Precarious Circumstances Research Articles

Put at and kept from risk: The sexual risk dilemmas confronting marginalized youth.

The current study examines Bay-Cheng and Ginn's (2024) claim that marginalized youth confront two intertwined sexual risk dilemmas: being put at risk by unjust social forces and structures that threaten their sexual health and safety; and being kept from risk by those same forces and structures, thus compromising their development and dignity. We explored the presence and relevance of these dilemmas using interviews conducted in 2022 with 101 racialized and/or queer (i.e., a sexuality other than exclusively heterosexual) young women and trans or nonbinary youth aged 16-21 and living in Melbourne (Australia), New York City (United States), and Toronto (Canada). We conducted a directed content analysis of the data and examined intersectional group-based comparisons of code frequencies. We found that 80% of participants felt endangered (i.e., put at risk) and/or obstructed (i.e., kept from risk) by social and material conditions. Over half felt put at risk through exposure to hostility and harm, and over one-third of participants described precarious life circumstances as keeping them from taking wanted sexual risks. Group-based and intersectional comparisons indicated that feeling put at risk is associated with marginalized gender and sexuality identities and corresponding discrimination. We also found tentative signs that feeling kept from risk may be more closely linked to race and racism than marginalization by gender and/or sexuality. The findings highlight the diverse implications of interlocked social injustices for youths' sexual lives, particularly the infringement on their rights both to safety and to risk.

Internal bordering and debordering in urban humanitarian health care

ABSTRACT Current literature on internal bordering has suggested understanding health care as a key migration control field. This article takes a closer look at the humanitarian medical offices in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and patients from Romania and Bulgaria in precarious life circumstances. It addresses the strategies identified in the accounts of frontline workers beyond the mere provision of access to free and anonymous medical attention. Based on 16 interviews with medical staff, social workers and administrative officers, two approaches emerged. One clearly strives for the formalisation of the human right to health care in close collaboration with, or by challenging the local bordering actors; the other insists on bypassing any point of contact with them, focusing exclusively on informal and direct solutions. The interviews showcase how the resulting strategies can contribute to internal bordering and debordering on an urban scale, and affect the individuals’ trajectories as patients and as migrants.

Faith and Intimate Partner Violence in Rural South Africa

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most common form of violence against women and is associated with risk factors at the individual, interpersonal and societal level. Women often resort to various coping mechanisms to manage their daily lives due to the complex nature by which these factors interact. We qualitatively interviewed a cohort of rural women participating in a microfinance “plus” program in South Africa where women received loans for small-scale business ventures and received training sessions on gender norms. Our findings detailed women’s experiences of IPV and the role of faith as a coping mechanism for navigating economic hardship and abuse. Belief in a higher power was predominant in almost every interview, offering a sense of purpose and optimism for the future amid precarious circumstances. Interventions for violence prevention need to consider the important role that faith can play in strengthening women’s sense of self and preventing IPV.

Exploring the multifaceted vulnerabilities of female street child labor in the capital city of Bangladesh

Numerous children experience vulnerability due to their families' profound economic and socio-economic hardships. Among this demographic, females face heightened susceptibility, particularly those engaged in child labor. Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, hosts a substantial population of female child laborers, compounding their precarious circumstances. Hence this study utilizes a qualitative phenomenological approach to investigate the vulnerabilities affecting these female child laborers thoroughly. A total of 25 in-depth interviews were conducted with female child laborers in Dhaka city, following a semi-structured format. NVivo 14 software was instrumental in the systematic coding and analysis of the extensive text data, enhancing the reliability and validity of the findings. This study, therefore, explores various vulnerabilities faced by female child laborers in Dhaka city, including risky health behavior, abusive behavior, sexual harassment, school dropout, unhygienic dietary habits, hazardous work conditions, and substandard living environments. Their socio-economic conditions make them susceptible to physical and mental setbacks, exploitation, and loss of dignity. The study emphasizes the necessity for comprehensive support and breaking the cycle through educational, health, and social initiatives. It offers a detailed portrayal of the living conditions of female child laborers in Dhaka city, providing valuable insights and evidence-based policy prescriptions for policymakers and Non-Government Organizations to formulate effective policies and measures to safeguard this vulnerable community.

In/Visible – A Photographic Journey Into the Lives of Egg Donors in Spain

ABSTRACT The result of a collaboration between an anthropologist and a photographer, in this photo essay we aim to visualize the medical process of egg donation and the quotidian lives of egg donors in Spain. By extending their biographies beyond the moment of extraction, we shed light on the intertwined messiness of medical procedures and everyday life and the precarious circumstances in which egg donation takes place in Spain today. Our aim is to highlight the participants who, although they matter most in the egg donation economy, are concealed: the egg donors.

What If We All Appear? Audiovisual Workshop in Schools Located in the Metropolitan Region of Buenos Aires

Abstract The outcomes of research conducted through audiovisual workshops in two public state schools located in urban poverty contexts of the Metropolitan Region of Buenos Aires reveal the manner in which students “appear” as protagonists and narrators of lives that are typically portrayed by others. The authors’ hypothesis is that this methodological approach facilitates the inclusion of students living in impoverished contexts, providing alternative perspectives on contemporary ways of life. In this context, the authors understand inclusion as the possibility of their bodies to “appear” and the creation of an alternative narrative regarding precarious circumstances. Their bodies and narratives are often silenced, and they are usually portrayed as symbols of resilience, danger or sensationalism. Their narratives are useful to discomfort the audience about social inequalities. Within this framework, the authors demonstrate how the audiovisuals by the students offer different avenues for making a presence in the political landscape, distinct from the conventional ways in which individuals experiencing poverty and precarity are conventionally depicted.

The psychology of precarity: A critical framework.

This article presents the rationale and a new critical framework for precarity, which reflects a psychosocial concept that links structural inequities with experiences of alienation, anomie, and uncertainty. Emerging from multiple disciplines, including anthropology, cultural studies, sociology, political science, and psychology, the concept of precarity provides a conceptual scaffolding for understanding the complex causes of precarious life circumstances while also seeking to identify how people react, adapt, and resist the forces that evoke such tenuous psychosocial experiences. We present a critical conceptual framework as a nonlinear heuristic that serves to identify and organize relevant elements of precarity in a presumably infinite number of contexts and applications. The framework identifies socio-political-economic contexts, material conditions, and psychological experiences as key elements of precarity. Another essential aspect of this framework is the delineation of interrelated and nonlinear responses to precarity, which include resistance, adaptation, and resignation. We then summarize selected implications of precarity for psychological interventions, vocational and organizational psychology, and explorations and advocacy about race, gender, and other systems of inequality. Future research directions, including optimal methodologies to study precarity, conclude the article. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Revising the ICESCR’s individual complaint mechanism: the transformative potential of a right to a “dignified minimum existence” for the CESCR’s standards of review.

Drawing from an analysis of Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court’s (FCC), the South African Constitutional Court’s (SACC), and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ (IACtHR) jurisprudence, this paper will assess whether their respective methods of adjudication of the right to a dignified minimum existence provide promising alternatives to the CESCR’s current standards of review (the ‘minimum core’ approach and the ‘reasonableness test.’) More precisely, this paper will weigh on the following interrogation: how might the adoption of the right to a dignified minimum existence advance the CESCR’s standards of review for individual complaints? This essay will first analyze how the non-quantifiable and abstract character of this right could offer the CESCR the possibility to circumvent the practical requirements imposed by a ‘minimum core’ approach (I); before delving into the right’s potential to re-model the ‘reasonableness test’ to help inform the CESCR’s adjudicative methodology when assessing individual complaints indicative of highly precarious circumstances (II).

Homelessness and Intimate Partner Violence: Women's Experiences With Accessing Formal Support Services and the Impact of Their Intersecting Identities

Many women experiencing homelessness and intimate partner violence (IPV) often do not use formal support services due to barriers such as finances, inaccessibility, controlling partners, and stigma. The current literature lacks studies that examine the formal service experiences of women who have undergone both homelessness and IPV. Therefore, the current study used a qualitative-dominant design and explored the formal service needs of these women, barriers and facilitating factors associated with accessing services, and how the women's identities affected their experiences with formal services. Interviews with 10 women were conducted, and a reflexive thematic analysis was conducted using a critical feminist and intersectionality lens. The most common factors that led to homelessness were conflict and precarious circumstances leading to housing instability. Common barriers were systemic, psychological, dismissal, minimization, and financial barriers. The most common needs were health, finances, and basic necessities. The most common facilitating factors were support networks and resilience, growth, and proactivity. The social positionings most commonly affecting their experiences were class and race/ethnicity. These findings highlighted the voices of marginalized women and can be used to implement positive change in formal services that cater to this subgroup of women.

Re-conceptualizing Development Terminology from a Relational Approach: Perspectives from Two Case Studies in South Africa

This article uses a relational approach to re-conceptualize development concepts, measures, and practices. It explores how participants in the development sector construct and make sense of their lived realities and how they perceive and act on development initiatives as part of a social process. This is a qualitative study that uses a case study of two organizations in the development sector of South Africa working with individuals and households in communities that are in precarious circumstances. The organizations are small but rich in understanding what it means to be present, to learn, to negotiate, to allow for choices, and to do so within a sustainable view of development relationships. The insights from these contexts and the ethos from which they derive provide us with an opportunity to rethink the ethos that guides the broader development discourse.

Desire and Modesty in Post-Soviet Expectation for the Western Standard of Life: Contrasting and Empowering Narratives of Latvian Emigrants and Latvians who Stayed at Home

Post-Soviet subjects have often been portrayed as ‘winners’ or ‘losers’ of post-Soviet transformations, where those socioeconomically successful are seen as winners while the socioeconomically weak are losers. Such language of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ carry neoliberal scripts of success, which are based on the western upper-middle-class standard. The ideas of neoliberalism also dictated the post-Soviet transformations in Latvia. From the perspective of meaning-making and emotion, this research seeks to complicate the dominant narrative of winners and losers to describe the effects of the post-Soviet transformations. Empirically, this study compares narratives of post-Soviet Latvian émigrés towards the West with those who remain to unravel deeper understandings of success as related to our perceptions of ‘livable life.’ Emigration tends to be narrated as a story of winning since it allows fulfilling expectations and desires for a ‘livable life’ migrants could not fulfill at home. However, those who remain at home, even under precarious circumstances, share their experiences as winners’ stories. While emigrants in their search for ‘livable life’ follow the western standard of good life, those at home speak of ‘livable life’ in terms of modesty. I interpret both stories as empowerment narratives that are interchangeable and coexistent.

Teachers’ Perspectives on Behavioral and Emotional Problems among School-going Adolescents in Kashmir: Examining the Risk Correlates of Behavioral and Emotional Problems

ABSTRACT Background: Political violence in Kashmir was a common occurrence. The phenomenon had occurred often and repeatedly in an unmanageable fashion. It had consequential implications for each member of society including children and adolescents. Aim: The study aimed to analyze the teachers’ perspective on mental health problems of adolescents in Kashmir. In Kashmir’s precarious circumstances, school-going adolescents were exceptionally vulnerable to mental health issues. Addressing unrecognized mental health issues among school-going adolescents established an important rationale for corresponding further deterioration. Methods: The study used the standardized tools of the Rutter’s Children Behavior Questionnaire (RCBQ-B) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Cluster sampling was employed in the study. About 45 schoolteachers rated the behaviors of 160 school-going adolescents of Kashmir from numerous schools. The data were statistically analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as t-test and one-way analysis of variance and correlation. Results: We found that behavioral and emotional problems (BEPs) rose significantly, most notably indications of BEPs with risk factors. Across the socioeconomic status, age, adolescence type, and education, the results found an upward trend of 47% prevalence rate of mental health problems among adolescents with 45% as peer problems, 39% hyperactivity, 34% conduct, and 9% emotional problems. Conclusion: An increasing number of adolescents in prevailing situations in Kashmir suffered from mental health problems. The study findings reveal that there is a need to create effective mental health services and interventions for school-going adolescents in Kashmir.

Precarious Employment and Bonded Labor: Assessment from Agriculture Sector of Punjab (Pakistan)

Despite strict constitutional provisions and laws existing against bonded labor, the situation is still plagued by this contemporary form of slavery in Pakistan—the trends of bonded labor historically associated with numerous sectors where laborers have to bear precarious employment circumstances. The International Labor Organization estimates that more than 9.5 individuals are forced to engage in bonded labor due to debt bondage, meager employment opportunities, and the absence of adequate implementation of policies in the South Asian region. The prevalence of bounded labor is the product of unawareness, poverty, unavailability of basic human needs, social exclusion, and, above all, the failure of governments to eliminate the practices. This primary study covers three administrative divisions of Punjab, and data was collected through multistage simple random sampling techniques. The interview schedule was used as a tool of data collection and study findings revealed that a considerable proportion of agriculture laborers worked in bounded circumstances. In contrast, the government's writ regarding implementing bounded labor laws is very poor. Due to this unattended situation, agricultural laborers have to face a large number of issues that become significant reasons for morbidity and mortality every year, especially among women and children belonging to these bounded laborers.

Positionings Towards the ‘Work-Dogma’ from the Margins: Making Sense of Vulnerabilities and Inequalities in the Interview Situation

The norm of wage labor imposes itself on the unemployed as a material, legal and symbolic-discursive order. As ‘deviants’ from the norm, unemployed people are often confronted with pejorative judgments or social exclusion in everyday life. This paper asks how differently positioned unemployed people living in precarious circumstances position themselves in relation to the norm of employment and critique its accompanying social order. Based on the experiences with 25 interviewees, the paper argues that the social inequalities and power relations associated with the work-dogma permeate the research situation itself. This epistemic tension provides a methodological opportunity to place the interview situation and the mutual address between researcher and interviewee at the center of the analysis. Inspired by <i>Situational Analysis</i> (Clarke) and <i>Interpretative Subjectivation Analysis</i> (Bosančić), a heuristic is developed that focuses on inequalities and vulnerabilities in the research situation. The analysis of the interview dynamics reveals different modes of self-positioning with respect to the wage-labor norm, ranging from an embarrassed subordination under discursively transported subject positions to forms of critical appropriation and affective rejection. By identifying different self-positionings that challenge the norm of employment, the paper situates itself in ongoing debates within critical sociology, feminist epistemology and social philosophy about possibilities of criticism from the margins, arguing for a pluralistic and relational understanding of subversive practices and articulations of critique.

Responding to the information and prevention needs of sub-Saharan African communities in Antwerp at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pre-existing racial and ethnic disparities in health, sustained by complex and intersecting socio-economic and structural inequities have exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is limited evidence about how communities have experience the COVID-19 epidemic, and their perception of the causes and effects of COVID-19 related burden. This hinders true engagement with communities and co-creation of comprehensive prevention strategies including structural prevention that can address health disparities. We conducted this study to explore local needs, perceptions, and experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and its control measures among Sub-Saharan African (SSA) communities in the Antwerp metropolitan area (Belgium) in 2020. Findings from this study may inform future responses to pandemic outbreaks while considering input from ethnic and racialised minorities in order to understand the intersecting factors causing their vulnerabilities.
 This study was part of a qualitative rapid assessment of information and prevention needs among ethnic and racial minorities living in Antwerp during the first COVID-19 wave in 2020. We used an interpretative and participatory ethnographic approach, conducting semi-structured interviews to explore personal experiences and a focus group discussion to capture community perceptions and attitudes. Data were collected online or by phone between April and September 2020. A community advisory board was set-up to advised on recruitment of participants, data collection and interpretation of findings. Data were transcribed and analysed using a thematic analytical approach.
 A total of 27 participants were included. Results showed that study participants and people in their social networks received information mostly through social media, and struggled with misinformation about the new virus and prevention measures. The combination of intersecting social and economic disadvantages made coping with control measures difficult for those living in precarious circumstances. Structural disparities combined with a lack of information made it particularly challenging to adhere to COVID-19 prevention guidelines, leading to vicious cycles. Despite those COVID-19-related challenges, the pandemic also provided important lessons about social resilience and coping strategies of SSA communities in Antwerp. Communities developed a number of community-based initiatives. Community and religious leaders improvised ad hoc solutions to challenges, from filling-in knowledge and information gaps among their members to developing creative solutions to mitigate the multi-layered impact of the lockdown measures: translating prevention messages, fighting misinformation, providing food packages for those in need, helping with administration, etc.
 To better design support and control strategies targeted to specific groups, such as racialised and ethnic minorities, we need not only to involve communities in developing an adequate response by addressing their specific needs and concerns, but also build on their strengths and resilience. This will remain important in the context of widening disparities and future epidemics.
 This presentation targets people with prevention and care needs and healthcare policy makers. The lessons from our research will be discussed with the view on co-design of prevention strategies for future crises.

“The Will to Survive”: The Lives of Young People with “No Papers” in the United Kingdom

This article considers how undocumented youth in the UK survive and construct their everyday lives in precarious circumstances. Drawing on multiple in-depth narrative interviews with (n = 7) undocumented youth, I illustrate how these young people focus on the future and engage in purposeful activities as a way of enduring the everyday challenges of living with no papers. I reflect on the relationships, which young people draw on to enable them to endure adversity and rebuild their everyday lives. I conclude that the presence of love and community is critical for young people’s survival, safety and wellbeing, and I suggest how practitioners and researchers might make use of these findings.

Perceived risk andcondomlesssex practice with commercial and non-commercial sexual partnersofmale migrantsex workersin London, UK.

Background:Since the emergenceofHIV and theAIDSpandemic,the majority ofrisk-reductioninterventionshave beencentredon the use of condomsin sex workers. Methods:This qualitative studyrecruited25male migrantsex workersin Londontounderstandtheirriskperception andcondomlesssexexperienceswithin thecontext ofsexworkand privatelife.Thedata was collected using face-to-face interviews,analysed usingthematic analysis, and the findingsinterpretedthroughthe theory of planned behaviour. Results:Thethemesexplainthatcondomlesssexwith clientsoccurredwhenparticipantsconsciouslyacceptedto perform thisservicedeployinga riskassessment ofclients,faultystrategies,and sexual practicesto reduce theirrisk;orwhentheylostcontrolbecause ofrecreationaldrugs, feeling attractionto clients,were in precarious circumstances,orwerevictims ofviolence.Conversely,condomlesssex withnon-commercialpartnersoccurredaccording to thetype ofrelationship,withformal partnersitwasrationalised throughemotionalaspects attached tothis kind of relationship,whilewithcasual partnersitwasconnected tosexual arousal andtheuseofalcohol anddrugs. Conclusions:Reinforceeducational interventions todeliverSTI-HIVinformation,enhance the use of condoms,and toaddress specificcontextualfactorsthat facilitatecondomlesspracticewith commercial and non-commercial sexual partners.

Analyzing the Limitations of Agency and Rights in Migrant Women's Empowerment

Migrant women constitute a substantial and heterogeneous cohort within the worldwide populace. Individuals depart from their nations of birth in pursuit of enhanced prospects, frequently encountering distinctive obstacles and susceptibilities during the course of their migratory expedition. The abstract notion of a "migrant woman" encompasses the range of experiences, rights, and challenges encountered by this heterogeneous cohort of women. The analysis explores the structural determinants that influence the process of migration among individuals, including economic inequalities, gender expectations, and governmental regulations pertaining to migration. Additionally, it draws attention to the various overlapping forms of discrimination that people experience and which depend on things like gender, race, socioeconomic status, and immigration status. Migrant women actively participate in various industries, encompassing both low-skilled and informal labour, domestic service, healthcare, and agricultural sectors. The labour and contributions of individuals have far-reaching global implications, exerting influence on the economies of both the countries from which they originate and the countries where they are received. Nevertheless, these individuals frequently encounter economic exploitation, precarious labour circumstances, and restricted availability of rights and social safeguards. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the abstract notion of migrant women, it is imperative to acknowledge the wide range of experiences they encounter and the ways in which their identities intersect. Addressing the systemic issues and inequalities faced by individuals requires a collective effort of global cooperation, collaboration, and dialogue. This article aims to shed light on the empowerment of migrant women and the insufficiency of agencies and rights in achieving this goal.

Ubuntu as a mediator in coping with multimorbidity treatment burden in a disadvantaged rural and urban setting in South Africa

BackgroundPeople living with multimorbidity in economically precarious circumstances in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) experience a high workload trying to meet self-management demands. However, in countries such as South Africa, the availability of social networks and support structures may improve patient capacity, especially when networks are governed by cultural patterns linked to the Pan-African philosophy of Ubuntu, which promotes solidarity through humanness and human dignity. We explore the mediating role Ubuntu plays in people's ability to self-manage HIV/NCD multimorbidity in underprivileged settings in urban and rural South Africa. MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 patients living with HIV/NCD multimorbidity between February–April 2022. Patients attended public health clinics in Gugulethu, Cape Town and Bulungula, Eastern Cape. We analysed interviews using framework analysis, using the Cumulative Complexity Model (CuCoM) and Burden of Treatment Theory (BoTT) as frameworks through which to conceptualise the data. ResultsDespite facing economic hardship, people with multimorbidity in South Africa were able to cope with their workload. They actively used and mobilized family relations and external networks that supported them financially, practically, and emotionally, allowing them to better self-manage their chronic conditions. Embedded in their everyday life, patients, often unconsciously, embraced Ubuntu and its core values, including togetherness, solidarity, and receiving Imbeko (respect) from health workers. This enabled participants to share their treatment workload and increase self-management capacity. ConclusionUbuntu is an important mediator for people living with multimorbidity in South Africa, as it allows them to navigate their treatment workload and increase their social capital and structural resilience, which is key to self-management capacity. Incorporating Ubuntu and linked African support theories into current treatment burden models will enable better understandings of patients’ collective support and can inform the development of context-specific social health interventions that fit the needs of people living with chronic conditions in African settings.

Premature return of self-initiated expatriates in the spectre of a global crisis: a sensemaking perspective

Global mobility studies have focused on the repatriation of assigned expatriates in multinational organisations overlooking the difficulties that self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) face upon returning home prematurely. Recent converging global crises have demonstrated the precarious and challenging circumstances that SIEs confront when relocating abroad of their own volition without the security and support of an organisation. Applying a sensemaking lens, our qualitative study reveals that a global crisis’s volatile and unpredictable nature triggers a sensemaking process for SIEs on whether to withdraw prematurely or remain on assignment. Specifically, we unpack how, in attempting to put structure on what was a highly complex, anxious, and stressful situation, SIEs engaged in a sensemaking process of enactment, selection, and retention in deciding whether to return home early. This process involved interpreting varying contextual cues and emotions in acute conditions, processing conflicting information from a nexus of sensegiving actors, and engaging retrospectively in reflexive frames. Our findings enrich existing work on the challenges of SIE repatriation by illuminating the utility of crisis sensemaking to understand how SIEs navigate premature withdrawal amid crisis conditions.