Family Hardship Research Articles

Redeeming Immigrant Parents: How Korean American Emerging Adults Reinterpret Their Childhood

Korean American youth experience immigration-related parent-child challenges including language barriers, parent-child conflicts, and generational cultural divides. Using grounded theory methods, this article examines the ways in which 18 Korean American college-enrolled emerging adults retrospectively made sense out of their experiences of immigrant family hardships. Of those who narrated childhood hardship, over half narrated positive change in which they reinterpreted their relationship to their parents and redeemed their immigrant parents either through their own maturation or through spirituality. This narrative strategy is consistent with cognitive change in emerging adults’ view of their parents that have been documented in other studies (Arnett, 2004). Only a minority of participants did not narrate positive changes and remained distressed over their relationship to their parents. Findings suggest the possibility that narration of positive change is a culturally salient process by which many Korean American emerging adults come to terms with early family challenges.

Lymphatic filariasis: patients and the global elimination programme

The defining images of lymphatic filariasis are the horrendous disfigurements of lymphoedema, elephantiasis and hydrocele. These clinical presentations, although obviously important and life changing, are not, however, the only outcomes of this wide-spread filarial infection. The other effects of the disease range from severe, acute but short-term bouts of sickness to psychological impairment, poverty and family hardship. It is important to support cases of the disease through all means available, such as reparative hydrocelectomy, hygiene training and facilitation, and the provision of adequate chemotherapy. Although only a minority of the residents in any endemic community is affected with the severe clinical manifestations of this parasitic infection, these cases are central to, and important advocates for, the current global effort to eliminate the infection through mass drug administrations (MDA). Their clinical improvement acts as an important catalyst for the general population and encourages high compliance in the MDA. This communication discusses the central role that filariasis patients have played in the Tanzania Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Programme to date, and covers some of the clinical successes achieved in the past 10 years. The abolition of the clinical manifestations of filarial infection remains the ultimate goal of the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis, and maintaining a focus on the affected individuals and their clinical condition is vital to that programme's overall success.

Intoxicación aguda por carbamato en el Centro de Salud Miguel Grau Chaclacayo Lima 2003 - 2007

En el distrito de Chaclacayo (Lima) y alrededores se utiliza productos rodenticidas conteniendo carbamato, son de venta libre y. las intoxicaciones agudas por su ingesta son frecuentes y llegan al Servicio de Emergencia del Centro de Salud Miguel Grau para su tratamiento. Se describe en forma retrospectiva 88 casos de intoxicaciones por carbamato ocurridos entre los años 2003 y 2007. La información fue obtenida del Libro de Emergencias y de las Historias Clínicas. En todos los casos el ingreso del tóxico fue por vía oral y no se tuvo información sobre la dosis. Todos los casos ingresaron con grados moderados a severos de intoxicación, con dolor abdominal. desorientación, diasartria, miosis, dificultad respiratoria con broncoespamo, tos y aumento de secreciones bronquiales, diaforesis, sialorrea, lagrimeo, flacidez, fasciculaciones. 35 fueron varones (40 %) Y 53 mujeres (60 %), 6 menores de 10 años (7%), 32 adolescentes (36%) y 49 adultos de 20 a 59 años (56%). En los menores la intoxicación fue accidental, en los adolescentes por causas sentimentales y familiares y, en adultos por conflictos económicos. El tratamiento se basó en el control de presión arterial y miosis, lavado gástrico, atropina i.v. Hubo un caso fallecido antes de llegar al establecimiento y todos los pacientes fueron recuperados.

Berlin—Warsaw—Jena: A Journey with Glen H. Elder Through Sites of Social Change

Glen H. Elder's intellectual legacy for psychological research on social change in Germany is exemplified by its influence on the first author's research group, spanning the time from the early 1980s until today. Several research lines are reported that were influenced by Elder's concepts and research strategies, such as the notion of hardships, control cycles, and cohort comparisons. The Berlin Youth Longitudinal Study analyzed the consequences of family hardship in West Berlin of the 1980s. The results are compared to a replication of this study in Warsaw, Poland. Whereas these studies were conducted during a time when Germany and Europe were divided into two political blocs, the German Shell Study used a cohort comparison in 1991 and 1996 to delineate two different stages during German unification. Summarizing the results from these studies, the present research agenda of the Jena Study on Social Change and Human Development is introduced. This study aims at the interplay of new personal demands resulting from social change, coping and individual and social resources in different contexts.

Material Hardship in U.S. Families Raising Children with Disabilities

Researchers analyzed the 2002 wave of the National Survey of America's Families, conducted by the Urban Institute and Child Trends, and examined material hardship in families raising children with disabilities. Measures of hardship included food insecurity, housing instability, health care access, and telephone disconnection. The research indicated that families of children with disabilities experienced significantly greater hardship than did other families. As family income rose above the federal poverty level, hardship declined sharply for families of children without disabilities but not for families raising children with disabilities. Thus, the U.S. federal poverty level was found to be a particularly poor predictor of hardship for families raising children with disabilities. Finally, among families of children with disabilities, single-mother and cohabiting-partner families particularly were at risk for experiencing severe hardship. This article also discusses policy and advocacy implications.

Why Arboviruses Can Be Neglected Tropical Diseases

Why Arboviruses Can Be Neglected Tropical Diseases

Retention of survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a longitudinal study of bone mineral density

Attrition in longitudinal studies of survivors of childhood cancer reduces these studies' statistical power, introduces bias and threatens internal and external validity. This study investigated the variables associated with dropout of survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a trial investigating the effect of vitamin D and calcium supplementation and nutritional counseling on bone mineral density (BMD). Twenty-five participants withdrew from the study. Common reasons given for withdrawing were intolerance of the study drug, family hardship and schedule conflicts. Few statistically and clinically significant differences identified participants who completed the study. Nurses need to be aware of the reasons that participants withdraw from clinical trials, as they are in a strategic position to encourage patients to participate in health promotion studies.

Insurance Coverage and Financial Burden for Families of Children with Special Health Care Needs

To examine the role of insurance coverage in protecting families of children with special health care needs (CSHCN) from the financial burden associated with care. Data from the 2001 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs were analyzed. We built 2 multivariate regression models by using "work loss/cut back" and "experiencing financial problems" as the dependent variables, and insurance status as the primary independent variable of interest while adjusting for income, race/ethnicity, functional limitation/severity, and other sociodemographic predictors. Approximately 29.9% of CSHCN live in families where their condition led parents to report cutting back on work or stopping work completely. Families of 20.9% of CSHCN reported experiencing financial difficulties due to the child's condition. Insurance coverage significantly reduced the likelihood of financial problems for families at every income level. The proportion of families experiencing financial problems was reduced from 35.7% to 23.0% for the poor and 44.9% to 24.5% for low-income families with continuous insurance coverage (P < .01 for both comparisons). Similarly, the proportion of parents having to cut back or stop work was reduced from 42.8% to 35.9% for the poor (P < .05) and 43.5% to 33.9% for low-income families (P < .01). Continuous health insurance coverage provides protection from financial burden and hardship for families of CSHCN in all income groups. This evidence is supportive of policies designed to promote universal coverage for CSHCN. However, many poor and low-income families continue to experience work loss and financial problems despite insurance coverage. Hence, health insurance should not be viewed as a solution in itself, but instead as one element of a comprehensive strategy to provide financial safety for families with CSHCN.

The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry (review)

The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry Nancy L. Zens The story of the Massachusetts 54th Colored Troop emerges as a portion of the larger story of black slavery, pre-war abolitionist activities (especially those of John Brown, Frederick Douglas, and Governor Andrew of Massachusetts), and the emergence of a white man's war based on disagreements over the slavery but not dedicated to the ending of the institution. Union failures on the battlefield, decreasing white enlistments, growing disillusionment with the war, along with black fugitive flight to Union lines and insistent free black political activities finally bring President Abraham Lincoln to the conclusion that ending slavery is a necessary war measure needed to weaken the South and add much needed manpower to the Union war effort. The film, directed by Steven Ives and Ben Loeterman, emphasizes the struggles faced during the initial recruitment efforts of Governor Andrew, who sought to create an elite colored regiment of free blacks who had risen above the ranks of common laborer. Despite the persuasive powers of Frederick Douglass, there were insufficient volunteers from Massachusetts to [End Page 52] fill the regiment, and it was necessary for him to send recruiters to other states. Black men originally enlisted for the same pay and uniform, under the same conditions as white volunteers, yet only white officers were appointed for black troops. Within months, the U.S. Congress passed laws lowering the pay scale from a soldier's pay of $13.00 a month to camp laborer pay of $10.00. The 54th refused to accept pay throughout the war until this law was altered to provide full soldier's pay, causing serious hardship for the men's families. Though promising good coverage of the 54th Massachusetts, the majority of the film's narrative covers political side issues. The majority of the photographs used throughout this film are men in uniform or in battle situations; the actual narrative includes little coverage of battlefield experiences. The 54th's first action on the battlefield on St. James Island or the more famous vanguard position in the attack on Fort Wagner, Charleston, S.C. both receive only a few minutes' coverage. The further activities of the 54th until the end of the war also receive little attention. It is clear that the intent of the filmmakers was to explore the broad aspects of African American experiences before and during the war. The broader political/social issues are intertwined throughout the film in logical thematic fashion but illogical chronological fashion. To someone not thoroughly familiar with the early 19th century, the issues causing the Civil War, and the Civil War itself, all seem to be happening at the same time so that, although the facts are accurate, the final impressions are misleading. From a historical standpoint, this film could be a useful summary of the abolition movement, slavery, complex Civil War politics that do not include blacks as the center of war time attention, and the attempts of abolitionists and free blacks to bring it to center stage, but students would need a good grounding in the progression of events if they are not to become confused in viewing the film. The film could be very useful to an American Studies approach to the Civil War or a portion of black history where the scholarly emphasis is on social and philosophical themes. Archival photographs of individuals and groups of black soldiers, period etchings of wartime conditions, modern film of historic buildings and locations, and shots of newspaper clippings are skillfully woven together using various musical renditions of songs popular among black soldiers during the Civil War, letters written home by soldiers narrated by modern actors, oral histories told by descendants, and historical assessments by reputable historians like James Horton and Barbara Fields. The visual images are skillfully edited so that the narrative flows well. Nancy L. Zens Central Oregon Community College Copyright © 2006 Historians Film Committee

Childhood Poverty and Social Exclusion by Tess Ridge

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 14 No. 2 (2004) ISSN: 1546-2250 Childhood Poverty and Social Exclusion Ridge, Tess (2002). Bristol: Policy Press; 178 pages. $28.95. ISBN 1861343620. Childhood Poverty and Social Exclusion is an original and useful study by Tess Ridge that looks at family hardship through the eyes of 40 children in families living on government benefits in and around Bristol, UK. 20 of the children come from urban families, 20 from rural; 20 are in two-parent families, and 20 in one-parent families. These families are distributed evenly as far as possible between urban and rural and between family types. All the children are white. The interviews are with children between the ages of ten and seventeen, although most are in their teens. The book reports, in the words of the children, their feelings and views about financial problems, social relations, and their own experience of family life within the context of chronic shortages of cash. It gives the children’s views of problems, but sets these in the context of the views of parents, who are also interviewed. On the whole, the parents’ views broadly match the children’s. The early section of the book gives a useful historical presentation of childhood poverty, highlighting the lack of direct evidence from children as expressed in their own words. It also makes clear the changing political and social context of childhood poverty, both through family changes over the last generation or two, and the changing political context. Specifically, the book explains the impact of the 1980s’ retrenchment in support for families and children, followed by the significant increase in support under the New Labour government. This provides an invaluable backdrop to the more detailed analysis of what the children and parents say. 361 An important element of the study is an analysis of responses from over700 children and young people in the British Household Panel Survey on issues that relate to schools. This is helpful for two reasons; first, it provides a more quantitative and longitudinal context for the small-scale and highly qualitative study; secondly, it specifically focuses on some of the issues that might affect children from low-income families more than average families and analyzes them in relation to benefit dependency. For example, children and young people’s experience of truancy, school expulsion, age of leaving school, and relationships with teachers are all affected by hardship. The analysis shows that children in benefit-dependent families are far more likely to experience problems in these areas than other children. Poor children seem to feel more conspicuous, self-conscious and worried because of their background. Although this quantitative analysis comes towards the end of the book, it should be considered as a backdrop to the more narrowly based but highly informative qualitative study. The discussion of the children’s experiences is structured around the three main themes of finance, social relations and the personal views of the children in relation to their families, but many of the themes and much of the evidence are crosscutting . This girl’s explanation of the multiple pressures on her mother is remarkably sensitive: It’s not like she won’t buy things for me…. I don’t like to ask cos I know she hasn’t got much money and that, and all the bills she has to pay and I just don’t like doing it. I’d rather do without.- Laura, 15, lone-parent family The children come across as thoughtful, serious and aware of the problems facing their families. In case this gives the impression that the illustrations and quotations have been selected for these qualities, it is important to stress that other qualitative studies such as our own study of low-income families reveal a very similar pattern. Families who face severe problems and pressures display a remarkable level of care, responsibility and awareness. The children are not greedy for goods but they are worried about their social position as this boy explains: 362 To have money, go to college so I can get a job, so my kids don’t have to go through it.- Brad, 15, two-parent family They do want to...

Medical expenditure and rural impoverishment in China.

Thanks to continued economic growth and increasing income, the overall poverty rate has been on the decline in China. However, due to escalating medical costs and lack of insurance coverage, medical spending often causes financial hardship for many rural families. Using data from the 1998 China National Health Services Survey, the impact of medical expenditure on the poverty headcount for different rural regions was estimated. Based on the reported statistics on income alone, 7.22% of the whole rural sample was below the poverty line. Out-of-pocket medical spending raised this by more than 3 percentage points. In other words, medical spending raised the number of rural households living below the poverty line by 44.3%. Medical expenditure has become an important source of transient poverty in rural China.

Contingency Revealed: New Zealand Farmers' Experiences of Agricultural Restructuring

New Zealand farmers were affected in significant ways by agricultural restructuring during the mid 1980s. Government, farmers' union, academic and media discourses all describe the ensuing years as a period of financial hardship for farm families. Based on aggregate statistics, the majority of these discourses reflect and ‘naturalise’ the government's neo‐liberal stance, thus conveying an implicit assumption that farmers' experiences were determined by the economic efficiency of the farm enterprise. Drawing upon case study data and a holistic conceptual approach to the family farm, this paper contests such narratives, arguing that farm‐level experiences of agricultural restructuring during (and after) the rural downturn were contingent upon a much greater array of factors. These included: the characteristics of the farm enterprise, household and property; actors' individual attributes; and the local context's biophysical, economic and cultural fabrics. The paper concludes by arguing that a full appreciation of the contingency of farm‐level experiences requires an adequate recognition of the nexus of relations between the family farm, individual actor, and local context.

Have Families Fared Well from Welfare Reform? Educating Clinicians about Policy, Paradox, and Change

This invited article examines findings from lower profile studies suggesting another side of the bipartisan declaration that America’s experiment with welfare reform has been a resounding success. The authors draw on national survey data, studies by state and private research institutions, and available figures from informal community based monitoring projects. Findings reveal evidence of an escalation of inadequately paid employment, an increase in extreme nationwide childhood poverty, signs of mounting family hardship, and challenges affecting the survival and well-being of this vulnerable population leaving welfare.

Freud: Darkness in the Midst of Vision

Freud: Darkness in the Midst of Vision

Living with Rhetoric, Living against Rhetoric: Korean Families and the IMF Economic Crisis

This article examines the impact of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) crisis on families in South Korea and the ways that the crisis brought competing ideologies (conservative vs. progressive) to the foreground. Based on Þeldwork in South Korea during the Þnancial crisis, we look at how individual families coped with economic insecurity and at the public discourse about family and gender generated by the crisis. The economic crisis caused widespread unemployment and even broader economic uncertainty that created hardships for many families. It also triggered a debate over gender roles and modernization as the country tried to determine the best strategy to cope with its eects. Finally, we look into the differential impact of the crisis on families in dierent social strata.

Welfare Reform, Family Hardship, and Women of Color

Welfare reform has increased the hardships faced by many women leaving welfare for work. Their movement into low-wage jobs, or to no work, exposes them to higher levels of housing insecurity, homelessness, food insecurity, and hunger. Women of color, overrepresented on the welfare rolls, are especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of welfare reform.

Welfare Reform, Family Hardship, and Women of Color

Welfare Reform, Family Hardship, and Women of Color

Dual-Earner Parents With Disabled Children

Family strategies for caregiving and income generation are examined in a qualitative study of employed parents of disabled children in the United Kingdom. Four family patterns for working and caring emerged: modified single earner, one-and-a-half earners, dual earners, and flexible dual earners. A number of social, economic, and ideological factors contributed to decision making for these families. Gender expectations and related ideology of caring were usually the most salient, coloring the meanings ascribed to other influencing factors. Gender assumptions in the wider context underpin the difficulties many families experience in obtaining formal supports. The authors argue that flexible community-based and employer supports are crucial to help parents with disabled children to work and care. Beyond this, however, strategies that challenge gender expectations can extend the range of options available to parents, whereas more traditional approaches perpetuate inequalities and family hardship.

Winners and Losers: The Era of Inequality Continues

Income inequality in the United States has grown substantially in the past quarter-century. Even the long ongoing economic recovery of the 1990s has done little to stem the tide. In the near future market forces are unlikely to alleviate the hardship for low-income families who have borne the brunt of economic changes. Several public policy reforms however could raise the living standards of low-income families and workers. (excerpt)

Reproductive and sexual health and safe motherhood in the developing world

The aim of this paper is to discuss the main hurdles and possible solutions concerning reproductive and sexual health and safe motherhood in the developing countries.In response to the changing global situation, a broader new concept of reproductive health has emerged. The Programme of Action of The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) emphasizes and highlights various aspects of reproductive health. No population in the world has met the goals of the ICPD. The problems are particularly acute in developing countries: between 20 and 40% of births are unwanted or wrongly timed, posing hardships for families and jeopardizing the health of a million women and children. An estimated 50 million induced abortions are performed each year, with some 20 million of these performed under unsafe conditions or by untrained providers. Almost 600 000 women die every year due to pregnancy-related causes, 99% of them in developing countries. Approximately 7.6 million infant deaths occur during the perinatal period each year. There are more than 333 million new cases of curable sexually transmitted diseases world-wide each year. Nearly 22 million people are estimated to be infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, of whom 14 million are in sub-Saharan Africa, with rapidly increasing numbers of infected persons in South and South-East Asia. When compared to the developed world, these figures are staggering because of barriers operating at different levels and preventing women from receiving care that is timely and of good quality. United efforts of obstetricians, pediatricians, sociologists, and different governmental and non-governmental organizations are required to achieve our targets.