 At the time that this study was written, Ann K. Blanc was President, Blancroft Research International, New York. She is now Program Officer, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 140 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60640. E-mail: ablanc@macfound.org. Amy O. Tsui is Director, Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and Professor, Population and Family Health Sciences Department, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. Many observers believe that the international family planning movement has played a significant role in reducing fertility levels and slowing population growth in the developing world. Yet the perceived success of family planning programs recently has led some researchers to formulate questions about their relevance and future place on the development policy agenda. Within a framework derived from the sociological literature on social movements, we use interviews and focus-group discussions with insiders in the field of population studies to examine current perspectives on the status and future of the family planning movement, factors contributing to its declining international visibility, and possible responses from the family planning field. Informants cited four possible courses of action for the movement: (1) forming strategic alliances with other movements, specifically HIV/AIDS prevention; (2) redefining the family planning message to mobilize and strengthen support; (3) improving service delivery to broaden public acceptance and contraceptive method use; and (4) nurturing new leadership. The future course of the movement—whether it be one of cooptation by overlapping movements or revitalization—requires waiting until its full history can be written. (Studies in Family Planning 2005; 36[4]: 263–276)
- Migration and the Diffusion of Modern Contraceptive Knowledge and Use in Rural Guatemala
David P. Lindstrom is Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912. E-mail: David_Lindstrom@brown.edu. Elisa Muñoz-Franco is Associate Statistician, United Nations Statistics Division, New York. This article uses the concept of social networks as it is employed in the research literature on family planning and migration to explore the impact of out-migration on modern contraceptive knowledge and use in rural Guatemala. Data for this study come from the 1995 Guatemalan Survey of Family Health. Results from multilevel regression models indicate that urban migration experience, having migrant kin in urban or international destinations, and living in a community where urban migration is common are all associated with greater contraceptive knowledge. Social ties to urban or international migrants are also associated with a greater likelihood of modern contraceptive use among married women, but this association works primarily through increased contraceptive knowledge. The findings of significant diffusion effects provide support for recent theories of fertility decline that emphasize the role of social interactions. (Studies in Family Planning 2005; 36[4]: 277–288)
- Factors Associated with Spousal Physical Violence Against Women in Bangladesh
Ruchira Tabassum Naved is Gender & Reproductive Health Specialist, Social & Behavioral Sciences Unit, Public Health Sciences Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh: Centre for Health and Population Research, Mohakhali, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh. E-mail: ruchira@icddrb.org. Lars Åke Persson is Professor and Head, International Maternal and Child Health (IMCH, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. Using data from a population-based survey of 2,702 women of reproductive age and from 28 in-depth interviews of abused women conducted during 2000–01, this study explores factors associated with domestic violence in urban and rural Bangladesh. Multilevel analysis revealed that in both residential areas, dowry or other demands in marriage and a history of abuse of the husband’s mother by his father increased the risk of violence. Better spousal communication and husband’s education beyond the tenth grade decreased the risk of violence. In the urban area, women’s being younger than their husband and participating in savings and credit groups increased the risk of abuse, whereas husband’s education beyond the sixth grade had a protective effect. In the rural area, women’s earning an income increased the risk. These factors are important to consider when designing interventions. (Studies in Family Planning 2005; 36[4]: 289–300)
Vibeke Rasch is Associate Professor, Department of International Health, Post Office Box 2099, Copenhagen University, Denmark DK-1014 Copenhagen K. E-mail: v.rasch@dadlnet.dk. Mathias A. Lyaruu is HIV/AIDS Coordinator, Temeke Municipal Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Targeting male partners involved in unsafe abortions for contraceptive counseling could be an important strategy for decreasing the incidence of unwanted pregnancies, yet few postabortion-care programs have attempted to involve these men. To assess the need for and determine the content of postabortion contraceptive counseling for men, this study examined the contraceptive knowledge, attitudes, and practices of male partners of women who have had an unsafe abortion. A survey was administered to 213 men accompanying female partners receiving hospital care after having undergone an unsafe abortion in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and 20 of these men participated in in-depth interviews. Sixteen percent of the men surveyed accompanied an extramarital partner, and of those, only 44 percent reported having practiced contraception in the last six months, compared with 81 percent of the men accompanying their wives and 83 percent accompanying their girlfriends. In general, the men wished to support their partners in practicing contraception, and the majority were willing to participate in contraceptive counseling. These findings suggest that male partners should be included in postabortion contraceptive counseling, which should be sensitive to the nature of the partners’ relationship, the risk of HIV transmission, and the importance of promoting gender equality. (Studies in Family Planning 2005; 36[4]: 301–310)
- Ruling Out Pregnancy Among Family Planning Clients: The Impact of a Checklist in Three Countries
John Stanback is Senior Associate and Stirling Cummings is Research Associate, Family Health International, Post Office Box 13950, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. E-mail: jstanback@fhi.org. Fatimata Diabate is Senior Technical Advisor, AWARE Project, Accra, Ghana. Thierno Dieng is Senior Statistician, Centre de Formation et de Recherche en Santé de la Reproduction, Dakar, Senegal. Telma Duarte de Morales is Executive Director, Asociación Pro-Bienestar de la Familia de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala. Mahamodou Traoré is Researcher, Institut National de Recherche en Santé Publique, Bamako, Mali. Women in many countries are often denied vital family planning services if they are not menstruating when they present at clinics, for fear that they might be pregnant. A simple checklist based on criteria approved by the World Health Organization has been developed to help providers rule out pregnancy among such clients, but its use is not yet widespread. Researchers in Guatemala, Mali, and Senegal conducted operations research to determine whether a simple, replicable introduction of this checklist improved access to contraceptive services by reducing the proportion of clients denied services. From 2001 to 2003, sociodemographic and service data were collected from 4,823 women from 16 clinics in three countries. In each clinic, data were collected prior to introduction of the checklist and again three to six weeks after the intervention. Among new family planning clients, denial of the desired method due to menstrual status decreased significantly from 16 percent to 2 percent in Guatemala and from 11 percent to 6 percent in Senegal. Multivariate analyses and bivariate analyses of changes within subgroups of nonmenstruating clients confirmed and reinforced these statistically significant findings. In Mali, denial rates were essentially unchanged, but they were low from the start. Where denial of services to nonmenstruating family planning clients was a problem, introduction of the pregnancy checklist significantly reduced denial rates. This simple, inexpensive job aid improves women’s access to essential family planning services. (Studies in Family Planning 2005; 36[4]: 311–315)
- Bangladesh 2004: Results from the Demographic and Health Survey
- Madagascar 2003–04: Results from the Demographic and Health Survey
Book Reviews United Nations
World Youth Report 2003: The Global Situation of Young People
Cynthia B. Lloyd is Director, Social Science Research, Policy Research Division, Population Council
Rashmi Dube Bhatnagar, Renu Dube, and Reena Dube
Female Infanticide in India: A Feminist Cultural History
Leela Visaria is Director, Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad, India
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