In this article the authors explore the experience of craving of methamphetamine users and seek t... more In this article the authors explore the experience of craving of methamphetamine users and seek to illuminate how differences in craving contribute to use patterns. Using in-depth interviewing. data were collected from 82 active methamphetamine users in the metropolitan Atlanta area. The constant comparison method common in grounded theory guided the data analysis. Narrative responses corresponded with three types of craving described in the literature: cue-, drug- and withdrawal-induced. However, the narratives also problematize this typological view as well as the characterization of craving as invariably leading to drug use. Types of craving cues were sometimes inseparable, and users indicated that the different types of craving could occur in the same situation. Further, many users described being able to overcome craving through personalized methods of control. This study complements the largely quantitative work on craving and highlights the importance of improving drug abuse treatment and harm reduction programs.
This paper examines the cultural and structural difficulties surrounding effective prevention of ... more This paper examines the cultural and structural difficulties surrounding effective prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) in rural Lesotho. We argue for three strategies to improve PMTCT interventions: communitybased research and outreach, addressing cultural and structural dynamics, and working with the relevant social groups that impact HIV prevention. These conclusions are based on interviews and participant observation conducted within the rural Mokhotlong district and capital city of Maseru, involving women and men of reproductive age, grandmothers serving as primary caretakers, HIV/AIDS programme staff, and medical professionals. Qualitative analysis focused on rural women's socio-medical experience with the four measures of PMTCT (educational outreach, voluntary counselling and testing, antiretroviral interventions, and safe infant feeding). Based on these results, we conclude that intervention models must move beyond a myopic biomedical 'best-practices' approach to address the social groups and contextual determinants impacting vertical HIV transmission. Given the complexities of effective PMTCT, our results show that it is necessary to consider the biomedical system, women and children, and the community as valuable partners in achieving positive health outcomes.
... Review of Fomon's "Assessment of Growth of Formula-Fed Infants: Evolutionar... more ... Review of Fomon's "Assessment of Growth of Formula-Fed Infants: Evolutionary Considerations".Daniel H. Lende, PhD Rollins School of Public Health Emory University Behavioral Sciences and Health Education Atlanta, GA 30322 ... 2. Trevathan WR, Smith EO, McKenna JJ. ...
African American women have historically been screened for breast cancer less than other women, c... more African American women have historically been screened for breast cancer less than other women, contributing to higher mortality rates. Previous research has focused on social and cultural factors, such as discrimination and religiosity, as shaping African American women's screening practices. This article extends this research by (a) examining the decisions and justifications of African American women with regard to screening practices, and (b) using a theoretical focus on embodiment to better understand women in relation to their own bodies. Ethnographic research consisted of 5 months of participant observation at an Indiana (USA) breast cancer care center, and 15 in-depth, semistructured interviews along the continuum of screening practices. The results showed that embodied understandings of the body, personal (rather than biomedical) considerations of screening and treatment, and the quality of doctor/patient interactions all play a significant role in women's decisions about whether to screen for breast cancer or not. Based on these results and a review of the literature, six ways to include embodiment in public health initiatives are outlined.
The concept of "poverty poisons the brain" has become a major area of research in neuroscience an... more The concept of "poverty poisons the brain" has become a major area of research in neuroscience and the health sciences, and an increasingly utilized metaphor to argue for the importance of addressing inequality and poverty in the United States. This article systematically presents the research behind poverty poisons the brain, which includes the impact of socioeconomic status on human development, the developmental models used to understand how poverty impacts children, and the proximate social factors and brain mechanisms that represent the core causal model behind this research. This overview examines the uses of this research for neuroanthropology, highlighting the impact of inequality and how experience becomes embodied. Nevertheless, a simplistic cause-effect approach and the reduction of the social to the biological often hamper this type of research. A critical approach to how poverty poisons the brain provides the basis for making the shift to a more robust neuroanthropological approach to poverty. Neuroanthropology can utilize social embodiment, the dynamics of stress, and the production of inequality to transform research on poverty and children, and to make policy recommendations, do applied research, and craft and test interventions to deal with the pernicious impact of poverty. [poverty, human development, stress, inequality, critical theory] In February 2008, Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate economist and New York Times columnist, wrote an op-ed entitled, "Poverty Is Poison." He summarized research presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference by Martha Farah, a University of Pennsylvania neuroscientist, and her colleagues. These data showed that "unhealthy" levels of stress hormones in poor children can harm neural development. Krugman then argued:
In this article the authors explore the experience of craving of methamphetamine users and seek t... more In this article the authors explore the experience of craving of methamphetamine users and seek to illuminate how differences in craving contribute to use patterns. Using in-depth interviewing. data were collected from 82 active methamphetamine users in the metropolitan Atlanta area. The constant comparison method common in grounded theory guided the data analysis. Narrative responses corresponded with three types of craving described in the literature: cue-, drug- and withdrawal-induced. However, the narratives also problematize this typological view as well as the characterization of craving as invariably leading to drug use. Types of craving cues were sometimes inseparable, and users indicated that the different types of craving could occur in the same situation. Further, many users described being able to overcome craving through personalized methods of control. This study complements the largely quantitative work on craving and highlights the importance of improving drug abuse treatment and harm reduction programs.
This paper examines the cultural and structural difficulties surrounding effective prevention of ... more This paper examines the cultural and structural difficulties surrounding effective prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) in rural Lesotho. We argue for three strategies to improve PMTCT interventions: communitybased research and outreach, addressing cultural and structural dynamics, and working with the relevant social groups that impact HIV prevention. These conclusions are based on interviews and participant observation conducted within the rural Mokhotlong district and capital city of Maseru, involving women and men of reproductive age, grandmothers serving as primary caretakers, HIV/AIDS programme staff, and medical professionals. Qualitative analysis focused on rural women's socio-medical experience with the four measures of PMTCT (educational outreach, voluntary counselling and testing, antiretroviral interventions, and safe infant feeding). Based on these results, we conclude that intervention models must move beyond a myopic biomedical 'best-practices' approach to address the social groups and contextual determinants impacting vertical HIV transmission. Given the complexities of effective PMTCT, our results show that it is necessary to consider the biomedical system, women and children, and the community as valuable partners in achieving positive health outcomes.
... Review of Fomon's "Assessment of Growth of Formula-Fed Infants: Evolutionar... more ... Review of Fomon's "Assessment of Growth of Formula-Fed Infants: Evolutionary Considerations".Daniel H. Lende, PhD Rollins School of Public Health Emory University Behavioral Sciences and Health Education Atlanta, GA 30322 ... 2. Trevathan WR, Smith EO, McKenna JJ. ...
African American women have historically been screened for breast cancer less than other women, c... more African American women have historically been screened for breast cancer less than other women, contributing to higher mortality rates. Previous research has focused on social and cultural factors, such as discrimination and religiosity, as shaping African American women's screening practices. This article extends this research by (a) examining the decisions and justifications of African American women with regard to screening practices, and (b) using a theoretical focus on embodiment to better understand women in relation to their own bodies. Ethnographic research consisted of 5 months of participant observation at an Indiana (USA) breast cancer care center, and 15 in-depth, semistructured interviews along the continuum of screening practices. The results showed that embodied understandings of the body, personal (rather than biomedical) considerations of screening and treatment, and the quality of doctor/patient interactions all play a significant role in women's decisions about whether to screen for breast cancer or not. Based on these results and a review of the literature, six ways to include embodiment in public health initiatives are outlined.
The concept of "poverty poisons the brain" has become a major area of research in neuroscience an... more The concept of "poverty poisons the brain" has become a major area of research in neuroscience and the health sciences, and an increasingly utilized metaphor to argue for the importance of addressing inequality and poverty in the United States. This article systematically presents the research behind poverty poisons the brain, which includes the impact of socioeconomic status on human development, the developmental models used to understand how poverty impacts children, and the proximate social factors and brain mechanisms that represent the core causal model behind this research. This overview examines the uses of this research for neuroanthropology, highlighting the impact of inequality and how experience becomes embodied. Nevertheless, a simplistic cause-effect approach and the reduction of the social to the biological often hamper this type of research. A critical approach to how poverty poisons the brain provides the basis for making the shift to a more robust neuroanthropological approach to poverty. Neuroanthropology can utilize social embodiment, the dynamics of stress, and the production of inequality to transform research on poverty and children, and to make policy recommendations, do applied research, and craft and test interventions to deal with the pernicious impact of poverty. [poverty, human development, stress, inequality, critical theory] In February 2008, Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate economist and New York Times columnist, wrote an op-ed entitled, "Poverty Is Poison." He summarized research presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference by Martha Farah, a University of Pennsylvania neuroscientist, and her colleagues. These data showed that "unhealthy" levels of stress hormones in poor children can harm neural development. Krugman then argued:
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