Suchergebnisse

Maternal health in the United States is an area of immediate concern. The compounded disadvantages and unique global positions of refugee women highlight the need for research that explores the experiences of refugee women during pregnancy and childbirth. The present study examines how contextual factors shape pregnancy and childbirth experiences for Syrian, Afghan, Congolese, and Karen women living in Clarkston, Georgia, US. Qualitative data were collected via focus groups facilitated by community interpreters. We used a reproductive justice framework to center women's desires, needs, and experiences, and to highlight the importance of structural factors in the findings and analysis of this study. Using codebook thematic analysis, three themes were developed: (1) isolation and alienated knowledge, (2) gendered disparities and structural inequities, and (3) community support and precarity. The findings reflect both the diversity and constancy of women's experiences and highlight how the context of the US impacts women's ability to exercise agency during pregnancy and childbirth. Systemic change is needed to improve women's access to tools that increase their capacity to exercise agency both during pregnancy and childbirth, and beyond.

Despite increasing interest and effort to support women's empowerment globally, women remain a severely disadvantaged group in nearly every country throughout the globe. In the current study, we examine the relationship between women's participation in financial markets and different indices of empowerment. Questionnaires were administered to three groups of Maasai women (N = 224) living in rural, northern Tanzania: women who were members of cooperatively owned business groups, women who owned businesses independently via microcredit loans, and women who did not own businesses. Group difference tests revealed that cooperative business owners reported higher levels of agency than independent owners, and lower levels of partner control and greater involvement in financial decision making than nonbusiness owners. Independent owners reported greater involvement in financial decision making, and lower levels of agency than nonowners. Additionally, results from structural equation models demonstrated that participation in cooperatives, versus independent or nonbusiness ownership, was associated with fewer experiences of domestic violence and enhanced psychological well‐being via the effects of partner control, agency, and financial decision making. Policy implications regarding the importance of considering cultural norms and what may be required to facilitate a transformative context for women are discussed.

AbstractAcross the world, women experience violations to their reproductive health and threats to their educational aspirations that limit their achievement. Reproductive health and education are examples of women's human rights that are connected by systemic gender inequalities that lead millions of women to experience discrimination and stereotyping that threaten these basic rights. The current study uses a reproductive justice framework to examine how a community‐based organization led by a group of women in rural Nicaragua challenges gendered psychosocial processes related to women's rights violations. In partnership with a grassroots local organization, we used structural equation modeling to demonstrate, in a sample of almost 300 women, that organizational participation was positively related to women's reproductive decision‐making and educational aspiration, in part due to relationships with women's self‐esteem and sense of powerlessness in sociopolitical matters. Given the persistent role of gendered inequities in the reproductive decision‐making and educational aspirations of girls and women, considering the social‐structural contexts that enable or limit rights is imperative to creating viable routes to gender justice.

AbstractPoor mental health outcomes are a growing concern among Latinx children and adults in the U.S. While existing research has documented risk factors to these mental health disparities, such as barriers to healthcare access and fear of deportation, less is known about the impacts of Former President Trump's anti‐immigrant rhetoric and federal efforts to curb migration on Latinx mental health. Thus, the purpose of this review was two‐fold: (1) to review the empirical literature for any quantitative or qualitative findings discussing the relationship between federal immigration policies passed under the Trump administration and mental health outcomes of the Latinx community and (2) to understand the range of resilience factors that may have facilitated Latinx youth and adults to overcome these sociopolitical changes. Utilizing a modified version of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta‐Analyses guidelines, we conducted a narrative review of 21 empirical articles. The review characterizes literature across the fields of psychology, counseling, social justice, and law in terms of population of interest, relevant immigration policy, key mental health findings, and culturally sensitive contributions to either the Minority Stress Model or Social Ecological Resilience. Based on our findings, we argue that immigration enforcement served as a unique stressor to Latinx wellbeing and particularly increased rates of negative emotional experiences and internalizing symptoms. However, culturally rooted resilience factors, such as Luchando Adelante (e.g., striving forward despite uncertainty), helped bolster against relevant adversity. We conclude with an argument for the importance of immigration policy reform for improved mental health outcomes in the Latinx community.

AbstractContemporary United States society is marked by exacerbated economic inequity and deep sociopolitical polarization, which increases a sense of precarity among marginalized communities. There is growing need to develop and foster practices that promote care and justice for marginalized communities. Organizational settings designed with the intent of supporting marginalized communities may possess unique knowledge related to actualizing care and promoting justice. Through analysis of ethnographic field notes and qualitative interviews conducted with 22 participants at the organization, this study examines organizational policies and practices of everyday decision‐making at a drop‐in center for women and gender non‐conforming people in Washington State, USA. Findings document how policies and practices at the center promote care and justice for diverse marginalized groups. Implications for promoting equitable values in social settings more broadly are discussed.