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| Current
Research |
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| Communication and
Negotiation about Barrier Contraceptive Use among Young Adults at Risk |
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Project: sexual risk-taking
among 18-25 year old African American and Puerto Rican youth
Pamela I. Erickson
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division
of Reproductive Health, October 2003 to September 2008 |
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| ABSTRACT: |
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This
is a five-year research study conducted in two U.S. cities, Hartford
and Philadelphia. The project uses multiple qualitative and quantitative
research methods to investigate the social and cultural context within
which sexually active young adult African American and Puerto Rican 18-25
year-old men and women communicate about their sexual and reproductive
values and desires and negotiate contraceptive use and safer sex for prevention
of unintended pregnancy, STIs, and HIV/AIDS. Participants are recruited
in their communities through street and venue (e.g., clinics, schools,
etc.) outreach. Research methods include focus group discussions
(N=24) and systematic cultural assesment (free listing, pile sorting, ranking;
N=280) to identify domains of interest and local terminology; sexual relationship
life history interviews to understand the natural history of sexual and
romantic relationships among inner-city youth (N=120); coital diaries (weekly
for 5 weeks, N=80) to assess sexual behavior, condom, and contraceptive
use; and structured surveys (=240) to quantify the themes that emerge from
the qualitative methods. Results will inform new approaches to risk
reduction interventions among this population of at-risk young adults.
University of Connecticut Team
Pamela Erickson, Dr. P.H., Ph.D., Principal Investigator
Louise Badiane, Ph.D., Research Associate
Traci Abraham, M.A., Rosemary Diaz, Dugeidy Ortiz,
M.A., Mark Macauda, M.A., M.P.H., Anna Marie Nicolaysen, M.A., Gradutate
Research Assistants
Hispanic Health Council Staff
Merrill Singer, Ph.D., Co-Investigator
Claudia Santelices, Ph.D., Project Director
Family
Planning Council, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Linda Hock-Long, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
Amy Cassidy, M.S., Project Director
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Division of Reproductive Health, NCCDPHP, CDC
Kendra Hatfield-Timajchy, Ph.D. candidate, Project
Director
Katina Pappas-DeLuca, Project Officer |
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| Partnerships in Applied Research to Improve
Service Delivery: A Strategic Alliance between EngenderHealth (formerly
AVSC International) and the University of Connecticut Medical Anthropology
Program |
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Project: Young Men's Sexuality - Philippines
Pamela I. Erickson
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, August 2001 to August
2004 |
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| ABSTRACT: |
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| This project focuses on the development, implementation,
and evaluation of an intervention program to improve young men's involvement
in reproductive health decision-making. The intervention will be
designed and implemented following qualitative investigation of young people's
ideas about gender and sexuality and their impact on sexual and reproductive
behavior and decision-making.
Field Site: Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Visayas,
Philippines
The research project will proceed in four phases:
1) A preliminary phase consisting of a) the
selection an in-country research organization that will field the research
project and identification of two research sites, b) exploratory, open-ended
interviews designed to understand how Filipino community leaders and professionals
conceptualize the sexual and reproductive health problems and needs of
youth, c) training of in-country research staff in ethnographic techniques
to be employed in the second phase, d) a review of existing policy in the
Philippines on male (especially young male) involvement in sexual and reproductive
health decision-making, and e) a review of the existing service delivery
environment for involving young men in sexual and reproductive health decision-making
[August 2001 - November 2002]
2) An intensive phase of qualitative research
using ethnographic methods with Filipino youth to understand their
conceptualization of sex and gender roles and their impact on sexual and
reproductive behavior among youth [December 2001 – December 2002]
3) An intervention development and implementation
phase using participatory methods to help youth understand the factors
affecting their personal sexual and reproductive health behavior and fostering
more positive communication and interaction patterns among young men and
women [January 2003 – June 2004]; and...
4) An evaluation phase using qualitative
and quantitative techniques to investigate the impact of the intervention
on youth [January 2003 - June 2004].
EngenderHealth Staff
Mark Barone, Marcia Mayfield - New York Office
Leo Alcantara - Phillipines Office
University of Connecticut Staff
Pamela Erickson, Dr. P.H., Ph.D., Principal Investigator
W. Penn Handwerker, Ph.D., Director of Medical
Anthropology Program
Louise Badiane, M.A. Ph.D., Research Associate
Dugeidy Ortiz, M.A., Research Associate
Mark Macauda, M.A., M.P.H., Research Associate
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
Pilar Ramos-Jimenez, Ph.D.
University of Bohol,Tagbilaran City, Bohol,
Philippines
Atty. Nuevas Montes, Ms. Grace Granado |
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| Reproduction, Kinship, and Coalitional Violence,
Ecuador |
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Stephen Beckerman, James S. Boster, Pamela I.
Erickson, and James Yost
National Science Foundation, June 2000 to September
2002 |
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| ABSTRACT: |
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| The project investigates the perceived motivations
for and biological fitness consequences of warfare among the Waorani, a
famously warlike group of tropical forest horticulturalists in Eastern
Ecuador. The Waorani experienced high levels of mortality from internal
violence prior to contact, the effects of which are prominent in the life
histories of people still living. The research addresses three main
questions: 1) Is warfare to be explained in terms of an individual psychology
of bellicosity in which the motives that produce coalitional violence thereby
also drive toward reproductive advantage? 2) Or do the individual motives
for warfare produce behavior compatible with any sort of reproductive advantage?
3) Or are the individual motives and reproductive consequences of warfare
both only the results of small group demographic patterns? To answer
these questions we will collect extensive life history and social network
data from about 250 Waorani male and female elders. The fieldwork
will be conducted by the principal investigators and trained indigenous
para-ethnographers. If warfare and fitness are connected in the warfare
of egalitarian societies, that finding may have implications for the study
and management of male coalitional violence in complex societies. |
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| The Social and Cultural
Context of Low Income Hispanic Adolescent Sexual Behavior, Pregnancy, and
Parenting in East Los Angeles. |
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Pamela I. Erickson, Dr.P.H.,
Ph.D.
National Institute of Child
Health and Development, August 1994 to July 1999 |
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| ABSTRACT: |
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| This project investigated
the social, cultural, and behavioral antecedents of adolescent sexual behavior,
pregnancy, and parenting among Hispanic adolescents in East Los Angeles.
The study used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to
explore the perception and impact of transitional life events from the
point of view of the teen mothers, similar age non-mothers, and their partners.
The final sample included 46 teen mothers, 18 male partners of teen mothers,
32 female non-mother controls (11 who were relatives of the teen mother
and 21 who were primary prevention family planning clients), 3 teen fathers
recruited separately, 5 male controls, 2 male partners of female controls,
7 mothers of teen mothers, and 1 father of a teen mother. Each study
participant completed a survey eliciting demographic information, family
characteristics, migration history, partner characteristics, educational
background, reproductive history, gender role orientation, and acculturation;
an extensive (2-5 hour), tape-recorded life history interview covering
his/her childhood, neighborhood and community, family relationships, peer
and partner relationships, love and sexual behavior, pregnancy and parenthood,
and life goals; and pile sort and ranking tasks for birth control methods,
women’s roles, life events, and sexual behaviors. This research
provides an in-depth understanding of sexual behavior, gender roles, pregnancy,
and parenting among a defined population of Hispanic males and females.
The results can be used to inform a wide variety of prevention and intervention
programs addressing health problems related to early sexual behavior. |
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