Nicholas Ford

A conceptual framework for understanding and analysing attitudes towards household-waste management.

The disposal of household waste has become a major problem for all industrialised countries. Public policy has focused on changing household attitudes by information campaigns. However, the link between environmental attitudes and actions is a very complex one. The authors develop a conceptual framework with three predictors: environmental values, situational variables, and psychological variables. This framework can be used to formulate both questionnaire design and data analysis. The paper demonstrates its utility with a report on recent research that has used the framework to provide important new findings about different attitudes and actions to waste minimisation, waste reuse, and waste recycling. These findings have clear implications for public policy as well as lending considerable empirical support to the original conceptualisation offered by the

Attitudes towards Recycling Household Waste in Exeter, Devon: Quantitative and qualitative approaches

Recycling of household waste has become a very problematic area of British local government policy-making in which central government has set ambitious targets. Although local government can provide facilities for recycling, the attitudes of residents will be crucial if these targets are to be met. Accordingly, this paper outlines a framework for studying how households decide to recycle or not. The framework has been tested in Exeter in south-west England where a major survey found that respondents were much more likely to recycle if they had access to a structured kerbside recycling scheme. Many other factors influenced their attitudes and behaviours towards recycling, including their acceptance of the activity and their perception of the benefits and problems of recycling as a whole. The research uses the quantitative and qualitative data from the survey to demonstrate how individual attitudes can impact on recycling and how such research can yield useful data to enable policy-makers to adapt measures accordingly.

The socio-cultural context of the transmission of HIV in Thailand

At a global level there are considerable differences between regions in the levels of prevalence, and rate of transmission, of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Furthermore there are differences between regions in the social and demographic characteristics of HIV carriers/AIDS sufferers (e.g. heterosexuals, homosexuals, injecting drug users, infants). It is notable that Asia has generally lagged behind other regions in the spread of HIV. However recently Thailand has acknowledged rapidly increasing levels of infection. This paper is structured in terms of three broad sections. (1) An outline of some basic epidemiological principles concerning the transmission of HIV which help account for the regional variations in prevalence; (2) a description of the emerging awareness of HIV as a public health problem within Thailand; (3) a review of the social characteristics of HIV carriers in Thailand, interpreted by reference to the wider social context, chiefly in terms of; the commercial sex industry/sexual lifestyles, international tourism, and injecting drug dependency. Reference is also made to impressions of the personal response of individuals learning of their HIV seropositive status. A brief comment compares the sexual culture and sex industry in Thailand to that of other South East Asian countries (most notably the Philippines). The paper highlights the importance of considering the particular social and historical factors which shape and sustain the transmission of HIV within a particular country.

The provision of female sterilization in São Paulo, Brazil: A study among low income women

This paper examines some problems involved in the provision of female sterilization procedures in Brazil, mainly those concerned with the ways in which this operation is offered. Female sterilization provision is analysed by reference to the broader institutional context and from the clients perspectives. These themes are discussed in the light of some recent survey findings. A survey was carried out between March and July, 1992 in two selected poor areas of São Paulo Metropolitan Region. 3149 women were asked about contraceptive use including 407 sterilized women under 40 years old who were also interviewed about their adaptation to sterilization. Further information was also obtained through in-depth interviews with 15 sterilized women who regretted the operation. The findings highlight a complex network of interests and misunderstandings which shape the nature of choice of female sterilization by Brazilian low income women.

Regret after female sterilization among low-income women in Sao Paulo Brazil.

About 27% of married women aged 15-44 years were sterilized in Brazil in 1986 which makes this method the most widely used in the country. Female sterilization is performed through cesarean sections in clandestine arrangements. Data for this study of the prevalence and nature of regret following sterilization are obtained from a cluster sample among 3149 households in two low-income areas of Sao Paulo during February-July 1992. Interviews were conducted among all women and among 407 women who were younger than 40 years and sterilized at least one year before the survey. In-depth discussions were conducted among 15 sterilized women who were dissatisfied with the procedure. Fertility averaged 3.2 children per woman. 73% had requested sterilization and 19% were women with a doctors recommendation for one. About 1% reported sterilization without their consent. 75% of procedures were performed in private hospitals. 16% were performed in public hospitals. In 55% of cases medical insurance paid for the cesarean and the woman paid for the tubal ligation. 20% of women received government-paid-for sterilizations. 73% were counseled before the operation. The pill the condom and rhythm were the most widely known methods of contraception. There was considerable misinformation about contraception effectiveness and safety. 44% reported difficulty with a reversible method. 21% desired the cesarean later in life. 9% were extremely satisfied with the procedure 65% were very satisfied and 22% were fairly satisfied. Only 5% were unsatisfied. Multiple regression analysis revealed that sterilization at a young age was associated with regret. 43% of variation in age at sterilization was explained by age at first birth number of living children problems with using a reversible method and years of education. Younger age at sterilization was associated with early childbearing a culturally acceptable number of children problems with reversible methods and more years of education.

Mobility, Love and Vulnerability: Sexual Lifestyles of Young and Single Factory Workers in Thailand

This paper reports on the sexual lifestyles of young (15–24 years of age) single factory workers in Thailand. The study is contexted in terms of migration and development, gender roles and migration norms, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic and sexual culture of Thailand. The study findings are derived from the integration of a quantitative survey of 2033 respondents undertaken in 1993/94, and 18 qualitative, focus-group discussions undertaken in 1992/93. The research focuses in particular upon the contrasting situational constraints and opportunities in home–rural and factory–urban areas of residence for the young women and men. Findings are outlined in terms of relationship development, sexual experience and condom use. The findings highlight the need for programme development and implementation to protect the sexual health of young workers.

Narrative explorations and self-esteem: research, intervention and policy for HIV prevention in the sex industry in Thailand.

This paper reports on a project that integrates basic behavioral and need assessment research with program design, implementation and evaluation to promote consistent condom use in the sex industry of Thailand. The project structure consisted of Phase I, which provided a detailed psychosocial investigation into the factors influencing condom use by female sex workers in Thailand. Phase II translated the research findings of Phase I into an operational intervention. This involved an integrated series of stages including pre-program needs assessment, intervention design, implementation, evaluation, and finally dissemination and policy integration. As a basis for open discussion and personal exploration the use of dramatic narrative scenarios on video were used to depict the problems experienced by sex workers. This program was implemented in high and low-income establishments in central Thailand; evaluation was performed through pre/post-test, intervention and control, and quasi-experimental design. Findings demonstrated an increase in the consistency of condom use over a period of 1 month among the low-income intervention group, from 66% (pre-test) to 86% (post-test), while there was no significant change observed among the sex workers in the control group.

The hidden dimension: sexuality and responding to the threat of HIV/AIDS in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract Particular Asian countries (notably India, Thailand and Burma) are now estimated to have substantial numbers of HIV positive cases. The critical interacting factors which shape the HIV/AIDS epidemic in specific settings are the sexual and injecting drug using cultures and the governmental and societal responses to the threat of AIDS. This paper explores these factors in South (S.) Sulawesi in Eastern Indonesia. The paper presents recent quantitative and qualitative research findings on sexual culture, AIDS awareness and public health response in relation to the distinctive features of S. Sulawesis geographical and socio-cultural setting. The paper concludes by discussing the major factors impeding and facilitating HIV/AIDS policy and programme implementation in S. Sulawesi.

Representations of nurses regarding sexuality of women treated for breast cancer in Brazil

O desenvolvimento de novos tratamentos melhorou a sobrevivencia e a qualidade de vida dos pacientes de câncer. Espera-se que as enfermeiras fornecam orientacoes sobre a sexualidade dos pacientes, considerada importante aspecto da vida. O principal objetivo deste artigo e compreender as representacoes da sexualidade entre as enfermeiras que trabalham com as mulheres sobreviventes ao câncer de mama depois do diagnostico e durante o tratamento, considerando que estas representacoes possam afetar a comunicacao com o paciente. Este e um estudo qualitativo que entrevistou 28 enfermeiras que vivem e trabalham no Sudeste do Brasil. As narrativas foram submetidas a analise de conteudo e as categorias das representacoes foram identificadas e discutidas. Varias representacoes sobre sexualidade foram encontradas nos discursos das enfermeiras. Algumas delas podem ocultar a habilidade de transmitir orientacao em relacao a vida sexual desses pacientes.

Celticism, identity and imagination

(University of Exeter) at Truro drew together around 60 scholars to explore themes of Celtic languages, identities, politics, development, narratives and spirituality. In contrast to the ‘old-style’ Celtic Studies’ linguistic and archaeological preoccupations, the meeting had sought a more contemporary flavour. C. H. Williams’s keynote paper was a tour de force, providing a wide-ranging overview of some of the major questions facing Celtic studies as a field of enquiry. He suggested that the tension between ‘new directions’ and an ‘old core’ could well be more apparent than real, with impetus for change coming from both. Celtic studies faces many of the dilemmas of other multidisciplinary fields, such as area studies, and can benefit from more programmatic, theoretical borrowing from the wider social sciences. Williams also highlighted the overlapping relationships between the different academic, media and popular, socio-cultural networks as contributing to the distinctive and dynamic nature of Celtic studies. The second keynote speaker, D. Meek, explored the distinction between Celtic studies and Celticism within the revival of interest in Celtic themes. With stereotypes of both ‘ignoble and noble Celts’ going back to the Greeks and Romans, there has been a continuous refashioning of Celtism. His fundamental theme of ‘the Celtic’ as based on ‘real’ linguistic, cultural foundations overlaid and developed by layers of meaning was echoed in many later papers. Reviewing these I adopt a (perhaps arbitrary) division between more ‘material’ concerns with language and politics and more ‘ideational’ concerns with identities, narratives and spirituality.