests that in addition to studying the physical, economic and social situation of an individual it also is important to study his beliefs about how the world works, his personal lifestyle, and his values, goals, aspirations and needs if one is to make adequate inferences about what produces the level of quality of life that he experiences. The model also shows that it is important to look at similar variables for a community or a society in order to arrive at inferences about quality of life for that community or society. Personal and societal learning is a dynamic factor in the model. The paper concludes with a discussion of strategies for operationalizing these factors in empirical studies.     

‘Facework’, Flow and the City: Simmel,Goffman, and Mobility in the Contemporary City

This paper contains a re‐reading of Simmel and Goffman with an eye to the mobility practices of the contemporary city. The paper offers a ‘new’ perspective on mobility in the contemporary city by re‐reading two sociological ‘classics’ as there is a need to conceptualise the everyday level of flow and mobility in the midst of an intellectual climate dominated by grand theories of networks and globalisation. In the re‐reading of Simmel and Goffman, the aim is to reach an understanding of how contemporary material mobility flows and symbolic orders and meanings are produced and re‐produced. You may argue that other academic disciplines such as anthropology and human geography have made important contributions to this understanding. What has not been done, however, is to show how these two sociological thinkers can move beyond mere application to this field of study. With their sociological sensitivity, they rather carry important insights that will benefit the sociology of mobility. Arguably Simmel and Goffman offer the opportunity to connect the global flows to the everyday level of social practice, as well as linking more basic/classic sociological theory to contemporary issues of mobility. The reason to ‘look back’ is therefore to capture some of the past's ‘sociological imagination’ and relate it to an important social phenomenon of the present.     

“Talking Back”: The poetry of Suheir Hammad

This paper examines how Suheir Hammad's poetry “talks back” (bell hooks) to dominant gendered discourses. My central argument is that Hammad's influential poetry is constitutive of a discourse of resistance. This paper posits resistance as being counter-hegemonic. It demonstrates how these representations signify a re-articulation of identity and a call for a redistribution of symbolic power. On the basis of a textual analysis of Hammad's poetry, supplemented with an individual interview with the artist involved, some discursive tactics emerge as interventions. From articulating her reactions to the September 11 attacks to her more recent mediated involvement with the uprisings commonly referred to as the “Arab Spring,” such interventions are always subjected to co-optation. Nonetheless, they propelled her into the public sphere, thereby affording opportunities to present creative works that point to stronger possibilities for Middle Eastern womanhood.     

中国普遍二孩生育的政策环境与政策目标

普遍二孩生育政策的实施效果,不仅涉及人口长期均衡发展目标的实现,也决定着生育政策下一步改革的方向和速度。文章围绕“谁来生”（生育主体）、“如何养”（社会经济条件）、“生多少”（生育文化）三个问题,着重分析了中国普遍二孩生育的人口环境、社会经济环境和政治文化环境。结果显示普遍二孩生育政策并不会起到立竿见影提升生育率水平的效果,其对劳动力短缺、人口老龄化等结构性问题的解决也不会是即时的。文章对这一政策的可能效果与实现政策目标的关系进行了理论上的探讨,认为政府工作的重点须顺应政策环境的变化,努力创造生育友好型社会,而不是急于求成再次贸然改变生育政策。     

Religion,social milieu,and the contraceptive revolution

This study examines how the social environment of religious congregations affects the spread of contraceptive use in developing contexts, using Mozambique as a case study. Analysis of qualitative data collected in urban areas of that country in 1998-99 and of the data from the 1997 Mozambique Demographic and Health Survey suggests that, in urban areas, the environment of more socioculturally diverse and inclusive Roman Catholic and mission-based Protestant congregations is more propitious to the spread and legitimization of modern contraception than the milieu of smaller, relatively homogeneous, independent churches. In rural areas, however, sociocultural diversity within and across different religious denominations is minimal, and membership in any formal congregation offers an advantage in contraceptive learning.     

Gender-related Effect of Cultural Participation in Psychological Well-being: Indications from the Well-being Project in the Municipality of Milan

Gender differences have been observed in the way males and females process cognitive stimuli coming from exposure to works of art and participation in leisure activities. For this reason, we designed a project to assess this issue, with a cross-sectional study in Milan, on a sample of the population consisting in 1,000 inhabitants. Our objective was to assess how cultural participation affects subjective well-being, measured with the Psychological General Well-being Scale, which gives a global index of psychological well-being ranging from 0 (lowest level of well-being) to 110 (highest level of well-being). The survey was conducted with the assistance of Doxa, an Italian pollster company, through telephone interviews, according to the Computer Aided Telephone Interview system. A significant statistical difference in variable distribution between the two genders was found for civil status (more males resulted as being single and more women widowed), income (higher income in males), cultural participation (higher in males) and psychological well-being (higher in males). As expected, state of health has the maximum impact on the level of psychological well-being. The increase in the number of concomitant diseases is in fact linearly associated with a progressive increase in psychological distress with average scores of around 60 (very low level of well-being), in the presence of 5 or more concomitant diseases, in both males and females. The impact profile of nine major determinants on subjective well-being resulted to be clearly different in the two genders. Health status dominates in both, but its impact is higher in females than in males. The obtained results remained substantially unchanged also when the two gender groups were matched according to civil status and income level distribution. Leisure activities play an important role in females (second place after health status), while in males they result as being less important (fourth place after health status, civil status and occupation). Education is quite important for females (third place), while it is given the least importance in males. This different profile probably reflects different social and environmental influences on the two genders. The social and psychological implications of these findings are discussed.     

Variability of Quality of Life at Small Scales: Addis Ababa,Kirkos Sub-City

Urban quality of life (QoL) is becoming a subject of urban research mainly for western and Asian countries. Such attention is due to an increasing awareness of the contribution of QoL studies in identifying intervention areas and in monitoring urban planning policies. However, most studies are carried out at city or country level that can average out details at small scales. In this paper we present a case study where the urban QoL at small scale is measured and its variability is evaluated for Kirkos sub-city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The study is based on data from a household survey and some secondary data. Geographic information system (GIS) is applied to extract proximity information (e.g., distance to school facilities) and visualize the spatial distribution of QoL. Statistical methods such as factor analysis are applied to establish an index of objective QoL while coefficient of variation is applied to evaluate spatial variability of subjective QoL. The results of this study reveal that the subjective quality of life (QoL) scores show large variation in the sub-city. The mean QoL score also indicates that the respondents in the sub-city, on average, are dissatisfied with the quality of their life. Respondents with higher education level and income are on average, however, more satisfied with their QoL in the sub-city. The results reveal that the lower the QoL in the Kebele, the larger the variability of QoL within the Kebele. Such indicates how aggregation at large scale can average out the variation of QoL at small scales. The results reveal the presence of QoL variability at small scales. The comparison between the subjective and the objective QoL at Kebele level indicated a state of dissonance, adaptation, deprivation or well-being. Such results suggest that the two measures do not always indicate the same level of QoL.     

Land and leña: linking transnational migration, natural resources, and the environment in Guatemala

This article examines the relationships between international migration, natural resources, and the environment. Rather than looking at environmental change as a cause of population movements, the article reveals how migration affects the environment in sending countries. Empirically, we rely on a case study in Guatemala. Although migrants and cash remittances make significant contributions to Guatemala’s changing economy, little is known about the relationships between migration and the environment in this Central American country—a country, which continues to have a large rural population and that relies heavily on its natural resources. Drawing on ethnographic research and household surveys in a Maya community, we reveal how migrants and their earnings, as well as their ideas, behavior and attitudes, affect land use, land cover, and firewood use. We reveal, for example, how in addition to investments in land for home building and pick-up trucks to help improve agricultural production, some migrant households purchase more land and often dedicate it to the cultivation of vegetable crops for local and foreign markets. Cultural practices and beliefs directly linked to land and the environment, particularly maize cultivation, also alter due to migration processes. And, despite the ability of migrant households to transition to more efficient fuels like liquid propane gas (LPG), we show how they continue to use firewood. In all, the study contributes important insights into the environmental implications of migration.     

Environmental quality and fertility: the effects of plant density,species richness,and plant diversity on fertility limitation

The relationship between the environment and population has been of concern for centuries, and climate change is making this an even more pressing area of study. In poor rural areas, declining environmental conditions may elicit changes in family-related behaviors. This paper explores this relationship in rural Nepal looking specifically at how plant density, species richness, and plant diversity are related to women’s fertility limitation behavior. Taking advantage of a unique data set with detailed micro-level environmental measures and individual fertility behavior, I link geographically weighted measures of flora at one point in time to women’s later contraceptive use as a way to examine this complex relationship. I find a significant, positive relationship between plant density, species richness, and plant diversity and the timing of contraceptive use. Women in poor environmental conditions are less likely to terminate childbearing, or do so later, and therefore more likely to have larger families.     

An Institutional Perspective on Individual Work Well-Being: Evidence from China

This paper evaluates how factors and values that are embedded in China’s changing institutional environment impact work well-being. Using firm level survey data, the paper examines how exogenous institutions—state ownership and individual traditionality—interact with firm level institutions—strategic human resource management (SHRM) and person-organisation fit (P-O fit) to influence workers’ job involvement. We find that state ownership weakens the effect of SHRM on workers’ job involvement while P-O fit does not. Individual traditionality on the other hand moderates the effects of SHRM and P-O fit on workers’ job involvement. Our study contributes to work well-being research in transitioning economies such as China and has consequences for labour market and SHRM policies.     

From Sacred Place to Monumental Space: Mobility Along the Way to St. James

Human intervention and social practices have been pivotal for the creation of sacred spaces; indeed, the mobility of human beings has endowed spaces with meaning through religious cultural products. Progressive human intervention in holy places has turned them into monumental spaces, where cultural heritage has become a symbol of identity and the space has assumed the values of the culture that produced it. In this paper, we investigate the value of heritage along pilgrimage routes, as in the case of the Way of St. James. The sacred-monumental space works according to the system of artistic and cultural elements that define it as an integrated system. We will focus on the twentieth-century rediscovery of the Way in Spain, on the processes of monumental reinterpretation that culminated in its declaration, in 1987, as ‘First European Cultural Route’ by the Council of Europe, and as ‘UNESCO World Heritage Site’, in 1993.