Sociocultural barriers to information and integration of women refugees

PurposeThis study focuses on specifically women refugees' experiences of accessing information and how sociocultural barriers impact these experiences aiming to broaden the LIS literature of women refugees' information problems from sociocultural aspects. The socioculturally formed roles of a woman can impact the information practices of women refugees or cause certain information problems during the integration process. Hence, the research questions that drive this study are: What kind of information problems might women refugees face in a new host country? What kind of sociocultural barriers influence their information problems? How do they react toward these information problems?Design/methodology/approachThe study is designed based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with eighteen refugee women living in Sweden. The study is a part of a larger study in which authors intend to explore the information practices and integration challenges of almost 20 or more refugee women living in Sweden.FindingsWomen refugees face information overload, difficulties in understanding new communication culture and lack of appropriate sources and networks in a new country. These information problems are influenced by sociocultural barriers such as the role of women, national culture of “collectivism”, small-world and lack of information literacy. Women react in certain ways such as, stressing, panicking, quitting the tasks, wasting time and making wrong decisions which negatively impact the integration process.Research limitations/implicationsThe research has its limitations as it is conducted with a small group of women refugees, belong to specific Middle Eastern culture and cannot be generalized. Another limitation is that the interviews are conducted in English language (with sufficient language skill). However, conducting interviews in their mother language would have been an advantage.Practical implicationsPractically, the study provides awareness for official and private organizations, volunteers and policymakers dealing with refugees. The stakeholders involved in the societal integration process of refugees, must consider that women refugees are more prone to information problems due to certain sociocultural influences (i.e. “being a woman” and national culture) and need a separate plan than the male refugees. For instance, by increasing and offering intercultural opportunities at workplaces or schools can encourage the wider social networking for women refugees. The programs aiming to reduce the sociocultural differences among women refugees and the Swedes are needed to be included in the integration policy.Social implicationsThe study intends to help the refugees society and the Swedish society overall by improving the integration plan.Originality/valueThe findings related to the information experiences of women refugees have potential implications for research where the value of information in the integration process is explored. The study meets the gap in previous literature by presenting the gender specific views on information problems from sociocultural aspects. The study also provides future directions to understand how women refugees deal with potential sociocultural barriers to information in a new country.

Urban Brownfield Regeneration Projects: Complexities and Issues

Because of urban brownfields’ inherent complexity related to their very nature, as well as their intermediate scale—the neighbourhood—regeneration projects are not a spontaneous process. Indeed, an urban brownfield regeneration project may encounter several issues, which can be obstacles, barriers, or resistance, that we classify in four types: sociocultural barriers, governance involved by the multiplication of actors, legal and regulatory constraints, and deterrent costs. While these issues contribute in turn to complexify brownfield regeneration projects, they are not insurmountable. Finally, to overcome urban brownfield regeneration projects’ complexities and issues, we argue that there is a need to implement real project dynamics. To this end, we provide four potential approaches to foster the creative development of tailored solutions.

Challenges for Public Participation in Health Legislation in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Objective: This study aims to identify the challenges for public participation in health legislation in Iran. Materials & Methods: This is an exploratory and qualitative study. The study data were collected by using semi-structured interviews. The participants were experts in the field of health law with at least ten years of work experience. They had both experience and enough knowledge about the country’s health system. All interviews were transcribed verbatim after recording and then analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: We identified five main categories (themes) and 26 subcategories related to challenges. The main themes included legal barriers, infrastructure barriers, sociocultural barriers, people’s barriers, and legislators’ barriers. The legal barriers had three subcategories of parliament’s structure, legal requirements for participation, and facilitating laws. The infrastructure barriers had seven subcategories of the existence of mass media and communication networks, informing, ability to access to/meet the legislators, ability to categorize opinions, the possibility of electronic participation, financial resources, and structural facilities. The sociocultural barriers had three subcategories of people’s desire to participate, belief in teamwork, and social capital. Barriers related to people included eight subcategories of access to information, access to legislators, getting answers or feedback from legislators, feeling safe after participation, people’s awareness of their rights, education, ability to exchange views, and the existence of a highly-skilled expert team. Barriers related to legislators had nine subcategories of the desire to use others’ opinions, capacity to accept different opinions, party-related factors, regional factors, administrative health, education, opportunity, priorities, and motivational factors. Conclusion: Iranian citizens have several challenges to participate in health legislation. Regarding legal challenges, it is necessary to determine the participation right of citizens in the legal system. Besides, members of parliament should be educated to use the capacity of public participation. On the other hand, people should speak freely with the legislators and gain health knowledge as well.

Investigating and analyzing women’s sociocultural barriers in using the public transport system in Ahvaz metropolis

The present study aimed to investigate and analyze women’s sociocultural barriers in using public transport of Ahvaz Metropolis. This research is applied-theoretical in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. The data were collected through library studies, surveys, and interviews with citizens and experts of public transport. The ARAS decision-making method was used to rank the barriers. For zoning the barriers in Ahvaz, the interpolation kriging model in ARCGIS 10.3 software was employed. The results show that the sociocultural barriers of each age group of women are different in each public transport mode. Ranking these barriers shows that sexism looks, men's sexual looks, relatives, families, disapproval, and the drivers’ nonsense talk, respectively, are the major barriers to bus and taxi use, walking, and cycling. In addition, zoning the barriers indicated that the further one moves from north to south of the city, the greater the barriers are. A regional view of this zoning confirms that about 90% of the area of districts 4 and 8 are in the high and very high range, and 30% of district 3 is in the high range. These districts are less favourable than other districts of Ahvaz, but zone 2 is the most favourable one, as it is entirely in low and very low ranges.

Eliminating Sociocultural Barriers in an International Students’ Group

The article looks into the problem of preventing the difficulties connected with sociocultural barrier in the international groups of students of MSc. Program as the most significant barrier that hinders the process of studies. The factors that create such barriers have been analyzed. The author comes to the conclusion that preventive measures such as information about the roots of the barrier, open discussion of the ways of eliminating it at the initial stage of studies can give effective results. Some practical advice on how to make the process of studies efficient and create a comfortable working environment in the classroom is given.

Perceptions, experiences and barriers to lifestyle modifications in first-generation Middle Eastern immigrants to Sweden: a qualitative study

ObjectiveThe prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) among Iraqi immigrants to Sweden is high and partly related to sedentary physical activity and calorie dense food. The aim of the present study was to explore perceptions, experiences and barriers concerning lifestyle modifications (LSM) in Iraqi immigrants to Sweden at risk for T2D.DesignA qualitative thematic analysis was conducted on data collected from gender-specific focus group interviews which took place during a culturally adapted randomised controlled intervention study addressing motivation to lifestyle change, self-empowerment, behavioural modifications and sociocultural barriers to LSM. Seven focus groups were held, with an interval of 1–4 weeks between January and May of 2015; each session lasted approximately 1.5 hours.SettingThe city of Malmö, Sweden.ParticipantsOut of 27 women and 23 men assigned to the intervention group, 19 women and 14 men who attended at least one focus group session were included in the study.ResultsParticipants expressed awareness of the content of healthy lifestyle practices. They also expressed numerous social and cultural barriers to LSM connected to irregular meals, overeating, food and drinking preferences and family expectations. Overeating was described as a consequence of social and cultural norms and expectations and of poor mental well-being. Facilitators for reaching successful LSM were connected to family involvement and support.ConclusionOur study reports that facilitators for LSM are connected to presence of family support. Preventive actions addressing family involvement may benefit Middle Eastern immigrants at high risk for T2D to consider healthier lifestyles practices. Identification of sociocultural barriers and facilitators for LSM are crucial for successful health promotion in minority populations at risk for T2D.Trial registrationTrial registration number:NCT01420198for the MEDIM-study; Pre-results.

Sociocultural Barriers to Women’s Political Leadership in the North Region of Cameroon

The issue of gender studies in general and women’s political leadership is increasingly gaining impetus in scientific discourse in Cameroon in general and in the north region in particular. Despite comprising of more than half the north region population, Women are more active in politics as voters and helpers for activities related to politics, and specifically political leadership in the north region of Cameroon. They perform the majority of campaign activities linked to mobilisations. Yet across the north region, women face an array of barriers to achieving their full potential in political leadership, from restrictive cultural practices to discriminatory traditional laws and highly segmented familial division of labour. This paper addresses the various social and cultural barriers that drag women backward as far as political leadership and decision making are concerned. From the onset of democracy in Cameroon, cultural barriers, social and religious cumbersome limits women’s entry in political leadership.