On the margins of Healthcare: Role of Social Capital in Health of Migrants in India

Social capital is a widely studied concept in sociology, philosophy and development economics since the late nineteenth century. In India, the various dogmas of the theory of social capital have not been studied to their potential, especially in the domain of public health. This study was conducted to determine healthcare access among migrants and their social capital, in order to explore the association between social capital and healthcare access. A mixed-method approach was adopted for the study. A survey (n=61) was conducted in a residential area in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh state, using Shortened Adapted Social Capital Assessment Tool (SASCAT). The qualitative component of the study will be published separately. It was found that 78.6 percent of migrants have a ‘low’ social capital and 21.3 percent have a ‘high’ social capital. Fischer’s exact test showed that there is no significant association between the economic status and social capital of individuals (p=0.06). The research study concluded that there is a linkage between social capital and healthcare access. High social capital resulted in better healthcare access, especially among vulnerable groups (women, disabled and elderly people). The findings of the study helped in charting out the pathways of healthcare access within the framework of Bordieu’s theory of social capital. It can be said that the concept of social capital has remained unexplored by academia and policymakers alike. In order to improve the healthcare access of migrants, health systems must delve into the complex nuances around tenets of social capital in healthcare.

The Marginalization and Exploitation of Women in Media Industry

The woman in media is still a face that symbolizes the field of popular culture and hypersexualized naked body, and it is most often presented in the media as a victim. In the last decade, the representation of women and the women`s movement in the media has managed to get some progress. In the media, we will not see Roma women, disabled women, we will not see poor women, because they are not topics that manage to sell media content. The only topic that sells newspapers is the topic of violence against women, first of all because it is a type of secondary victimization, where female identity through media content is again represented as ‘another', and through the identity of the victim. The dead or scorched female body and the continuum of violence satisfy the logic of market capital. The main areas that were highlighted in this research paper are the portrayal of women by the media, the marginalization of women in mass media, the image of women in media, the influence of media on the views of the gender, and the stereotypes of girls and women in the media.

The Current Status of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure of Islamic Shari-based Banking Companies in Bangladesh

The purpose of this study is to examine the current extent and any difference (if any) of CSR disclosure of Islamic Sharia-based banking companies in Bangladesh during the period of 2011-2015. Content analysis is adopted to accumulate the data from company’s annual reports. The CSR checklist comprise of sixteen dimensions (including 85 items) of CSR activities i.e., ‘Environment’, Disaster management, ‘Sports, Shelter, Women, Disabled, Liberation war, Health, Education, Energy, Minorities, Employee, Product responsibility, IT, Community and Government. The study reveals that the grand mean disclosure of CSR information in annual report of Islamic banks is 25.89% with a standard deviation of 5.49%. Empirical evidence provides that there is statistically significant difference of CSR disclosure among Islamic Sharia-based banking companies in Bangladesh. But there is no significant difference of CSR disclosure of Islamic banking industry in Bangladesh year to year. Moreover, CSR disclosure of Islamic Shari-based banking companies is not diversified rather concentrated on some specific dimension and items of CSR. The study is mainly based on annual reports for the financial year 2011-2015 of Islamic Sharia-based banking companies in Bangladesh. Hence, the conclusion reached cannot be generalized.

An assessment of gender differences in the operational efficiency of businesses run by persons with disabilities

Purpose Progress accomplished by the disabled entrepreneurs on the fronts of profits, turnover, return on investment (ROI), employees engaged, capital employed and diversification shall be studied and prevalence of gender differences in such progress shall be assessed. Design/methodology/approach The proposed research is descriptive in nature, based on primary data, collected by personally administering a well-structured interview schedule to 201 disabled entrepreneurs in Puducherry selected using a snowball sampling technique. Data collected has been analyzed using SPSS 21, using the tools of mean, one-way ANOVA, factorial ANOVA and chi-square (χ2) analysis. Findings The prevalence rate of entrepreneurship among female disabled is very low. Female disabled entrepreneurs manage higher turnover than their male counterparts and manage insignificantly higher progress in terms of capital employed, while male disabled entrepreneurs have managed insignificantly higher progress in terms of profits, diversification and ROI. Illiterate disabled, both men and women, struggle to manage decent turnover while the better educated manage better turnover. Research limitations/implications This paper has highlighted the low prevalence rate of entrepreneurship among women disabled though the fewer women disabled entrepreneurs are performing better than their male counterparts in operating their business. Originality/value The findings of this paper may be taken as base for formulation of effective government policies in empowering disabled persons in general and women disabled in particular.

“The Reasonable (Wo)man”: Physicians, Freedom of Contract, and Women's Rights, 1870–1930

This article examines how ideals of contract freedom within the women's rights movement challenged medical and medical jurisprudence theories about women between 1870 and 1930. Throughout this period, medicine linked women's intellectual incapacity with problems rooted in their physical bodies. Doctors opined that reproductive diseases and conditions of pregnancy, childbirth, menstruation, and menopause rendered women disabled, irrational, and inherently dependent. Yet at the same moment, the elimination of the legal disability of coverture, and new laws that expanded women's property and earnings rights contributed to changing perceptions of women's public roles. Courts applied far more liberal understandings of sanity and rationality in property and contract cases, even when the legal actors were women. Seizing this opportunity, reformers made powerful arguments against doctors' ideas of women's “natural” mental weakness, pointing out that the growing rights to contract and transact illustrated women's rationalism and competency for full citizenship. Most significantly, these activists insisted that these rights indicated women's right to total bodily freedom—a concept that would become crucially important in the early birth control movement.

Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK: Vol 1

The largest UK research study on poverty and social exclusion ever conducted reveals startling levels of deprivation. 18m people are unable to afford adequate housing; 14m can’t afford essential household goods; and nearly half the population have some form of financial insecurity. Defining poverty as those whose lack of resources forces them to live below a publicly agreed minimum standard, this text provides unique and detailed insights into the nature and extent of poverty and social exclusion in the UK today. Written by a team of leading academics, the book reports on the extent and nature of poverty for different social groups: older and younger people; parents and children; ethnic groups; men and women; disabled people; and across regions through the recent period of austerity. It reflects on where government policies have made an impact and considers potential future developments. A companion volume Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK Volume 2 focuses on different aspects of poverty and social exclusion identified in the study.

RESEARCHING THE OLDER PEOPLE’S NEEDS FOR SPECIALIZED SERVICES OF THE WELLNESS INDUSTRY IN NOVOSIBIRSK

The article is devoted to the considering theoretical and practical issues of the wellness industry development in Novosibirsk and the use of its opportunities for organizing leisure time for older people. The authors consider the development tendencies in the wellness industry as way for organizing the leisure of consumers whose physical, psycho-emotional and financial possibilities are lower than active age people. The statistical data cited in the article indicates that the development of services in this sector is rapidly growing, the range of services are expanded, wellness companies are oriented to different groups of consumers: children, pregnant women, disabled people, etc. However, attention is not paid to people of the third age. This research provides mapping the market of services of enterprises and organizations rendering wellness services. In particular, those organizations that provide fitness and dance services are considered. It is these services in the wellness industry that can solve for the elderly at least two tasks at a time - maintaining and strengthening psychosomatic health and creating conditions for versatile communication. The results of mapping show that Novosibirsk has large number of such organizations, however, only two among them (included in the federal fitness network) provide services for the elderly people. The survey of elderly people in Novosibirsk allowed to identify the need for fitness and dance services, and made it possible to determine priorities in time, cost and types of employment in the centers of the wellness industry. Also the authors note that classes for people of this target group should take into account its features and should be conducted by trainers with special education. According to these features specialized programs should be developed, including the use of recreational and service technologies as an alternative to the usual fitness.

Implementation of International Law in Japanese Courts

The Constitution has supremacy in the Japanese legal system and describes its relationship with international law as follows: “The treaties concluded by Japan and established laws of nations shall be faithfully observed.” (Art. 98(2)) It has been construed that treaty provisions should be treated respectfully – under the Constitution but superior to domestic laws – and can be invoked in the same way as laws, although courts have been reluctant to apply them. Recently, some innovative changes have occurred in the attitude of Japanese courts, especially in human rights issues concerning children, women, disabled peoples, minorities, and foreigners. We can now expect Japanese courts to invoke or use international human rights law directly or indirectly to interpret the less-elaborated parts of the Constitution and other domestic laws since human rights obligations should be internationalized to the same standard, and since the Japanese Constitution cannot be a “self-contained” law separate from international society.