Role In Poverty Research Articles

Sex Trade Involvement in São Paulo, Brazil and Toronto, Canada

An extensive international literature has been developed regarding the risk trajectories of sex trade-involved children and youth. This literature has not, however, substantially incorporated the narratives of youths regarding their experiences. In this article, the contemporary literature on child and youth sex trade-involvement is reviewed and the findings of a qualitative analysis of the narratives of 14 youth from Sao Paulo, Brazil and 58 youth from Toronto, Canada are presented. Substantial similarities were found between the groups of narratives with respect to abusive and unstable home experiences, pathways into the sex trade, social exclusion, and the impacts of the sex trade on physical and mental health. Key areas of divergence included the roles of poverty and drug use in entering the sex trade. The implications of shared experiences of social exclusion and fragmented identity across differing sociocultural contexts for policy and intervention are discussed.

The Scar on the Face of Scotland: Deprivation and Alcohol-Related Facial Injuries in Scotland

: Recent media and political attention have focused on a "rising tide" of youth violence and alcohol-related problems in Scotland. Facial injuries in Scotland are most commonly sustained as a result of interpersonal violence, and young men are a high risk group for facial injuries. Facial injuries are known to be associated with alcohol consumption but the sociodemographic determinants are not fully known. : Influences on the incidence of alcohol-related facial injuries were investigated using data on 22,417 patients between 2001 and 2006 from the Scottish Morbidity Records. : Since 2001, the incidence of alcohol-related facial injuries in Scotland has declined, but the nature and scale of the problem remain considerable, with the major burden for such injuries disproportionately affecting young men from socioeconomically deprived areas. : The role of poverty as the major determinant of alcohol-related facial injuries has thus far not been explicitly acknowledged. Interventions to change behavior alone are unlikely to succeed unless they are supported by measures designed to improve socioeconomic circumstances and to reduce socioeconomic inequalities.

Militant Islamists: terrorists without frontiers

In this book, Alaolmolki, an expert on the transnational politics of Central Asia and the Persian Gulf, provides a global view of militant Islamist ideologies, activities, and connections. Unlike many extant books on this topic, Militant Islamists does not examine only one particular factor or driving force in political violence such as suicide bombings; rather, this work studies transnational militant Islam on several levels: domestic (e.g., the role of poverty and lack of democracy in Arab and Muslim nations); regional (e.g., the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; Hizbullah in Lebanon; Jemmah Islamiyan in Southeast Asia; Hizb al-Tahrir in Central Asia); global (e.g., the role of the United States and Western Europe in inadvertently helping transnational Islamists). Ultimately, the author traces the effects of the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq on militant Islamist terrorism, concluding that militant Islam is spreading, not receding, and that the United States would better rely on soft, rather than hard (military), power to overcome it.

Beyond the 50-minute hour: Increasing control, choice, and connections in the lives of low-income women.

Although poverty is associated with a range of mental health difficulties among women in this country, mainstream mental health interventions are not sufficient to meet the complex needs of poor women. This article argues that stress, powerlessness, and social isolation should become primary targets of our interventions, as they are key mediators of the relationship between poverty and emotional distress, particularly for women. Indeed, if ways are not found to address these conditions directly, by increasing women's control, choice, and connections, the capacity to improve the emotional well-being of impoverished women will remain limited at best. This is the first of 5 articles that comprise a special section of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, called "Beyond the 50-Minute Hour: Increasing Control, Choice, and Connections in the Lives of Low-Income Women." Together, these articles explore the nature and impact of a range of innovative mental health interventions that are grounded in a deep understanding of the experience of poverty. This introduction: (a) describes briefly how mainstream approaches fail to address the poverty-related mental health needs of low-income women; (b) illuminates the role of stress, powerlessness, and social isolation in women's lives; (c) highlights the ways in which the articles included in this special section address each of these by either adapting traditional mental health practices to attend to poverty's role in participants' lives or adapting community-based, social-justice-oriented interventions to attend to participants' mental health; and (d) discusses the research and evaluation implications of expanding mental health practices to meet the needs of low-income communities.

Demographic and living conditions of tuberculosis patients receiving directly observed therapy short course(DOTS) in Calabar, Nigeria

Understanding the role of poverty in the continued epidemic of TB in developing countries will provide useful information for the improvement of TB control activities in these areas. A survey of the living conditions of 274 TB patients registered for DOTS at the National Tuberculosis Control Program Centre of the Lawrence Henshaw Memorial hospital Calabar and the Endemic Disease Clinic of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar was conducted to verify the view that poverty influences the incidence and outcome of TB. Using a structured pre-tested self- or interview- administered questionnaire, data were collected from a sample of 274 subjects: males (162/59%) and females (112/41%) within the economically viable age of 15-55 years. Results showed that the number of TB patients in the study decreased with increasing number of children of .3 in the households of subjects. The average income of the 244 (89%) income earners was N6,045.00 ($46.50) a month. Of this number, 170 (70%) earned less than N5,000 ($37.00) monthly. Thirty (11%) had no reliable means of income. Unemployed persons and students constituted the highest percentage of the subjects (18% and 17% respectively). A low socio-economic status and poor housing conditions typified by overcrowding and poor ventilation characterized the TB patients in this study. TB control programs anchored by government and non-governmental agencies need to address poverty reduction as part of their intervention strategies.

Role of Poverty in California Teenagers’ Fatal Traffic Crash Risk

Teenagers’ high rates of motor vehicle crashes, accounting for 40% of external deaths among 16-19 yearolds, have been ascribed largely to inherent “adolescent risk-taking” and developmental hazards. However, the fact that compared to adults 25 and older, teenagers are twice as likely to live in poverty and low-income areas, risk factors for many types of violent death, has not been assessed. This paper uses Fatality Analysis Reporting System data on 65,173 fatal motor vehicle crashes by drivers in California’s 35 most populous counties for 1994-2007 to analyze fatal crash involvements per 100 million miles driven by driver age, county, poverty status, and 15 other traffic safety-related variables. Fatal crash rates were substantially higher for every driver age group in poorer counties than in richer ones. Multivariate regression found socioeconomic factors, led by the low levels of licensing and high unemployment rates prevalent in low-income areas, were associated with nearly 60% of the variance in motor vehicle crash risks, compared to 3% associated with driver age. The strong association between fatal crash risk and poverty, especially for young drivers who are concentrated in high-poverty brackets and low-income areas, suggests that factors related to poorer environments constitute a major traffic safety risk requiring serious attention.

A Response to “Social Change, Life Strain, and Delinquency among Chinese Urban Adolescents”: Thoughts on the Broader Implication of China's Economic Success on the Production of Delinquency

The institutional changes that have resulted from China's rapid transformation from a closed communist society to a more open, market-driven society are both impressive and daunting. A hundred years from now, people will look back to try to understand and fully appreciate the impact of the major structural, societal level transformations, not only on China itself but on the larger community both in Asia and other parts in the world. Among the many positive developments that have occurred in the past 1 5 years, including increased foreign investment, economic opportunities, and individual wealth (among others), there has emerged a new set of challenges that many communities and families are experiencing. One such challenge is the recent and rapid rise of crime and delinquency over many parts of Chinese society. Rapid increases in crime and delinquency across China have the potential not only to destabilize families but also to influence levels of social cohesion as well as responses by the juvenile and criminal justices systems. Thus, it is important for social scientists (and others) to work toward better understanding how social, structural, economic, and cultural changes in China are fostering negative outcomes, such as crime and delinquency, and the authors of Social Change, Life Strain, and Delinquency among Chinese Urban Adolescents have done an admirable job in examining and applying Robert Agnews general strain theory (1992, 2001) to this task. Agnew's theory provides a highly effective model for understanding how the major macro- and microtransformations of Chinese society are impacting upon the production of delinquency across communities. It is particularly important to fully understand both the range and the depth of the nature of strain that Chinese families and institutions are experiencing. The authors of this paper correctly note that the impact of very salient sources of strain involving economic conditions, especially the role of poverty and increased competition, have placed significant pressure on Chinese families, which is magnified by an increasing cultural emphasis on success. Thus, the nature of economic strain that many Chinese families are experiencing is highly complex, involving not only the impact of diminished financial resources but also the cultural pressure to succeed - in a highly competitive society and in a cultural context whereby parents and extended families are tremendously invested in their children. This potent mix of pressures and strain has consequences for delinquency production. Thus, family functioning and the provision of familial support in modern China are being influenced by a host of economic pressures. The authors of this paper note the increasing role of the one-child policy on creating pressure on families to invest significantly in the success of their only child, but this cultural expectation is affected by the harsh reality of market forces in a highly competitive environment that incorporates the school systems and the employment markets. Part of the significance of this article rests with describing and applying the major transformations of Chinese society and their various consequences for delinquency generation, as well as in understanding the nature of macrolevel changes in Chinese society and their impact on microprocesses, which fostet strain and facilitate delinquency production. Chinese society is experiencing major changes and the authors have done a commendable job illustrating how Agnew's theory of general strain can be useful in understanding the unique strains currently operating in China, as well as take account of why and how some of the mediating processes may be operating. Moreover, the authors usefully describe and illustrate some of the conditioning influences that can magnify the impact of strain on delinquency as well as some of the traditional coping responses. In doing so, the authors have recognized that traditional forms of coping the strict moral code of Chinese society, the emphasis on collective well-being, and the importance of honor, particularly honor within one's family - have been eroded by the massive economic transformations. …

Cambodia's Victim Zero: Global and National Responses to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

Cambodia’s experience with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) since the disease was discovered on a farm outside Phnom Penh in January 2004 reveals important aspects of how a developing country with limited resources and capabilities has responded to a crisis that has global public health implications and, vice-versa, how this global response in turn affected Cambodia. Augmented by a survey sent to individuals deeply involved in HPAI work in Cambodia, this study uses a qualitative research methodology consisting of mostly one-on-one semi-structured interviews across government, the private sector, and the non-governmental sector. Measures have been taken to cope with HPAI such as public awareness campaign ‘Super Moan’ (Super Chicken) and Pandemic Preparedness; border control over the movement of poultry with neighboring countries, particularly Vietnam and Thailand; culling of poultry; and case-based secret compensation. The study provides a background to Cambodian political and modern history, sets the context of aid dependence and tourism, and presents the livestock sector and poultry sub-sector in particular. It then proceeds in three parts, from beginning, middle, to end to show how HPAI evolved, providing a narrative time line of the key policy moments/phases between the first outbreak and to date (December 2008). Three narratives are explored: (1) culling without compensation; (2) the shift to health; and (3) the role of poverty and livelihoods. The study then discusses three key themes that define the political economy of the policy process. These are: (a) Donors and NGOs; (b) Beyond Aid: Other Sources of Revenue and the Importance of Tourism; and (c) Media Spin. The overall analysis of the political economy of HPAI in Cambodia reveals key challenges, obstacles and opportunities for responding to HPAI - and potentially other global epidemics.

Shedding light on the role of poverty in brain development

Shedding light on the role of poverty in brain development

The political context of AIDS-related stigma and knowledge in a South African township community

The purpose of this study was to examine the presentation of AIDS-related stigma and knowledge within the political context of the South African government's response to the AIDS epidemic. It was during the 2000 – 2004 period that key government officials publicly challenged the orthodox views of HIV/AIDS, with the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, actively positing the primary role of poverty and other socio-economic stressors in the progression of the AIDS epidemic. This discursive position had real-time effects for AIDS policy-making and ultimately delayed the implementation of a national antiretroviral (ARV) rollout programme. Consequently this position was criticised by commentators in the media and elsewhere for contributing to an already widespread climate of AIDS stigmatisation and misinformation. To shed more light on these claims we conducted a survey in 2005 in Atteridgeville, a South African township, and compared results with those of a similar survey conducted shortly after ARV medications became available in 2004. Results indicated a reduction in AIDS stigma levels across the 1-year period, and that those participants who endorsed contentious political views (such as those expressed by key government officials) were more likely to have a higher level of AIDS-related stigma than those who disagreed. Nevertheless, this study cautions against drawing a causal relationship between the South African government's position and AIDS-stigmatising attitudes, and suggests that further political and social factors be accounted for in an attempt to gain a fuller understanding of this seemingly complex relationship.

Introduction to the Special Section: Poverty and Inequality in China

Introduction to the Special Section: Poverty and Inequality in China

Poverty and the Impact of AIDS on Older Persons: Evidence from Cambodia and Thailand

The present study provides a comparative analysis of the impact of the AIDS epidemic in Cambodia and Thailand on the parents of adults who die of AIDS and how this impact interacts with poverty. It examines the relationship between economic status and routes through which losing an adult child can affect the parents, including caregiving during illness, payment of medical and living expenses, reduced economic activity, funeral expenses, loss of support from the deceased adult child, the fostering of orphaned grandchildren, and community reaction. Finally, an assessment is made of the impact on the overall economic situation of the parents. Generally, negative consequences appear more widespread in Cambodia, but economic status shows a stronger association with outcomes in Thailand. Thus the gap between poor Thais and Cambodians is often modest despite substantial differences in overall levels. The higher levels of hardship reported in Cambodia and the often minimal difference by economic status likely reflect the more severe levels of poverty in that country compared to Thailand. While differences in data collection methodologies may account for some of the contrasting findings, the results strongly suggest that setting matters and that the role of poverty in the AIDS epidemic is far from uniform.

The History of Infant, Child and Adult Mortality in London, 1550–1850

The paper uses a range of sources — parish registers, family histories, bills of mortality, local censuses, marriage licences, apprenticeship indentures, and wills — to document the history of mortality of London in the period 1538–1850. The main conclusions of the research are as follows:1. Infant and child mortality more than doubled between the sixteenth and the middle of the eighteenth century in both wealthy and non-wealthy families.2. Mortality peaked in the middle of the eighteenth century at a very high level, with nearly two-thirds of all children — rich and poor — dying by their fifth birthday.3. Mortality under the age of two fell sharply after the middle of the eighteenth century, and older child mortality decreased mainly during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. By the second quarter of the nineteenth century about 30 per cent of all children had died within the first five years. This latter fall in mortality appears to have occurred equally amongst both the wealthy and the non-wealthy population.4. There was little or no change in paternal mortality from 1600 to 1750, after which date there was a steady reduction until the middle of the nineteenth century. The scale of the fall in adult mortality was probably less than the reduction in infant and child mortality. The latter more than halved between the middle of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, whereas paternal mortality fell by about a third in the same period.5. There appears to have been a minimal social class gradient in infant, child and adult mortality in London during the period 1550–1850. This is an unexpected finding, raising fundamental questions about the role of poverty and social class in shaping mortality in this period.6. Although migration played a leading role in fostering the population increase in London in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, relatively low infant and child mortality made a major contribution to population growth during this period.

The Role of Poverty in Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial resistance is a worldwide problem that has deleterious long-term effects as the development of drug resistance outpaces the development of new drugs. Poverty has been cited by the World Health Organization as a major force driving the development of antimicrobial resistance. In developing countries, factors such as inadequate access to effective drugs, unregulated dispensing and manufacture of antimicrobials, and truncated antimicrobial therapy because of cost are contributing to the development of multidrug-resistant organisms. Within the United States, poverty-driven practices such as medication-sharing, use of "leftover" antibiotics, and the purchase and use of foreign-made drugs of questionable quality are likely contributing to antimicrobial resistance. However, there is currently a dearth of studies in the United States analyzing the socioeconomic and behavioral factors behind antimicrobial resistance in United States communities. Further studies of these factors, with an emphasis on poverty-driven practices, need to be undertaken in order to fully understand the problem of antimicrobial resistance in the United States and to develop effective intervention to combat this problem.

Tackling heart disease and poverty

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, with a projected increase in incidence in developed and developing countries. This paper will review the literature on the role of poverty and socioeconomic deprivation in cardiovascular disease and outline ways to tackle poverty. The literature acknowledges the individual risk factors for cardiovascular disease, but highlights the negative effects of neighborhood deprivation on the incidence of cardiovascular disease and its mortality rates. The studies show that equitable access to health care is not evident and those in less affluent neighborhoods have greater disease incidence and increased mortality and morbidity rates, particularly for angina, myocardial infarction, and heart failure. The approach to reducing disease rates needs to be conducted from an individual level to the societal level and needs to prevent and treat heart disease (particularly in deprived neighborhoods). Nurses and health professionals must drive health policy so that progress can be achieved in reducing the disease rates.

Homophobia out of the closet in the media portrayal of HIV/AIDS 1991, 1996 and 2001: Celebrity, heterosexism and the silent victims

This paper presents the results of a critical discourse analysis of the portrayal of HIV/AIDS in the 20 highest circulating mass print media magazines in Canada in 1991, 1996 and 2001. It is a follow-up of studies describing the conflation of homophobia and HIV/AIDS in media portrayal studies beginning in the 1980s. It provides an examination of more recent stories during a time when the epidemiological characteristics of HIV/AIDS changed to incorporate widespread heterosexual transmission. While the paper documents the continuing presence of homophobia, its portrayal has become indirect and subtle. It is not evident in the explicit descriptions of the sexual or drug-taking characteristics of people with HIV/AIDS, as in the past, but rather in the paradoxical extolling of heterosexuality and hegemonic masculinity. It is also evident in the emphasis on the differences between innocent and guilty victims of HIV/AIDS. There is also a focus on celebrities, both those with HIV/AIDS and those working to help those with HIV/AIDS. Conventional allopathic medicine continued to be emphasized as the primary way to deal with the disease. Alternative stories regarding topics such as prevention, social support for those sickened by HIV/AIDS and the role of poverty and racism in disease spread were ignored. There was some brief discussion of the importance of religion. Discussion of ethics related largely to ways of protecting innocent victims from the disease. The implications of this portrayal are discussed.

Land Distribution in Mao's Investigations: poverty and class struggle

Mao's rural surveys, or investigations as he called them, conducted in the red base area in Jiangxi and Fujian provinces between 1927 and 1934, have long been overlooked in the scholarship especially in interpreting the issue of landownership inequality. Mao highly valued the role of investigation, and the importance of investigations to the formation of his view of class struggle and to his strategy-making is doubtless. This study for the first time reveals that Mao did not establish his macro conclusion of land distribution inequality on his gathered data, and that landownership concentrations were not so drastic in the red base area as Mao described. This study argues that other dimensions of rural inequality, including high debts, rentals, interest rates, and security deposits, appear as the greatest encumbrance to peasants and play a more important role in aggravating class confrontations. This study also argues that the role of poverty is critical in understanding the structural nature of the Communist Revolution. From poverty, Mao discovered not only a majority of the people but also moralism to support his revolution.

Our Impoverished View of Educational Research

This analysis is about the role of poverty in school reform. Data from a number of sources are used to make five points. First, that poverty in the United States is greater and of longer duration than in other rich nations. Second, that poverty, particularly among urban minorities, is associated with academic performance that is well below international means on a number of different international assessments. Scores of poor students are also considerably below the scores achieved by white middle-class American students. Third, that poverty restricts the expression of genetic talent at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale. Among the lowest social classes environmental factors, particularly family and neighborhood influences, not genetics, is strongly associated with academic performance. Among middle-class students it is genetic factors, not family and neighborhood factors, that most influences academic performance. Fourth, compared to middle-class children, severe medical problems affect impoverished youth. This limits their school achievement as well as their life chances. Data on the negative effect of impoverished neighborhoods on the youth who reside there is also presented. Fifth, and of greatest interest, is that small reductions in family poverty lead to increases in positive school behavior and better academic performance. It is argued that poverty places severe limits on what can be accomplished through school reform efforts, particularly those associated with the federal No Child Left Behind law. The data presented in this study suggest that the most powerful policy for improving our nations’ school achievement is a reduction in family and youth poverty.

Our Impoverished View of Educational Research

This analysis is about the role of poverty in school reform. Data from a number of sources are used to make five points. First, that poverty in the United States is greater and of longer duration than in other rich nations. Second, that poverty, particularly among urban minorities, is associated with academic performance that is well below international means on a number of different international assessments. Scores of poor students are also considerably below the scores achieved by white middle-class American students. Third, that poverty restricts the expression of genetic talent at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale. Among the lowest social classes environmental factors, particularly family and neighborhood influences, not genetics, is strongly associated with academic performance. Among middle-class students it is genetic factors, not family and neighborhood factors, that most influences academic performance. Fourth, compared to middle-class children, severe medical problems affect impoverished youth. This limits their school achievement as well as their life chances. Data on the negative effect of impoverished neighborhoods on the youth who reside there is also presented. Fifth, and of greatest interest, is that small reductions in family poverty lead to increases in positive school behavior and better academic performance. It is argued that poverty places severe limits on what can be accomplished through school reform efforts, particularly those associated with the federal No Child Left Behind law. The data presented in this study suggest that the most powerful policy for improving our nations’ school achievement is a reduction in family and youth poverty.

Environment, Population, and Biology: a short history of modern epidemiology

Since its origin in the 19th century, epidemiology has faced an internal tension between an approach oriented toward biology and the study of mechanisms, and an approach oriented toward populations and their interactions with the environment. Initially, this tension took the form of an opposition between microbiology and statistics. We describe the early roots of the quantitative approach to health and disease and several historical examples of the above tension. The search for the causes of pellagra exemplifies our thesis. In Italy, where pellagra was endemic, contrasting opinions coexisted between the hypothesis of contaminated maize, supported by Cesare Lombroso, and the hypothesis of a prevailing role of poverty and poor nutrition. In the United States, Joseph Goldberger found no evidence for the hypothesis of contaminated maize or for a microbiological agent, but recognized the central role of nutrition. The "cure" Goldberger proposed was land reform, but he continued studying the disease from a mechanistic point of view; shortly after his death, niacin deficiency was identified as the cause of pellagra. The tension between mechanistic and population-based studies is still present within epidemiology and is in fact essential for the success of the discipline.