Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2005. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

This study explored the impact of cultural attrition on youth behaviour: A case of ulwaluko and intonjane cultural practices in Mthatha and Mount Frere areas, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The study endeavoured to achieve the following specific objectives: (i) to respectively examine youth perceptions of ulwaluko and intonjane cultural practices and their impact towards their behaviour; (ii) to establish different stakeholders’ perceptions on the link between current youth behaviours and attrition of ulwaluko and intonjane cultural practices; (iii) to explore the extent to which cultural attrition has impacted upon the cultural goal posts of both ulwaluko and intonjane practices; and (iv) to establish the effectiveness of policy environment designed to uphold cultural preservation, integrity, growth and development. The study was premised on theoretical lenses of anomie theory, socio-cultural theory, cultural imperialism theory, and cultural feminism theory. Methodologically, the study used both qualitative and quantitative paradigm and was thus guided by mixed research design which was case study and mini survey. The data was collected through in-depth one-on-one interviews, focus group discussions and key informants i n t h e qualitative aspect of the study. In addition, the quantitative data was gathered through distribution of questionnaires. The study used both non-probability and probability methods sample selection, specifically purposive sampling (for qualitative data) and cluster random sampling (for quantitative) techniques were used. Using these techniques, forty-two (42) participants were selected for qualitative interviews, and comprised of eighteen (18) young men and women of both gender divides. Moreover, nine (9) key informants were included in the qualitative data collection. Therefore, the total number of both participants and respondents was 105. Data was analysed qualitatively through thematic analysis, while descriptive statistics was used to analyse quantitative data through the use of SPSS software versions 24. The study revealed the following: a state of cultural crossroad for both intonjane and ulwaluko rites; cultural attrition is indeed a reality; culture incapable of holding their goal posts; modern era a huge driver to cultural attrition; unfriendly policies on cultures a driver to cultural attrition; human rights’ wave and advocacy aiding cultural attrition; political infiltration of cultures; human rights’ wave and advocacy aiding cultural attrition; and community forums as avenues of disseminating the benefits of cultural practices. Based on the evidence gathered in this study, the following recommendations are made: purposive use of mass media to promote indigenous cultures; community awareness in promoting and maintaining cultures; formulating cultural policies that embed stakeholders’ self-determination, and youth ownership and participation in cultural preservation. The study concludes that cultural practices such as ulwaluko and intonjane play a pivotal role in shaping young people’s behaviours and moral conducts. However, modernity forces and various omissions by stakeholders of these cultural practices have contributed to their attrition.

abstract: As a form of bodily modification, female circumcision has generated unprecedented debates across the medical community, social sciences disciplines, governmental/non-governmental agencies and activists and others. The various terminologies used to refer to it attest to differences in knowledge systems, perceptions, and lived experiences emerging from divergent cultures and ideologies. In the last two decades, these debates have evolved from a local matter to a global health concern and human rights issue, coinciding with the largest influx of African refugees to the Western nations. Various forms of female circumcision are reported in 28 countries in the African Continent; Somalia has one of the highest prevalence of female circumcision and the most severe type. The practice is antithetical to Western values and poses an ideological challenge to the construction of the normal body, its bodily processes and its existential being-in-the-world. From the global health perspectives, female circumcision is deemed to be a health hazard--especially during childbirth--though the scientific evidence is inconclusive from studies conducted in post-migration. Yet, Somali refugee women have higher childbearing disparities in host nations, including the U.S. They are also perceived as difficult patients and resistant to obstetrics interventions. Although their FGC status and "cultural" differences are often cited, there is a lack of adequate explanations as to why and how these factors shape patient-provider interactions and affect outcomes. The objectives of this dissertation study are to quantitatively and qualitatively explore these questions within and between Somali refugee women and their healthcare providers in Arizona. Two theoretical frameworks and methods--culture consensus and embodiment-- are applied to identify variations in childbearing knowledge and to explore how the cultural phenomenon of circumcision is subjectively and intersubjectively embodied in the context of childbearing. Culture consensus questionnaire (N=174) and ethnographic interviews (N=40) using phenomenology approach were conducted. Analyses suggest cross-cultural disagreement hinged on: faith in science versus God, pregnancy/childbirth interventions, language challenges, and control-resistance issues; intra-cultural disagreement underscores that Somalis are not culturally homogenous group. Preconceptions of female circumcision body as a cultural phenomenon has different and conflicting meanings that may adversely impact patient-provider interactions and outcomes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Anthropology 2014

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / Between one hundred and one hundred and forty million young girls around the world have reportedly been subjected to some form of genital excision during 2005. Approximately three million young girls are at risk every year of undergoing this harmful procedure (WHO, 2008). Female genital mutilation is reported to occur, and is expected to continue occurring in twenty-eight African countries (London Safeguarding Children Board, 2007). This paper aims to firstly observe the levels of excision in Africa, and then highlight the underlying factors that encourage certain women to continue this dangerous ritual by analysing national datasets, such as the child info database, obtained form the United Nations Children's Fund. By calculating and comparing common indicators, the prevailing ones that dominate FGM appreciation can be further analysed. The final objective will be to suggest strategies that can be put in place to encourage the discontinuation of female genital cutting universally. / South Africa

Female circumcision (FC) is the partial or total removal of the female genitalia for nonmedical reasons. This study was designed to examine the lived experiences of Somali women who underwent FC before coming to the United States. FC is widely carried out in Somalia with a prevalence of 98%, making Somalia the country with the highest percentage of circumcised women. There are short- and long-term consequences associated with FC such as bleeding, infection, and death. Therefore, it is important to understand how Somali women who underwent FC think and feel about circumcision, why they would continue the practice, and whether they would recommend the practice for others. Using a qualitative research method with a phenomenological approach aligned with the use of social convention theory as a conceptual framework, data were collected from 12 Somali women who underwent FC, who were living in the United States at the time of the study, who were 18 years old and above and who were recruited online through SurveyMonkey without disclosing their identities. Thirty-five open-ended questions were posted online for participants to complete. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis method was used for data analysis. The respondents reported experiencing negative consequences from FC practice including pain, miscarriages, and heavy bleeding. The majority of the women in the study supported the eradication of FC in all forms. Based on the findings of this study, possible implications for positive social change include enabling health professionals to create culturally-diverse education and care and altering the social convention of FC so that the morbidity and mortality caused by FC is reduced and the lives of girls and women in Somalia are improved.

The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of how experiences of sexual-health counseling and sex education are described by young Somali women in Sweden. Further the study aims at finding the best practices when it comes to offering sexual-health counseling in a multiethnic setting; in respect of, what should be communicated, where, how and by whom sex education and counseling should be given.Previous studies indicate that young immigrant women have less access to sexual health-care services. Discussing sexual matters is traditionally taboo among Somalis and a girl who gets pregnant before marriage runs the risk of being excluded from the Somali community. Therefore issues on sexual health are of utmost importance for the well-being of this group.Data were conducted through focus-group discussions and interviews with twelve young Somali women in Sweden. The women’s experiences showed that access to sexual health care services is limited by traditional values demanding chastity and modesty in women. School is perceived as the best place for discussing sexual-health matters. However most participants considered the sex education they received in school to be poor. Participants reported that sex and related attitudes, sexual consequences (from a medical as well as a social perspective) and female circumcision are issues that need to be addressed. The youngest women also expressed a need to understand and address the conflicting sexual norms adolescents have to deal with in a more religious and culturally diverse setting.

The overall policy goal of education for the Kenyan Government is the provision of education and training to all Kenyans as it is fundamental to the Government’s overall development strategy. This emphasis means that every Kenyan has the right to education and training no matter his/her socio-economic status. The Government has therefore allocated substantial resources and there has been notable achievements attained, but the sector still faces major challenges related to access, equity, and quality amongst others (Session paper no. 1 2005:2). One of these major challenges to access is the existence and persistence of retrogressive traditional practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM).The first concern of this study is that despite the immense awareness of the dangers on the victims in many aspects in life, and efforts to stamp it out, FGM still persists and thrives in many parts of the country to date. Secondly, there is an ever growing gender disparity in Kuria district, whereby women professionals are hard to come by. Even in the teaching profession which is associated with females in Kenya, there are a negligible number of Kuria female teachers. There is therefore need to liberate these girls from the persistent “senseless genital mutilation” by proper and relevant socialization and empowerment against cultural practices. The Cultural Lag theory of sociologist William F. Ogburn (1964) will be the underlying theoretical perspective of this study to explain the phenomenon, focusing explicitly on the / Sociology / DLITT(SOC)

The overall policy goal of education for the Kenyan Government is the provision of education and training to all Kenyans as it is fundamental to the Government’s overall development strategy. This emphasis means that every Kenyan has the right to education and training no matter his/her socio-economic status. The Government has therefore allocated substantial resources and there has been notable achievements attained, but the sector still faces major challenges related to access, equity, and quality amongst others (Session paper no. 1 2005:2). One of these major challenges to access is the existence and persistence of retrogressive traditional practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM).The first concern of this study is that despite the immense awareness of the dangers on the victims in many aspects in life, and efforts to stamp it out, FGM still persists and thrives in many parts of the country to date. Secondly, there is an ever growing gender disparity in Kuria district, whereby women professionals are hard to come by. Even in the teaching profession which is associated with females in Kenya, there are a negligible number of Kuria female teachers. There is therefore need to liberate these girls from the persistent “senseless genital mutilation” by proper and relevant socialization and empowerment against cultural practices. The Cultural Lag theory of sociologist William F. Ogburn (1964) will be the underlying theoretical perspective of this study to explain the phenomenon, focusing explicitly on the / Sociology / DLITT(SOC)

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2005. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Orientador: Mariza Correa / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T20:27:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Venchi_Mariane_D.pdf: 1312775 bytes, checksum: 08aeb9c4a5dced736e41e4a461f0eb00 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: Este estudo de cunho antropológico problematiza práticas agressivas impostas ao corpo feminino em sociedades muçulmanas do mundo árabe, como intervenções cirúrgicas feitas na genitália feminina externa não por razões terapêuticas, mas sim para enquadrar-se em um ideal anatômico compatível com padrões culturais específicos. Concepções como pudicícia, promiscuidade e sexualidade feminina que aparecem nas fontes, sugerem que relações sociais onde atuam raça e gênero não podem ser dramatizadas fora de um cenário que envolve não apenas um idioma religioso de conversão de quem está dentro (crente) e fora (descrente) e em estados de ¿poluição¿ (apóstata), como também na conversão cultural entre masculino/feminino no espaço da nação e na problemática relação com o Ocidente, cujo sentido é dado no contexto pós-colonialista. No cenário antropológico, a prática da circuncisão em mulheres ¿ sobretudo a excisão e a infibulação ¿ teria sido deixada em segundo plano ou fora das etnografias; seja como objeto teórico ou político. Quando se visibiliza em tal cenário, contudo, o tema dialoga com interlocutores externos, como a imprensa, as ONGs e os movimentos feministas. Tal estudo aborda também questões éticas da antropologia e seu conceito primordial,¿cultura¿, e sua proximidade inevitável com os conceitos de ¿história¿ e ¿mudança social e simbólica¿, diálogos necessários em estudos que contemplem práticas opressivas e relações de gênero / Abstract: This study of anthropological nature regards agressive practices imposed upon the feminine body in Muslim and Arab societies, namely genital cutting operations on women performed not for therapeutic reasons but to comform to an anatomical ideal compatible with specific cultural patterns. Conceptions like modesty, promiscuity and feminine sexuality shown in the sources suggest that social relations in which race and gender act out, cannot be dramatized outside a scenario which involves not only a religious language of conversion to whom is an insider (believer), an outsider (unbeliever) and those located in states of ¿pollution¿ (apostate), but also in the cultural conversion between masculine/feminine inside the boundaries of the nation as well as the problematic relation with the West in which meaning is given in terms of postcolonialist context. On the anthropogical point of view the practice of female circumcision ¿ especially excision and infibulation would be partially left or completely left out of the ethnographies as theoretical or political subjects. However, when that subject appears in anthropological settings, the theme sets dialogs among external interlocutors, as the press, NGO¿s and feminists movements. Additionally, such study brings into consideration ethical issues inside anthropology stablishing a dialog to its primordial concept which is ¿culture¿ and its inevitable proximity with the concepts of ¿history¿ and ¿social and symbolic change¿ which are fundamental issues in studies concerning opressive practices and gender relations / Doutorado / Sexualidade, Genero e Corpo / Mestre em Antropologia Social