Birth-interval dynamics in rural Bangladesh and maternal weight

This article reports on the results of a study conducted in rural Bangladesh on the influence of maternal weight on the components of birth intervals, including gestation and intrauterine mortality, the duration of postpartum amenorrhea, and the duration of waiting time to conception (the menstrual interval). When biological factors (including maternal age, parity, and supplementation practices) and behavioral variables, including religion, education, and occupation, were controlled, maternal weight was found to be related to the risk of intrauterine mortality and to the probability of resuming menses in the postpartum period. The implications of these findings for policies and programs in developing countries are discussed.     

Working in partnership: user perceptions of intensive home visiting

The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of vulnerable women about the value of intensive home visiting in pregnancy and the first year of life delivered by health visitors trained to work in partnership with families. Twenty in‐depth interviews were conducted with women who had completed the home visiting programme and agreed to be interviewed. The data were fully transcribed and analysed thematically. Despite initial concerns and negative preconceptions about health and social service professionals, participating women greatly valued the relationships that were established with their home visitors and identified a number of ways in which they had benefited. These included increased confidence, improved mental health, better parenting, improved relationships and changes in their attitudes toward professionals. These findings demonstrate the potential of intensive home visiting delivered in partnership with mothers in reaching and helping vulnerable and ‘hard‐to‐reach’ families. They highlight the importance of establishing a trusting relationship between helper and provider, and the need for home visitors to have the necessary skills and qualities to establish such relationships. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reflections on Practical Approaches to Involving Children and Young People in the Data Analysis Process

This article reflects on key methodological issues emerging from children and young people's involvement in data analysis processes. We outline a pragmatic framework illustrating different approaches to engaging children, using two case studies of children's experiences of participating in data analysis. The article highlights methods of engagement and important issues such as the balance of power between adults and children, training, support, ethical considerations, time and resources. We argue that involving children in data analysis processes can have several benefits, including enabling a greater understanding of children's perspectives and helping to prioritise children's agendas in policy and practice. © 2007 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2007 National Children's Bureau.     

Public Sector Reform and Women's Work in Poland: ‘Working for Juice,Coffee and Cheap Cosmetics!’

The debate on the transformation of work in east central Europe has concentrated on the restructuring of employment in manufacturing to the detriment of any discussion of the transformation of work in the service and public sectors, where the majority of women are employed. Moreover, while it is frequently recognized that women have been hit hard by job loss and unemployment, less attention has been paid the changing experiences of women in work. This article looks at the profound impact of market‐driven reforms in the Polish health and education sectors implemented in the late 1990s, and considers their implications for women and their work. It reports on interviews with a cross‐section of women workers in schools and hospitals and with trade union leaders at both the national and branch level. The impacts of the reforms and the experiences of women workers are discussed through the themes of changing employment levels, the restructuring of working conditions, job security, wages, training, and the double burden of balancing domestic and work lives. The general findings are that although the impact has been highly uneven between workplaces and regions, in general women have experienced an intensification of work and deteriorating working conditions. Their personal lives are not only more stressful due to the pressure at work, but also the double burden of paid and domestic work has increased due to the marketization of public provision. In both sectors, the response to reform has been widespread and militant industrial action, which has gained considerable political attention. We therefore also focus on how women have contested change, both passively and actively, through trade unionism and other political practice.     

The Case of Rosie: An Adlerian Response

This response is based in the perspective of Individual Psychology, especially in addressing Rosie's stated sense of failure in each of the three life tasks identified by Alfred Adler (1964) as confronting all human beings and defining the requirements for successful adaptation. These are (a) the social task of friendship and making one's place in the community; (b) the task of love and sexuality; and (c) the task of work. Each of these is dictated by the social character of human being, and is seen as ineluctable, given the way humankind's successful evolution was secured by the capacity for language, the revering of social-sexual bonds, and the exchange of goods and services through the division of labor.     

What Role Has the Law Played in Getting Rid of Racism in the Lives of Children?

SUMMARY. It is only relatively recently that a detailed knowledge of how the Race Relations Act 1976 works in practice has made it possible to use it more effectively - to eliminate that element of racism - discrimination. The later Children Act 1989 and its accompanying Guidance, in requiring a heal authority, (when making a decision about a child for whom it is responsible), to take account of the child's religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background establishes a framework to promote equality of opportunity and to counter the learning of racist attitudes. This paper attempts to identify the role of these two Acts in getting rid of racism in children's lives. Knowledge of both Acts will empower parents and professionals' to be able to challenge discrimination and identify anti-racist practice.     

'Different' but not 'exceptional': Canada's permeable fordism

Cet article explique que le Canada n'a pas vécu la periode d'après guerre de la même façon que des autres pays industrialisés. L'état providence canadien et les politiques keynesiennes ont été moins soutenus par un système de partis fondé sur les classes sociales que par les institutions fédérates. Cette difference dans les politiques économiques n'est pas vraiment une 'exception' - comme beaucoup d'analystes de l'économie politique l'ont pensé. Si on applique l'approche de la régulation à la française, en y ajoutant le concept d'un 'paradigme' qui organise les relations sociales du fordisme au Canada, on voit que ces politiques de I'après guerre sont seulement 'differentes'. La crise de fordisme au Canada s'est caracterisé davantage par la crise de ce paradigme, qui était au coeur du système fordiste, que par une crise du système des partis.
This paper argues that Canada did not experience a postwar settlement similar to those of other advanced industrial socities after 1945. The Canadian welfare state and other Keynesian-style macroeconomic policies were not sustained by a class-divided party system but implicated, instead, the institutions of federalism. This difference in the politics of Canaian economic policy no longer appears exceptional, as so much of the new Canadian political economy argues, if we bring to bear the theoretical perspective of the French regulation approach and add to that approach the concept of a 'paradigm' which orders the social relations of fordism in Canada. It was this paradigm which entered into crisis along with production-based relations in the 1970s. The crisis of fordism in Canada, given the particularities of the fordist paradigm, is, then, a crisis of the political arrangements of federalism more than it is one of the party system.     

Women's satisfaction with their breast prosthesis: what determines a quality prosthesis?

The aim of this study is to determine what factors constitute a quality prosthesis and ascertain which factors affect prosthesis satisfaction. Sixty-four women who received full funding for their prosthesis and 38 women who received their hospital's usual funding were recruited. Women rated the information provided about breast prostheses very highly, with 85% reporting that it was "very good" or "excellent." Satisfaction was significantly associated with how well the prosthesis fit (1 week, p = .001; 3 months, p = .01), level of comfort (3 months, p=.005), and appearance of the prosthesis when worn (6 months, p = .001). Quality was significantly associated with how well it fit (1 week, p = .001; 3 months, p = .001), how natural it felt (1 week, p = .001; 6 months, p = .01), the weight of the prosthesis (3 months, p = .003), and appearance when worn (6 months, p = .03). The results will be used to improve women's access to a quality prosthesis.