scholarly journals Contested or complementary healing paradigms? Women’s narratives of COVID-19 remedies in Mwanza, Tanzania

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerry Mshana ◽  
Zaina Mchome ◽  
Diana Aloyce ◽  
Esther Peter ◽  
Saidi Kapiga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Belief Systems ◽  
Emerging Infections ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Women's Narratives ◽  
Traditional Remedies ◽  
Traditional Therapies ◽  
Audio Files ◽  
Smart Mobile ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
African Setting

Abstract Background COVID-19 has caused worldwide fear and uncertainty. Historically, the biomedical disease paradigm established its dominance in tackling emerging infectious illnesses mainly due to innovation in medication and advances in technology. Traditional and religious remedies have emerged as plausible options for prevention and treatment of COVID-19, especially in Africa and Asia. The appeal of religious and traditional therapies against COVID-19 in the African setting must be understood within the historical, social, and political context. This study explored how women and community members dealt with suspected symptoms of COVID-19 in Mwanza, Tanzania. Methods This study was conducted in Nyamagana and Ilemela districts of Mwanza, Tanzania, between July and August 2020. We conducted 18 mobile phone in-depth interviews with a purposively selected sample of women aged 27–57 years participating in an existing longitudinal study. For safety reasons, smart mobile phones were used to collect the data. Each interview was audio recorded after obtaining verbal consent from the participants. The audio files were transferred to computers for analysis. Four researchers conducted a multistage, inductive analysis of the data. Results Participants reported wide use and perceived high efficacy of traditional remedies and prayer to prevent and treat suspected symptoms of COVID-19. Use was either alone or combined with public health recommendations such as hand washing and crowd avoidance. Despite acknowledging that a pathogen causes COVID-19, participants attested to the relevance and power of traditional herbal medication and prayer to curb COVID-19. Four main factors underline the symbolic efficacy of the traditional and religious treatment paradigms: personal, communal, and official reinforcement of their efficacy; connection to local knowledge and belief systems; the failure of biomedicine to offer a quick and effective solution; and availability. Conclusions In the context of emerging contagious illnesses, communities turn to resilient and trusted treatment paradigms to quell fear and embrace hope. To tackle emerging infections effectively, it is essential to engage the broader sociopolitical landscape, including communal considerations of therapeutic efficacy.

Of Vulnerability and Agency: Perspectives from Survivors of Sex Trafficking in India

2021 ◽  
pp. 097370302110036
Author(s):  
Nisha James ◽  
Shubha Ranganathan
Keyword(s):  
Field Study ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Women's Narratives ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Paternalistic Attitude

The recent Anti-Trafficking Bill in India (2018) has received considerable criticism for perpetuating a paternalistic attitude towards victims of sex trafficking. Scholars, activists and legal experts have pointed out the failure of the Act to recognise the agency of trafficked girls and women. In thinking about victimhood and agency, we draw attention to the need for thinking of ‘vulnerability’ in terms of complex intersectional processes and situations that render certain persons more vulnerable to trafficking. This article delves into contexts and vulnerabilities in the process of trafficking by drawing on women’s narratives about the lived experiences of sex trafficking. It is based on a qualitative field study through in-depth interviews of 51 survivors of sex trafficking who were sheltered in government and non-government organisations in the cities of Chennai and Hyderabad.

scholarly journals Habitus, Capital, Agency, and Distinction in Entrepreneurial Field Dynamics: The Case Lafayette

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anderson Sant'Anna
Keyword(s):  
Business Environment ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Institutional Dynamics ◽  
Business Ecosystem ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Individual Variations ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City ◽  
Depth Interviews

<p>This paper aims to investigate process of requalification of economic functions in the ongoing transition to the digital economy experienced by the American city of Lafayette, in the state of Louisiana. As a starting point an extensive analysis of the history of the city and its surroundings was carried out, accompanied by semi-structured and in-depth interviews with respondents involved in the current process of reconversion investigated. In this transition it was relevant the Lafayette's historical, demographic, cultural, spatial, and socioeconomic dynamics. According to Bourdieu's theoretical framework, it was sought to identify the main cognitive categories, both in relation to the socio-institutional dynamics and individual variations, emerging from the interviews. As result, the analysis of the habitus and the main economic, cultural, social, and symbolic capitals mobilized by community members it was possible to identify themes and categories used to describe the local business ecosystem and its components. It was also possible to reveal alliances and disputes that forge and characterize Lafayette's business environment, taking into account relationships among its main historical agents: White Americans vs. Indians, White Americans vs. Cajuns, White Americans vs. Blackcreoles.<i></i></p>

scholarly journals The Meaning of Having an Autistic Child in Malay Family Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-80
Author(s):  
Cau Kim Jiu ◽  
Somporn Rungreangkulkij
Keyword(s):  
Autistic Child ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Second Category ◽  
Depth Interviews

The condition of families with autistic children raises many views and judgments both from family and society. This ethnographic study aimed to describe the meaning of families and communities towards families with autistic children. Data were collected through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. Key informants come from families who have autistic children and community members recruited by purposive sampling, while the data were analyzed using thematic analysis. This study results generate  two categories of perception of the meaning of having autistic children.  The first category was made by the families which comprises four themes such as 1) A test from God, 2) Destiny of God, 3) Autistic children different with other children, and 4) Children who need intensive helping. The second category was the perception made by the community members which consists of two themes, such as 1) Test for family, and 2) An autistic child as a holy child. This study further shows that  culture is believed to determine how families and the members of the community perceive and interpret the existence of autistic children in the families so that it is very important for health workers to understand the culture that exists in the community.

scholarly journals PROGRAM PEMULIHAN PELANCONGAN PASCA BENCANA GEMPA BUMI 2015 DI SEKITAR PINGGIRAN GUNUNG KINABALU, KUNDASANG: CABARAN DAN STRATEGI

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raihan Anas ◽  
Rosazman Hussin ◽  
Badariah Ab Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Main Approach ◽  
Depth Data ◽  
Mount Kinabalu ◽  
Recovery Program ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Post Disaster

This study is on the post-earthquake disaster recovery program in Kundasang located on the outskirts of Mount Kinabalu, Ranau Sabah. Therefore, this study reviews the post-disaster tourism recovery program conducted by members of the local community to revive existing tourism products. The main approach of this study is the qualitative approach. Methods of collecting data such as in-depth interviews with seven informants involved. Besides, field observations have been applied to obtain more in-depth data for this study. The results show that the community in Kampung Mesilou Kundasang has been directly and actively involved in the post-disaster tourism recovery program. The findings show that there are issues and challenges faced by community members whose issues and challenges are different in the process of implementing and implementing the post-earthquake earthquake recovery program in Sabah Kundasang.   ABSTRAK Kajian ini adalah mengenai program pemulihan pelancongan pasca bencana gempa bumi di Kundasang yang terletak di pinggiran Gunung Kinabalu, Ranau Sabah.Gempa bumi yang berlaku pada 05 Jun 2015 di kawasan Gunung Kinabalu telah menyebabkan aktiviti pelancongan di sekitar Kundasang telah terjejas. Oleh itu, kajian ini meninjau program pemulihan pelancongan pasca bencana yang dilakukan oleh ahli komuniti setempat untuk memulihkan semula produk pelancongan yang sedia ada. Pendekatan utama kajian ini adalah pendekatan kualitatif. Kaedah kutipan data seperti temubual mendalam kepada tujuh orang informan yang melibatkan ahli komuniti yang berkepentingan. Selain itu, pemerhatian di lapangan telah diaplikasikan untuk mendapatkan data yang lebih mendalam bagi kajian ini. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa komuniti di Kampung Mesilou Kundasang telah terlibat secara langsung dan aktif dalam program pemulihan pelancongan pasca bencana. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa wujud isu serta cabaran yang dihadapi oleh ahli komuniti dimana isu dan cabaran yang dihadapi adalah berbeza dalam proses melaksanakan dan semasa melaksanakan program pemulihan pelancongan pasca bencana gempa bumi di Kundasang Sabah.                                                                                                         

Perinatal Loss: A Qualitative Study in Northern Ireland

2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadette Susan McCreight
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Pregnancy Loss ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Loss Of Self ◽  
Women's Narratives ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Future Loss ◽  
Self Help Groups ◽  
Experiences Of Women ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article describes the experiences of women in Northern Ireland who have experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth. Pregnancy loss encompasses several dimensions of loss for women, loss of the future, loss of self-identity, and the loss of anticipated parenthood. The study explored how women emotionally responded to loss and the care they received from medical staff. Burial arrangements for the remains of the baby are also explored. The methodology adopted a narrative approach based upon in-depth interviews with 23 women who attended pregnancy loss self-help groups. The women's narratives highlight their emotional responses to loss, the medicalization of perinatal grief, and burial arrangements. Women felt that their experience was emotionally negative in that they had been subjected to a rationalizing process of medicalization. The primary focus for the women was on the need to recover space for their emotions and seek acceptance and recognition of the validity of their grief. The study demonstrated that the women's response to being marginalized led them to make sense of their experiences and to create spaces of resistance to medicalization. The way in which women placed emotion at the center of their narratives is taken to be a powerful indicator that the support they require from professionals should take account of the meanings they have constructed from their experience of loss.

Justice Not Forgiveness: Perspectives on Justice and Reconciliation among Yazidi Women Refugees in Germany

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 530-553
Author(s):  
Phuong Pham ◽  
Niamh Gibbons ◽  
Jana Katharina Denkinger ◽  
Florian Junne ◽  
Patrick Vinck
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Women Refugees ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Criminal Prosecution ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Northern Iraq ◽  
Assistance Programme ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract In August 2014, Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists overtook the Sinjar mountains of northern Iraq, committing widespread killing and abductions of Yazidi community members. Five years later, there is no comprehensive policy or programme to provide accountability and redress to survivors of ISIS. This article presents results from in-depth interviews with 117 Yazidi refugees resettled in the German Federal State of Baden-Württemberg in 2015–16 through the ‘Special Quota’ humanitarian assistance programme. The results provide an empirical assessment of Yazidi survivors’ views on justice and accountability. They also explore the tensions that exist at the intersection of global and national considerations for justice and reconciliation, and local values, needs, and priorities. The immediate need to find the missing and reunify families, and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of family members remaining in Iraq, are the respondents’ highest priority. The respondents also expressed a strong desire for truth and accountability. Recognition of the genocide, truth-seeking, and criminal prosecution are seen as important steps individually, and towards the protection of Yazidis as a group. The article addresses how those views relate to the possibility of a just and peaceful future in Iraq and the context of transitional justice options that have been proposed in response to ISIS crimes.

Battling Breast Cancer: Women’s Narratives of Struggle, Family Support and Survival from Rural Sindh, Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-40
Author(s):  
Nadia Agha ◽  
Maliha Gull Tarar
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Major Health ◽  
Women's Narratives ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
Education And Awareness ◽  
Awareness Raising ◽  
Depth Interviews

Breast cancer poses a major health risk to Pakistani women causing 40,000 deaths annually in Pakistan (Pink Ribbon 2019). Based on 40 in-depth interviews with women who have been treated for breast cancer from rural Sindh, this study explores the extent to which families, living in rural and less developed areas with poor socio-economic conditions, provide support to the patients. The results show that women as well as their husbands’ level of education and awareness is correlated to delayed access to medical services. Our findings show that husband’s support and empathy has a therapeutic effect on cancer patients. Women’s well-being and self-esteem was strongly associated with how men saw and dealt with their disease. Based on the findings, we recommend introducing awareness raising programmes and a well-integrated social support system to help the patients and particularly men who control women’s lives.

scholarly journals Factors Related to Community Mobilization and Continued Involvement in a Community-Based Effort To Enhance Adolescents' Sexual Behaviour

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Joffres ◽  
Deborah Langille ◽  
Janet Rigby ◽  
Donald Langille
Keyword(s):  
Board Of Directors ◽  
Health Centre ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Community Mobilization ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Project Coordinator ◽  
The Board Of Directors ◽  
Personal Community ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose: This article describes and proposes a model of the factors that influenced community members' initial mobilization, continuing effort, or lack of involvement in a community based-intervention on adolescents' sexual health in Nova Scotia, Canada. Design: This study was conducted within the constructivist paradigm and guided by the principles of grounded theory. Methods: Factors related to community members' initial and continued involvement were explored using analyses of the contents of in-depth interviews and written documentation through pattern identification, clustering of conceptual groupings, identification of relationships between variables, constant comparisons, and theoretical memos. Subjects: Respondents included 14 participants, the 12 members of the Board of Directors and two paid staff (i.e., the project coordinator and the health centre nurse). Results: Specific personal, community-related, and organizational factors have influenced community members' involvement in the project. These factors were grouped into an explanatory model.

scholarly journals Community Perception about Children with Hydrocephalus in Lagos State, Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-164
Author(s):  
Mistura A. Bakare
Keyword(s):  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Health Belief ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Medical Attention ◽  
Community Perception ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Key Informant ◽  
Belief Model ◽  
Depth Interviews

This study which was anchored in Health Belief Model and Functionalism investigated the perceived cause of hydrocephalus and the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on such perception. Data were collected through questionnaire survey, Focus group discussions (FDGs), In-depth Interviews (IDIs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). Results indicate that perception about the cause of the condition included that it is a kind of punishment for sin (50%), spiritual attacks (27.3%), genetic (13.7%) and infection (9%). Community perception was higher especially with respondents age 42-47 (OR=1.32), female (OR=1.47), tertiary education (OR=0.69), punishment for sin (OR=0.61), spiritual attacks (OR=0.26) and infection (OR=0.48) than genetic factor. Community belief that hydrocephalus does not require medical attention negatively affected seeking medical help early. Other limiting factors were fear of surgical complications, inability of mothers to take responsibility; poor family social supports system and stigmatisation. There is need for stakeholders and agencies to enlighten community members on hydrocephalus and provide social support for children with the condition.

scholarly journals Pemanfaatan Radio Komunitas sebagai Media Informasi dan Komunikasi Masyarakat di Sulawesi Tenggara

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atika ◽  
Tri Indah Rusli
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Focus Group Discussion ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Community Radio ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Communication Needs ◽  
Observation Method ◽  
Depth Interviews

Community radio established to fulfill the information and communication needs of the community members. The purpose can be achieved when its existence used by community members. Therefore, the purpose of  this research was to analyze the utilization of community radio as the information and communication media for society in Southeast Sulawesi. The study was used a qualitative approach, while the research subject was Radio Fajar FM that was located in Sekolah Tinggi Agama Islam Negeri (STAIN) Kendari. The informants in this study were 7 parties. The data collection techniques were used the observation method, in-depth interviews, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The results showed that the the utilization of community radio in Southeast Sulawesi was still less frequency channel that was provided exclusively for community radio in Southeast Sulawesi was not used optimal.  Keywords: community radio, information, communication   ABSTRAK Radio komunitas didirikan untuk memenuhi kebutuhan informasi dan komunikasi anggota komunitasnya. Tujuan tersebut dapat dicapai ketika keberadaannya dimanfaatkan oleh anggota komunitas. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini dilakukan dengan tujuan menganalisis pemanfaatan radio komunitas sebagai media informasi dan komunikasi bagi masyarakat di Sulawesi Tenggara. Penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif, dengan subjek riset adalah Radio Fajar FM yang berlokasi di Sekolah Tinggi Agama Islam Negeri (STAIN) Kendari. Informan dalam penelitian ini sebanyak 7 pihak, dengan teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan metode observasi, wawancara mendalam, dan Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pemanfaatan radio komunitas di Sulawesi Tenggara masih sangat kurang. Frekuensi yang disediakan khusus untuk radio komunitas di Sulawesi Tenggara belum dimanfaatkan atau digunakan secara optimal.  Kata kunci: radio komunitas, informasi, komunikasi

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