Kate Reed

Community, mobility and racism in a semi-rural area: Comparing minority experience in East Kent

Much research into community, racism and racialization has been conducted in metropolitan urban settings. It is only recently that race in rural areas has received some attention. A key theme of existing research on race in rural areas has focused on the issue of racial violence. Drawing on interviews with a variety of ethnic minority groups in East Kent the article will focus on broader issues of race and ethnicity in a semi-rural area. The study explores the meaning of race, ethnicity and belonging in the partially rural setting of East Kent, UK. The article will raise issues around the intersection of the regional and global, the problematic notion of “community”, and the fluidity of racialization in a setting in which many ethnic minorities were transitory and mobile. We conclude by highlighting the ways in which community, racism and racialization are embedded in differentiated discourses and processes.

Making men matter: exploring gender roles in prenatal blood screening

Mens involvement in pregnancy has become an increasing area of interest in research on gender and reproduction. However, little attention has been given to mens roles when their partners are undergoing prenatal screening. Drawing on the findings of qualitative research with pregnant women and their male partners in a northern city in the UK, this paper aims to explore the increasing significance of mens roles in prenatal blood screening. Findings reveal that men occupy a range of important roles in screening both as supporters of their pregnant partners and as potential fathers. They also revealed however that mens participation is often inhibited by existing institutional and organisational factors including the attitudes of health professionals and workplace norms, both of which continue to be influenced by traditional gender role ideology. The paper concludes by arguing that pregnant women and their male partners therefore find themselves caught in a gender paradox whereby the desire for greater equality in pregnancy and screening has yet to be fully realised in practice.

Beyond Hegemonic Masculinity: The Role of Family Genetic History in Men’s Accounts of Health

Research often highlights the complex nature of ‘lay’ interpretations of family genetic history particularly regarding women and breast cancer. While clinical studies have established genetic links for certain diseases affecting men, less is known about men’s understandings of family history and health. This omission relates perhaps to the focus in existing health research on hegemonic masculinity, whereby ‘macho stoicism’ inhibits men’s ability to ‘do health’ productively. Drawing on survey data, this article shows that men frequently engage in positive health practices regarding family history. While not always clear on the specific role of genetics, men do make lifestyle changes and seek medical advice in response to patterns of hereditary disease. The article concludes that while men’s views sometimes indicate hegemonic or ‘macho’ approaches to health, more often they suggest a departure from them. The implications of this should be considered in future theory and policy on gender, genetics and health.

‘He's the dad isn't he?’ Gender, race and the politics of prenatal screening

Background. Mens involvement in prenatal screening is becoming increasingly important. However, despite the potentially significant role of fathers in haemoglobinopathy screening, their participation is under researched. Furthermore, the portrayal of Black and minority ethnic (BME) fathers tends to be based on persisting stereotypes of men as either absentee parents with limited roles in screening or as controlling decision-makers. Objective. To describe the influence of ethnicity and gender on the process of participation of men in antenatal screening for sickle cell and thalassaemia. Design. A qualitative study, using in-depth interviews and focus groups with 22 pregnant women from a range of socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds, 16 male partners and 15 midwives in a northern city in the UK. Results. Men from BME groups take a pragmatic and equitable role in screening with their partners. White British men on the other hand, while willing to participate in screening, take a more casual view of their own direct participation. Accounts from hospital midwives supported these findings. Conclusions. While acknowledging the importance of material connections between certain BME groups and blood disorders, two key issues are raised. First, BME mens involvement contribute a challenge towards existing assumptions often made about BME fathers. Second, White British mens participation can be useful in determining the genetic status of the foetus and therefore their role should not be neglected. Screening research and practice need to broaden out their focus on issues of gender, ethnicity and screening.

Antenatal screening and the gendering of genetic responsibility.

BackgroundThe objective of this study is to explore mens and womens perceptions of antenatal blood screening. The study will assess the impact of these perceptions on decision-making regarding diagnostic testing and selective abortion, and on parental feelings of genetic responsibility. By exploring gender and antenatal screening in this way, the research aims to contribute to our understanding of lay perceptions of genetic screening and increase our knowledge of the decision-making process in screening.Research designThis qualitative study will be based on semi-structured interviews with twenty pregnant women and twenty male partners in the post-industrial city of Sheffield, UK. All interviews will be taped, transcribed and analysed thematically using NVIVO, a qualitative software package.DiscussionThe findings of this study have relevance to existing debates on the social and ethical implications of reproductive genetics. A better understanding of male and female perceptions of the screening process could improve guidance and practice in antenatal screening and genetic counselling. It will also inform and contribute to the development of theory on gender and genetic screening.

Visualising uncertainty: Examining women's views on the role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in late pregnancy.

Prenatal screening occupies a prominent role within sociological debates on medical uncertainty. A particular issue concerns the limitations of routine screening which tends to be based on risk prediction. Computer assisted visual technologies such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are now starting to be applied to the prenatal realm to assist in the diagnosis of a range of fetal and maternal disorders (from problems with the fetal brain to the placenta). MRI is often perceived in popular and medical discourse as a technology of certainty and truth. However, little is known about the use of MRI as a tool to confirm or refute the diagnosis of a range of disorders in pregnancy. Drawing on qualitative research with pregnant women attending a fetal medicine clinic in the North of England this paper examines the potential role that MRI can play in mediating pregnancy uncertainty. The paper will argue that MRI can create and manage womens feelings of uncertainty during pregnancy. However, while MRI may not always provide women with unequivocal answers, the detailed information provided by MR images combined with the interpretation and communication skills of the radiologist in many ways enables women to navigate the issue. Our analysis of empirical data therefore highlights the value of this novel technological application for women and their partners. It also seeks to stress the merit of taking a productive approach to the study of diagnostic uncertainty, an approach which recognises the concepts dual nature.

Movement, Materiality, and the Mortuary Adopting Go-Along Ethnography in Research on Fetal and Neonatal Postmortem

This article explores the use of the go-along method in research that takes place “behind closed doors” drawing on qualitative research on postmortem imaging. Often favored in community and urban studies, go-along consists of mobile interviews and observations with respondents in their own environments. We conducted go-alongs with various professionals—from pathologists to hospital chaplains—in a range of settings. We also tracked different forms of materiality in and out of the mortuary space. As the article seeks to show, go-along allowed us to appreciate the complex and mobile nature of postmortem, situating it within the wider landscape of bereavement and memorialization. It also enabled us to illuminate the ways in which the mortuary as a place cannot be fixed “indoors,” but rather, is continually remade through different types of practice. Our analysis emphasizes the value of using go-alongs in indoor settings, and further reinforces a fluid conceptualization of place.

IDENTITY POLITICS AND THE NEW GENETICS: RE/CREATING CATEGORIES OF DIFFERENCE AND BELONGING

Chinese immigrants. As society changed, three marriage forms among generations were changing from transnational to Chinese traditional and then to western styles, representing the improvement of the social position of Chinese women in both their families and Chinese community. Chapter 5 introduces how the Chinese ethnic organizations and associations played the role of either protecting co-ethnic immigrant individuals in order to deal with problems such as political and racial issues, or of connecting the immigrant community as a whole with mainstream society of the host and home countries. Immigrant transnational activities deal with not only individual issues but also with the immigrant community as whole. Chapter 6 introduces the Chinese international students and their contribution to connecting the Chinese community in Chinatown and Chinese society in China to the mainstream in the USA. Chinese students improved not only the economic but also the political and living styles of Chinese in China through transnational activities through introducing western civilization to the Chinese community both inside Chinatown and in the homeland. Finally, Chapter 7 analyses the new form of Chinese community and the efforts by the wider community to establish a multicultural community. This book covers wide aspects of Chinese immigration in Chicago over one and a half centuries, engaging a multidisciplinary approach and exploring important arguments on migration. Therefore, it is worth having as a valuable reference.

Writing Diaspora: South Asian Women, Culture and Ethnicity; Domicile and Diaspora:Anglo-Indian Women and the Politics of Home

The two books reviewed here, Writin and Diaspora by Alison Blunt, explor and cultural hybridity. Writing D identity of South Asian women thro analysis of popular films such as Gur and works of fiction such as Meera Diaspora by Alison Blunt, on the othe structured interviews to explore the id the diasporic contexts of Britain and offer a fresh angle on the diasporic e particular to be innovative and wel explore both books separately then d Hussain’s Writing Diaspora expl women in Britain. It focuses on the ex erature and film produced and directe a variety of theories of Diaspora and The introduction sets up the book’s a rent theories of Diaspora and cultura important social aspects that shape th Britain. Here she focuses in particula ter emphasizes the development of d among British South Asians. The book form a basis for the thematic conce generation British South Asian wome DOI: 10.1177/0038038507072290