Adele Jones

A Silent but Mighty River: The Costs of Women's Economic Migration

Interregional and international migration is occurring at a faster rate today than at any other point in history, and currently there are an estimated 175 million people living outside their country of birth, approximately 49 percent of whom are women (IOM 2005). Women’s involvement across all forms of migration is growing, both in terms of the number of female migrants and in the role women play in utilizing migration strategies to improve the economic well-being of the family. For instance, the majority of persons trafficked are women, and women account for about 70 percent of the estimated 25 million persons internally displaced by conflict (Alicea and Toro-Morn 2004; IOM 2005). Increasingly, women are also exercising career and economic choices that involve movement from rural to urban areas and also to other countries. Emergent labor shortages in richer countries—which are linked to improved options for women in those countries, with more women opting out of jobs with low status and undesirable hours—have resulted in the specific targeting of women workers from poorer countries. In some countries women make up the greatest percentage of migrant workers; for example, the majority of workers migrating from the Philippines to the Middle East are women (IOM 2005). Set against realignments in world politics, facilitated by globalization, and fueled by social and personal factors, the migration of women workers also reflects new directions for women’s agency. For example, as an increasing number of women take on the lead-migrant role

Caribbean nurses migrating to the UK: a gender‐focused literature review

BACKGROUND International nurse recruitment is an integral part of government health care strategy in many countries. However, the gendered implications of nurse migration have been little explored despite the fact that the nursing workforce is predominantly made up of women. AIM Based on the migration of nurses from the English-speaking Caribbean region to the UK, this paper explores the significance of gender at both the macro and micro levels. METHODS Four strands of inquiry were explored: nurse migration, impact on development, work experiences and family life. Key terms were used to search the electronic databases SSCI, EBSCO and JSTOR. An interpretative framework based on the feminist theory of intersectionality was used to systematically review the 15 studies that met the inclusion criteria. FINDINGS Gender issues are significant across all aspects of the migratory process. Migrant nurses contribute to social progress through remittances and knowledge gained abroad although overall, nurse migration negatively impacts development and there are hidden implications for women. For some Caribbean nurses, migration reflects increased economic freedom; however, for others, gender inequality lies at the centre of the decision to relocate. Gender inequality also permeates the lives of many migrant nurses even in countries where economic and work conditions are improved. CONCLUSIONS The ramifications of nurse migration cannot be fully understood without attention to gender inequalities and the specific socio-economic contexts in which they exist. There is need for a gender-centred approach to international nursing recruitment policy that takes account not only of the impact on developing countries, but also of the well-being of migrant nurses themselves.

Competing Meanings of Childhood and the Social Construction of Child Sexual Abuse in the Caribbean.

This article examines the dynamic interplay between competing meanings of childhood and the social construction of sexual abuse in the Caribbean. Drawing on qualitative data from a study undertaken in six Caribbean countries, the article suggests that Caribbean childhoods are neither wholly global nor local but hybrid creations of the region’s complex historical, social and cultural specificities, real or imagined. As childhood is a concept that lies at the intersection of multiple frames of reference, context-specific definitions of childhood – what it means to be a child – have a direct impact on the way in which the issue of child sexual abuse is constructed and understood.

Formerly Abducted Child Mothers in Northern Uganda: A Critique of Modern Structures for Child Protection and Reintegration

The study documents and analyzes the community structures supporting reintegration of the formerly abducted child mothers (FACM) within postconflict northern Uganda. A qualitative approach assesses the relevance and effectiveness of child protection structures created by different development agencies to enhance the reintegration of FACM and protect vulnerable children more broadly. Findings suggest that the efficacy of the community-based structures to support the reintegration efforts have been hampered by the creation of competing structures by the different nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and major development organizations, such as UNICEF. The limited community ownership of these structures and the inadequate psychosocial training of child protection workers are problematic in meeting the needs of FACM. Other constraining factors are the limited government role in supporting these child protection structures, the challenge of adapting the structures to the new postactive conflict development context, and limited outreach to FACM. These factors limit the prospects for supporting formerly abducted children and sustaining structures within the community once agencies and donor support is withdrawn. The key lesson for social work practice and social development in Africa is that effective interventions at supporting the reintegration of children affected by armed conflict need to consider the importance of indigenous institutions and structures within the implementation areas.

What do we know about child abuse and neglect patterns of co-occurrence? A systematic review of profiling studies and recommendations for future research

Latent class (LCA) and latent profile (LPA) analysis represent methodological approaches to identify subgroups of maltreated individuals. Although research examining child abuse and neglect (CAN) profiles is still rare, the application of person-centered techniques to clarify CAN types co-occurrence has substantially increased in recent years. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to provide a summary and critical evaluation of the findings of LCA/LPA child maltreatment research to: (a) systemize the current understanding of patterns of maltreatment across populations and (b) elucidate interactive effects of CAN types on psychosocial functioning. A search in PsychInfo, Eric, PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct, and Google Scholar was performed. Sixteen studies examining the co-occurrence between child physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and/or exposure to domestic violence were identified. A critical review of the studies revealed inconsistent findings as to the number of CAN classes, but most research uncovered a poly-victimized and a low abuse group. Further, multiple victimization was associated with most adverse internalizing and externalizing outcomes, especially when sexual abuse was present. Exposure to physical and emotional abuse was frequently reported to lead to behavioural problems. Based on the present study results, we provide a set of recommendations for surpassing the current methodological and conceptual limitations in future research.

A Culturally Contexted Study of Perceptions, Attitudes and Opinions on Child Sexual Abuse

This chapter is one of three that draws on the first extensive research of child sexual abuse (CSA) to be carried out in the Caribbean. The report of the study — Perceptions of, Attitudes to and Opinions on Child Sexual Abuse in the Eastern Caribbean, hereafter referred to as ‘the Study’ (Jones and Trotman Jemmott, 2009)1 is available on the UNICEF (Barbados) website. The chapter discusses the context in which the Study was situated, describes the methodology and summarises key findings. Chapter 10 will deconstruct narratives of survivors to explore the complex layers of abuse and Chapter 11 describes a knowledge transfer project that seeks to translate the research findings into interventions and models of good practice.

Reconfiguring Social Work Education to Fight HIV–AIDS: A Model for Developmental Contexts

This article charts the response of social work educators in addressing HIV–AIDS. Based at the University of the West Indies in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the faculty within the Social Work Unit developed a model of teaching, research and practice that was innovative and transcended cultural, geographical and professional boundaries. The model has contributed a lasting legacy of knowledge and culturally relevant practices to enhance the capacity and effectiveness of social workers working with people living with HIV–AIDS (PLWHIV). Inherent in the propositions that underpinned the model was a belief in the role of education in alleviating psychosocial and other impacts of social problems. This article describes this unique initiative and discusses its relevance to current social work practice and the implications for contemporary social work education. The authors argue that while social work draws on a common body of knowledge, an established set of professional skills and a universal code of values, these central tenets of the profession should not be regarded as concrete and fixed but must be figured and reconfigured as needed to address emerging contemporary problems and their specific sociocultural manifestations.

Status, privilege and gender inequality: Cultures of male impunity and entitlement in the sexual abuse of children: Perspectives from a Caribbean study

This article reports from a Caribbean study on the sexual victimization of children. The authors proposes a synergistic approach to analysing the ways in which the multi-layered facets of abuse interact to reinforce each other and argues that these understandings can generate multi-level activities (conceptual, material, structural) that together might produce effects that are greater than their individual components. For example, a sex offender treatment programme that is developed alongside a public health oriented education and prevention programme, and in which both address the status of children and gender socialization, may be more effective in combination than as separate interventions.

IMPACT: Interventions and Mitigations to Prevent the Abuse of Children – it’s Time. A Public Health Oriented Systems Model for Change

There are few issues more relevant to today’s society, both in the Caribbean and elsewhere, than those relating to child sexual victimisation and its effect on individuals, families and communities. In response to this major public health and social problem, the last three decades have witnessed the proliferation of programmes to prevent child sexual abuse (CSA). Yet questions have been raised about the scope, focus and effectiveness of these programmes in preventing CSA. While still contributing to this debate and informed by Smallbone’s et al. (2008) integrated theory and the public health model as theoretical frameworks, this chapter discusses the proposals for a model of child protection (IMPACT) which aims to translate findings from research commissioned by UNICEF into CSA in the Eastern Caribbean (Jones and Trotman Jemmott, 2009) into interventions to address the problem and to provide robust evidence of what works best in this context. Current approaches to CSA in Caribbean countries as elsewhere in the world are primarily reactive, responding only after individuals have already committed the offences. The model proposed shifts the focus from the back-end approach (identifying and punishing offenders) to an evidence-based, public health oriented prevention-centred approach (preventing CSA before it would otherwise occur, and preventing reoccurrence — secondary prevention) that mobilises families, communities, professionals and agencies in the protection of children.

It’s My Party, I’ll Cry If I Want To: Interpreting Narratives of Sexual Abuse in Childhood

This chapter is based on narrative research with ten women survivors of child sexual abuse. It explores narrativity as a coping strategy and the ways in which women used storytelling to construct positions of survivorhood and victimhood. We aim to provide deeper understandings of the impact of childhood sexual victimisation but in doing so also examine the subjective location of the researcher. We argue that, despite the importance placed in narrative research on the concept of the co-construction of meaning based on interaction between participant and researcher, the emotional presence and impact of the researcher is often underplayed. Drawing on our own wide-ranging professional and personal repertoires, we suggest that claims of authenticity are only really authentic where they recognise not only the voice of the storyteller but also of the listener.