CULTURE AND REPRODUCTION

ANTHROPOLOGY 369                                                        Dr. Pamela Erickson
Fall 1997                                                                                  Office: 431 Beach Hall
6-9 Wednesday                                      Phone: 486-1736
UCONN Health Center, Farmington                                         Office Hours: TW 1-3
Dental Dean’s Conference Room A6012 or by appointment

 

Course Description and Objectives

  This course is a cross-cultural exploration of human behavior related to reproduction. We will study the interactive influence of biological, social, economic, political, cultural, and behavioral factors on reproduction. Topics include basic demographic principles and demographic transition theory and its critique; fertility control and population issues; sexual behavior and fertility regulation; indigenous and modern methods of contraception and abortion; the patterning of perinatal behavior (pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum); child survival; midwifery and western obstetrics; and issues of gender and power in reproduction. Social science, medical, public health, and demographic literature are used to provide a broad understanding of reproductive behavior and population processes, problems, and programs in the contemporary world.

 

Assignments and Evaluation

  The course will be conducted in seminar style. Each student's active participation and contributions to discussion are important. Readings are to be read by the date under which they appear for discussion on that day. For some sessions, readings will be informally assigned to/or "claimed" by one or more students who have a special interest in the topic. These students will be responsible for a thorough reading and evaluation of the assigned reading which will be presented in class prior to discussion. Depending on class size, students can anticipate leading discussion 3-5 times over the semester.

  Aside from required readings, class presentation of readings, and general class participation, a paper of no more than 25 pages in length (typed, double spaced) is required. The paper should involve some library and/or field research on a topic related to human reproduction, fertility, or population issues. Please clear your topic with me by October 29. Students have the option of turning in a draft of their paper by November 19 for comments and suggestions. Drafts will be returned by December 3. All papers are due on the last day of class, December 10. Students will present summaries of their research during the last session of class, December 10.

  Grades will be based on class participation and presentations (1/2) and the paper (1/2). There will be no formal examinations.

 

BOOKS

Required Books

1) Brown, Sarah S. and Leon Eisenberg (eds.) 1995. The Best Intentions. Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-Being of CHildren and Families. Committee on Unintended Pregnancy, Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.

2) Hatcher, Robert A., et al. Contraceptive Technology 1994-1996, 16th Revised Edition. New York: Irvington Publishers.

3) Haupt, Arthur and Thomas T. Kane 1991. Population Handbook. 3rd ed. Population Reference Bureau.

4) Jordan, Brigitte 1993. Birth in Four Cultures: A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Childbirth in Yucatan, Holland, Sweden, and the United States, 4th Edition. Prospect Heights, IL:Waveland Press, Inc.

5) Luker, Kristin 1984. Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood. Berkeley: University of California Press.

6) Medical Anthropology Quarterly Volume 10, Number 2, June 1996.

7) National Research Council, Contraception and Reproduction. Health Consequences for Women in the Developing World. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

8) Newman, Lucille F. (ed.) 1995. Women’s Medicine. A Cross-Cultural Study of Indigenous Fertility Regulation. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

 9) World Population Data Sheet 1997. Population Reference Bureau.

These books can be purchased at the UCONN Co-Op Bookstore and the Health Center Bookstore. They are also on reserve at the Homer Babbidge Library and the Health Center Library.

 
SCHEDULE & READINGS
SEPTEMBER 10                   POPULATION AND FERTILITY

Required:
1) Haupte and Kane Population Handbook. Familiarize yourself with the basic definitions.

2) World Population Data Sheet 1997. Browse your favorite countries and bring to class.

3) Polgar, Steven 1972. Population History and Population Policies from an Anthropological
Perspective. Current Anthropology 13(2):203-211.

4) Greenhalgh, Susan 1995. Anthropology Theorizes Reproduction: Integrating Practice,       Political Economic, and Feminist Perspectives. In Susan Greenhalgh (ed.) Situating        Fertility. Anthropology and Demographic Inquiry. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University         Press, pp.3-28.

Student Presentations:

5) Bongaarts, John and Robert G. Potter 1983. Introduction and Overview. Chapter 1, pp. 1-20. In Bongaarts, John and Robert G. Potter, Fertility, Biology, and Behavior, New York: Academic Press, 1983.

6) Handwerker, W. Penn 1986. Culture and Reproduction: Exploring Micro/Macro Linkages, Chapter 1, pp. 1-29. In Handwerker, W. Penn (ed.) Culture and Reproduction. An Anthropological Critique of Demographic Transition Theory. Boulder,CO: Westview Press, Inc.

7) Simmons, Ozzie G. 1988. Links between Development Perspectives and Population Growth. Chapter 4, pp. 91-115. In Simmons, Ozzie G. Perspectives on Development and Population Growth in the Third World. New York: Plenum Press, 1988.

8) Cleland, John 1990. Fertility Decline in Developing Countries: The Roles of Economic Modernization, Culture, and Government Interventions. Chapter 10, pp.126-145. In Landers, John and Vernon Reynolds (eds.),. Fertility and Resources. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Recommended:

Bongaarts, John 1982. The Fertility Inhibiting Effects if the Intermediate Fertility Variables. Studies in Family Planning 13(6/7):179-189.

Davis, Kingsley and Judith Blake 1956. Social Structure and Fertility. Economic Development and Social Change 4(4): 211-235.

Handwerker, W. Penn 1990. Demography. Chapter 17, pp. 319-347. In Johnson, Thomas and Carolyn Sargent (eds.), Medical Anthropology. Contemporary Theory and Method.
 

SEPTEMBER 17         REPRODUCTIVE PATTERNS AND MCH

1) National Research Council, 1989. Contraception and Reproduction. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. pp. 1-97.

2) Lazrus, Ellen S. Poor Women, Poor Outcomes: Social Class and Reproductive Health, Chapter 1, pp.39-54. In Michaelson, Karen L. and Contributors, Childbirth in America. Anthropological Perspectives. South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey Publishers, Inc.

3) Chapter 1. Introdction, pp. 11-20.
    Chapter 2. Demography of Unintended Pregnancy, pp. 21-49.
    Chapter 3. Consequences of Unintended Pregnancy, pp. 50-90.

In Brown, Sarah S. and Leon Eisenberg (eds.) 1995. The Best Intentions. Unintended Pregnancy the Well-Being of Children and Families. Committee on Unintended Pregnancy, Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.
 

SEPTEMBER 24          CULTURE AND FERTILITY BEHAVIOR

Required:
1) Levine, Robert and Susan Scrimshaw 1983. Effects of Culture on Fertility: Anthropological Contributions. In Bulatao, and Lee (eds.), pp. 666-695.

2) Miller, Warren B. and Lucille F. Newman (eds.) 1977. Chapter 8. Introduction: The Cultural Perspective, pp. 73-78. In Miller, Warren B. and Lucille F. Newman (eds.), The First Child and Family Formation. Chapel Hill: Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

3) Chapter 6. Personal and Interpersonal Determinants of Contraceptive Use, pp.160-182.
    Chapter 7. Socioeconomic and Cultural Influences on Contraceptive Use, pp. 183-217.

In Brown, Sarah S. and Leon Eisenberg (eds.), The Best Intentions. Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-Being of Children and Families. Committee on Unintended Pregnancy, Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.

4) Van den Berghe, Pierr L. 1979. The Sociobiology of Human Mating and Reproduction, pp.
32-85 in Van den Berghe, Pierr L. Human Family Systems: An Evolutionary View. New York: Elsevier.

5) Jankowiak, William 1995. Introduction, pp.1-19. In Jankowiak, William (ed.) Romantic Passion. A Universal Experience? New York: Columbia University Press.

6) Fisher, Helen 1995. The Nature and Evolution of Romantic Love, pp.23-41. In Jankowiak, William (ed.) Romantic Passion. A Universal Experience? New York: Columbia Univ. Press.
 

OCTOBER 1         TRADITIONAL FERTILITY REGULATION

1) Newman, Lucille F. (ed.) 1985. Women’s Medicine. A Cross-Cultural Study of Indigenous Fertility Regulation. (whole book)

2) Levine, Nancy 1987. Differential Child Care. Population and Development Review 13(2):281-304.

3) Scrimshaw, Susan C.M. 1984. Infanticide in Human Populations: Societal and Individual Concerns. In Glenn Hausfater and Sarah B. Hrdy (eds.), Infanticide: Comparative and Evolutionary. New York: Aldine.

4) Scheper-Hughes, Nancy 19??. Culture, Scarcity, and Maternal Thinking: Maternal Detachment and Infant Survival in a Brazilian Shantytown. Ethos 13(4):291-317.
 

OCTOBER 8            "MODERN" MEDICAL FERTILITY REGULATION

1) Chapter 4. Patterns of Contraceptive Use, pp. 91-125.
    Chapter 5. Basic Requirements: Contraceptive Knowledge and Access, pp. 126-159.

In Brown, Sarah S. and Leon Eisenberg (eds.), The Best Intentions. Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-Being of Children and Families. Committee on Unintended Pregnancy, Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.

2) Polgar, S. and J.F. Marshall 1976. The Search for Culturally Acceptable Fertility Regulating Methods. In Marshall and Polgar (eds.), pp. 204-218.

3) Hatcher, Robert K., et al. Contraceptive Technology. Browse chapters on contraceptive methods with which you are unfamiliar.

4) Tucker, Giselle M. 1986. Barriers to Modern Contraceptive Use in Rural Peru. Studies in Family Planning 17:308-316.

Recommended:

Lincoln, Richard, et al. 1988. Whatever Happened to the Contraceptive Revolution? Family Planning Perspectives 20(1):20-4.

Warwick D. Culture and Management of Family Planning Programs. Studies in Family Planning 1988;19:1-18.

OCTOBER 15     ABORTION

1) Chapter 19. Abortion, pp. 473-486.
    Chapter 16. Emergency Contraception: Postcoital Options, pp. 415-432.
In Hatcher, Robert A.,et al. Contraceptive Technology. 16th Revised Edition, New York: Irvington Publishers, Inc.

2) Luker, Kristin 1984. Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood. Berkeley: University of California Press. (whole book)

Student Presentations:

3) Henshaw, Stanley K. 1990. Induced Abortion: A world review. Family Planning Perspectives 22(2): 76-89.

4) Kunins, Hillary and Allan Rosenfield 1991. Abortion: A Legal and Public Health Perspective. Annual Review of Public Health 12:361-382.

5) Rossi, Alice S. and Bhavani Sitaraman 1988. Abortion in Context: Historical Trends and Future Changes, Family Planning Perspectives 20(6):273-282.

Recommended:

Ginsberg, Faye D. 1989. Contested Lives. The Abortion Debate in an American Community. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Jacobson, Jody L. The Global Politics of Abortion. Worldwatch Paper Series #97, July 1990.

Tietze C.  1984. The public health effects of legal abortion in the United States. Family Planning Perspectives 16(1): 26-28.

Scheper-Hughes, Nancy (ed.) 1987. Child Survival. Anthropological Perspectives on the Treatment and Maltreatment of Children. Boston: D. Reidel.
 

OCTOBER 22             INFERTILITY AND STDs

1) Chapter 3. HIV and AIDS, pp. 51-76.
    Chapter 4. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, pp. 77-106.
    Chapter 22. Infertility, pp. 531-558.
In Hatcher, Robert A.,et al. Contraceptive Technology. 16th Revised Edition, New York: Irvington Publishers, Inc.

2) Becker, Gay 1994. Metaphors in Disrupted Lives: Infertility and Cultural Constructions of
Continuity. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 8(4):383-410.

3) Ebin, Victoria 1994. Interpretations of Infertility: the Aowin People of South-west Ghana, Chapter 5, pp. 131-149. In MacCormack, Carol P. (ed.), Ethnography of Fertility and Birth. Second Edition. Prospect Heights,IL: Waveland Press, Inc.

4) Coreil, Jeannine, Debora L. Barnes-Josiah, Antoine Augustin, and Michel Cayemittes 1996. Arrested Pregnancy Syndrome in Haiti: Findings from National Survey. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 10(3):424-436.

5) Pliskin, Karen L. 1997. Verbal Intercourse and Sexual Communication: Impediments to STD Prevention. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 11(1):89-109.

Student Presentations:

6) Kurth, Ann 1993. Reproductive Issues, Pregnancy, and Childbearing in HIV Infected Women. Ch. 6, pp.104-133. In Cohen, Felissa L. and Jerry D. Durham (eds.) 1993. Women, Children, and HIV/AIDS. New York: Springer Publishing Company.

7) Norr, Kathleen, Sheila Tlou, and James Norr 1993. The Threat of AIDS for Women in Developing Countries, Chapter 15, pp. 263-285. In Cohen, Felissa L. and Jerry D. Durham (eds.) 1993. Women, Children, and HIV/AIDS. New York: Springer Publishing Company

8) Hollander, Dore 1997. Environmental Effects on Reproductive Health: The Endocrine Disruption Hypothesis. Family Planning Perspectives 29(2):82-86,89.

9) Katz, Sydney S. and Selig H. Katz 1987. An Evaluation of Traditional Therapy for Barrenness, Medical Anthropology Quarterly 1(4):394-405.
 

OCTOBER 29         ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY AND CHILDBEARING

1) Erickson, Pamela I. In press. Culture, Norms and Adolescent Childbearing: The Problem of Adolescent Pregnancy in America, Chapter 2. In Erickson, Pamela I. Latino Adolescent Childbearing in East Los Angeles. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, in press.

2) Irvine, Janice M. 1994. Cultural Differences and Adolescent Sexualities, pp. 3-28, Chapter 1. In Irvine, Janice M. (ed.) 1994. Sexual Cultures and the Construction of Adolescent Identities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994.

3) Luker, Kristin 1996. Why Do They Do It?, pp. 134-174, Chapter 6. In Luker, Kristin Dubious Conceptions. The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996.

4) Konner, Melvin and Majorie Shostak 1986. Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing: An Anthropological Perspective, Chapter 16, pp. 325-345. In Lancaster, Jane B. and Beatrix A. Hamburg (eds.), School-age Pregnancy and Parenthood. Biosocial Dimensions. New York: Aldine De Gruyter.

Student Presentations:

5) Brindis, Claire 1993. Antecedents and Consequences: The Need for Diverse Strategies in Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, pp. 257-283, Chapter 13. In Lawson, Annette and Deborah L. Rhode (eds.) The Politics of Adolescent Pregnancy. Adolescent Sexuality and Public Policy. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.

6) Lerman, Robert I. 1993. A National Profile of Young Unwed Fathers, pp. 27-51, Chapter 2. In Lerman, Robert I. and Theodora Ooms (eds.) Young Unwed Fathers. Changing Roles and Emerging Policies. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993.

7) Musick, Judith S. 1993. Transformations: Developmental and Otherwise, pp. 188-234, Chapter 7. In Musick, Judith S. Young, Poor, and Pregnant. The Psychology of Teenage Motherhood. New Haven:Yale University Press, 1993.

8) Whiting, John W.M., Victoria K. Burbank, and Mitchell S. Ratner 1986. The Duration of Maidenhood Across Cultures, Chapter 14, pp. 273-302. In Lancaster, Jane B. and Beatrix A. Hamburg (eds.), School-age Pregnancy and Parenthood. Biosocial Dimensions. New York: Aldine De Gruyter.
 

NOVEMBER 5         PERINATAL PRACTICES

1)) Jordan, Brigitte 1993. Birth in Four Cultures. A Crosscultural Investigation of Childbirth in Yucatan, Holland, Sweden, and the United States. Fourth Edition. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, Inc. (whole book)

2) Kay, Margarita A. 1982. Writing an Ethnography of Birth, Chapter 1, pp. 1-24. In Kay, Margarita 1982. The Anthropology of Human Birth. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Co.

3) SKIM IF YOU HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF THE BIOLOGICLA PROCESSES INVOLVED: Sloane, Ethel 1985. Pregnancy, Labor, and Delivery, Chapter 10, pp. 294-387. In Sloane, Ethel, Biology of Women. Second Edition.Albany, NY: Delmar Publishers.

Recommended:

Andolsek, Kathryn M. 1990. Obstetric Care: Standards of Prenatal, Intrapartum and Postpartum Management. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger.

Ford, Clellan Stearns 1964. A Comparative Study of Human Reproduction. Yale University Publications in Anthropology Number 32. New Haven: Human Relations Area Files Press.

Kay, Margarita 1982. The Anthropology of Human Birth. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Co.

Mead, Margaret and Niles Newton 1965. The Cultural Patterning of Perinatal Behavior. In Richardson and Guttmacher (eds.) Childbearing: Its Social and Psychological Aspects. Balltimore: William and Wilkins Co.
 
 

NOVEMBER 12         PERINATAL PRACTICES

1) Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Volume 10, Number 2, June 1996. The Social Production of Authoritative Knowledge in Pregnancy and Childbirth. (whole volume)

Student Presentations:

2) Nelson, L.J. and N. Milliken 1988. Compelled Treatment of Pregnant Women: Life, Liberty, and Law in Conflict. JAMA 259:1060-1066.

3) Charo, R.A. 1987. Problems in Commercialized Surrogate Mothering. Women and Health 12:195-201.

4) Rothman, Barbara Katz The Decision to Have or Not to Have Amniocentesis for Prenatal Diagnosis, pp. 90-102. In Michaelson, Karen L. 1988. Childbirth in America. Anthropological Perspectives. Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey.

5) Rapp, Rayna The Power of "Positive" Diagnosis: Medical and Maternal Discourses on Amniocentesis, pp. 103-116. In Michaelson, Karen L. 1988. Childbirth in America. Anthropological Perspectives. Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey.

Recommended:

Chasnoff, Ira J. (ed.) 1988. Drugs, Alcohol, Pregnancy, and Parenting. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Dorris, Michael 1989. The Broken Cord. New York: Harper Perennial.

Hull, Richard T. (ed.) 1989. Ethical Issues in the New Reproductive Technologies. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.
 

NOVEMBER 19         POSTPARTUM AND INFANT FEEDING

1) Chapter 17. Postpartum Contraception and Lactation, pp. 433-452.
In Hatcher, Robert A.,et al. Contraceptive Technology. 16th Revised Edition, New York: Irvington Publishers, Inc.

2) Zeitlyn, Sushila and Rabeya Rowshan 1997. Privileged Knowledge and Mothers’ "Perceptions": The Case of Breast-Feeding and Insufficient Milk in Bangladesh. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 11(1):56-68.

3) Chapter 1. Introducing the Controversy, pp. 3-27.
    Chapter 2. Poverty Environments, pp. 31-63.
    Chapter 3. Infant Feeding and the Empowerment of Women, pp. 67-107.
In Van Esterik, Penny 1989. Beyond the Breast-Bottle Controversy.

Student Presentations:

4) Michaelson 1988, Section IV. Becoming a Parent, pp. 211-215 and Bringing up Baby: Expectation and Reality in the Early Postpartum, pp. 252-269. In Michaelson, Karen L. and Contributors, Childbirth in America. Anthropological Perspectives. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Inc.

5) Pillsbury, Barbara Doing the Month: Confinement and Convalescence of Chinese Women After Childbirth, In Kay 1982, pp. 119-146.

6) Coeytaux, Francine 1989. Celebrating Mother and Child on the Fortieth Day: The Sfax, Tunisia Postpartum Program. Population Council.
 

DECEMBER 3         MIDWIVES AND BIRTH TECHNOLOGY

1) Michaelson, Karen L. 1988. Childbirth in America: A Brief History and Contemporary Issues. Chapter 1, pp. 1-32. In Michaelson, Karen L. and Contributors, Childbirth in America. Anthropological Perspectives. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Inc.

2) Davis-Floyd, Robbie E. 1988. Birth as an American Rite of Passage. Chapter 10, pp. 153-172. In Michaelson, Karen L. and Contributors, Childbirth in America. Anthropological Perspectives. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Inc.

3) Gaskin, Ina May 1988. Midwifery Re-Invented, pp. 42-60. In Kitzinger, Sheila (ed.) 1988. The Midwife Challenge. London: Pandora.

4) Kitzinger, Sheila Why Women Need Midwives, pp. 1-21 and Definition of a Midwife, p. ix, In Kitzinger, Sheila (ed.) 1988. The Midwife Challenge. London: Pandora.

5) Reid, Margaret 1989. Sisterhood and Professionalism: A Case Study of the American Lay Midwife, pp. 219-258. In McClain, Carol Shepherd (ed.) 1989. Women as Healers. Cross-Cultural Perspectives. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

6) Butter, Irene H. and Bonnie J. Kay 1988. State Laws and the Practice of Lay Midwifery, American Journal of Public Health 78(9):1161-1169.

Recommended:

Arms, Suzanne 1975. Immaculate Deception: A New Look at Women and Childbirth in America. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Co.

Davis-Floyd, Robbie E. 1992. Birth as an American Rite of Passage. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Haire, Doris 1973. The Cultural Warping of Childbirth. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics and Environmental Child Health. June (Special Issue), 19(2A):172-191.

Kitzinger, Sheila (ed.) 1988. The Midwife Challenge. London: Pandora.

DECEMBER 10 PAPER PRESENTATIONS