The Role of Contraceptive Supply and Demand in Mexican Fertility Decline: Evidence from a Microdemographic Study

This paper uses retrospective life history data to assess the impact of family planning services on contraceptive use in a rural Mexican township. Between 1960 and 1990 contraceptive use rose and fertility declined dramatically. Both contraceptive supply and demand factors were influential in these trends. The start of the government-sponsored family planning programme in the late 1970s was associated with a sharp rise in female sterilization and use of the IUD. However, once we controlled for the changing socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the sample, the presence of family planning services had no significant effect on the likelihood that women used modern reversible methods compared to traditional methods. Men and women expressed concerns about the safety of modern methods such as the pill and the IUD. Efforts to increase modern contraceptive use should place greater emphasis on communicating the safety of these methods and improving the quality of services.     

Breast feeding,mortality in childhood and fertility in a rural zone of Senegal

The data analysed in the present study were collected in the course of a demographic survey conducted at repeated intervals in the Sine-Saloum region of Senegal.1 This study was financed by a grant from the ‘Fond d'aide et de coopération’ of France, from 1963-65, and by the WHO Section for Research on Human Reproduction from 1966-67. The study was conducted by ORSTOM in collaboration with the Statistical Service of Senegal. The data used in this paper were analysed at INED. Only the data concerning the Sine (Niakhar) area are analysed here.     

Books and publications received

In this paper the hypothesis put forward by J. C. Caldwell in a number of recent articles, including one in this journal is tested, that there are social and economic increasing returns to scale to family size. Using two village samples of household data collected in Bangladesh in 1977, it is shown that there is a statistically significant inverse correlation between adjusted consumption of rice per head and family size. This result holds true when age and size of landholding are taken into account. From this, it is concluded that the hypothesis is not empirically supported by the data from Bangladesh. This result is partially explained by the extreme poverty of the region and the fact that women are exploited in Bangladesh society.     

A Pilot Study of the Application of the Transtheoretical Model During Strength Training in Older Women

A Transtheoretical Model (TTM) goal-setting tool was used during strength training in women. Volunteers (mean age = 69, N = 27) were assigned to a strength training only or strength training/behavior change 12-week intervention. A pre/posttest, quasiexperimental design assessed TTM constructs, Health-Related Quality of Life, and functional fitness measurements. Multiple ANCOVAs revealed significant differences between groups on lower body strength (p = .001), upper body flexibility (p = .002), Decisional Balance (p = .024,) and Stage of Change for Exercise (p = .010). Stage of change progression may be enhanced using a goal-setting tool during strength training in older women.     

Development of a Multimodal Assessment Framework for Helping Older African American Women Transition Out of Homelessness

Increasingly vulnerability to homelessness is affecting older African American women because more than any other group these women are susceptible to even minor changes in socioeconomic conditions. This article describes the evolution of an assessment strategy and process found to be useful in planning older African American women's transition from homelessness. The assessment strategy was developed as part of a multimethod, multilevel research and development program the purpose of which is to identify and test tools and interventions useful in helping older African American women leave homelessness. The article offers background on the action research project in which the assessment framework was developed, examines the method for the construction of the framework, describes the assessment process, and considers the integration of specific assessment tools into the advocacy process.     

In This Issue

We open this issue of The Soviet Review with a roundtable on the introduction of the "rule of law" in the USSR. Students of Russian history will recognize this discussion as one having century-old precedents; in this case, the topic was posed in the Theses of the CPSU Central Committee mandating the goal of "complet[ing] the creation of a socialist law-governed state." As the participants freely acknowledge, it will require a "revolution of consciousness" for the idea to take hold that law is not a tool of the state, but rather, the state is subordinate to the law. Readers should pay particular attention to the discussants' views on the appropriate roles and relationships of state, party, and society, as well as their comments on rights and on the law.     

Distinctive alcohol cultural practices amongst Niuean men living in Auckland,New Zealand

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to describe some of the distinctive cultural practices evident in Niuean men's drinking behaviours. The paper is also intended to illustrate that alcohol is an integral aspect of the Niuean culture and part of the system of cultural exchange. Alcohol has become an integral component of Niuean cultural rituals to the extent that celebrations and festivals are thought to be incomplete if alcohol is not present. Alcohol is used as a tool for expressing cultural values such as fakaalofa (gifting), generosity, respect, status and host obligations. Finally, alcohol is used as a symbol of ‘being Niuean’ and being a ‘real’ Niuean man. This paper will describe how practices specific to Niuean men such as drinking the ‘Niuean way’ and kalaga are symbols that help to reinforce men's cultural identity, enhancing their feeling of communal identity. It is important to emphasize that it is difficult to divorce the ‘cultural’ components of Niuean men's drinking styles from their drinking and behaviour more generally. Culture shapes people's values and behaviours. Although this paper points to some of the specific and distinctively ‘cultural’ aspects of Niuean drinking, we must recognize that all of the participants’ drinking behaviours and attitudes are likely to have been shaped by their cultural and social context. Furthermore, this paper provides only a brief snapshot of how culture and alcohol are intertwined for Niuean men. Educational programmes and host responsibility guidelines need to be culturally appropriate to suit the needs of the Niuean community. Further work is needed to elucidate this complex topic.