Some effects of sex, age, and household structure on family drawings of Barbadian children

An analysis of the family drawings of a nonclinical sample of 502 Barbadian children aged 7-11 years is reported. The inclusion or omission of figures and the size and positioning of the figures of parents and self were examined with reference to sex, age, and household structure. The view that cultural values about the structure of the family unit and parental roles are reflected in children's representations of their parents in family drawings was supported. (AU)

Prenatal marijuana exposure and neonatal outcomes in Jamaica: an ethnographic study

OBJECTIVE. To identify neurobehavioral effects of prenatal marijuana exposure on neonates in rural Jamaica. DESIGN. Ethnographic field studies and standardized neuro-behavior assessments during the neonatal period. SETTING. Rural Jamaica in heavy-marijuana-using population. PARTICIPANTS. Twenty-four Jamaican neonates exposed to marijuana prenatally and 20 nonexposed mnonnates were compare at 3 days and 1 month old, using the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale, including supplementary items to capture possible subtle effects. There were no significant differences between exposed and nonexposed neonates on day 3. At 1 month, the exposed neonates showed better physiological stability and required less examiner facilitation to reach organized states. The neonates of heavy-marijuana-using mothers had better scores on autonomic stability, quality of alertness, irritability, and self-refulation and were judged to be more rewarding for caregivers. CONCLUSIONS. The absence of any differences between the exposed on nonexposed groups in the early neonatal period suggest that the better scores of exposed neonates at 1 month are traceable to the cultural positioning and social and economic characteristics of mothers using marijuana that select for the use of marijuana but also promote neonatal development (AU)

Cultural factors impacting on women's health

Seeks to address some of the issues of women and health within a framework that would help us see that the development of our health systems as we know and experience them in the Caribbean have emerged out of a historical cultural/idelogical context that has given shape to much of what we now have

Migrants and their therapists: a trans-context approach

In this article, I examine how changes in technology, social organization, and economic opportunity are fundamentally altering the encounter between therapists and migrant clients. Approaches are required that take into account the recursive nature of the newly emerging two-home, trans-context lifestyle. I outline a second-order position and lines of questioning that may help migrants and therapists to situate problems in historical-geographical context, examine structural constraints on choice, and co-develop options for the future. To illustrate and enlarge upon hypotheses about the life experience of migrants, I analyze a particular Caribbean-Canadian immigrant story. (AU)

Breast-feeding patterns of Montserratian women

This article describes the breast-feeding patterns found on Montserrat by a survey that interviewed 69 mothers who delivered infants over a 13-month period, from March 1989 through March 1990. The results indicated that 94 percent of the women breast-fed these children for at least two weeks after delivery; that 70 percent were still breast-feeding at the time of the interview in March or April 1990; and that principal factors influencing early termination of breast-feeding were the age at which supplementary feeding was commenced and lack of maternal information about why babies appear to reject the breast. (AU)

Is serious research possible in the Caribbean?

This essay describes the rich tradition of research in the English-speaking Caribbean and the possibilities for meaningful colloboration between Caribbean researchers and scientists from developed countries. Significant contributions includes work related to the human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV-I), Jamaican vomiting sickness, veno-occlusive disease of the liver, J-type diabetes, and the role of skin sepsis and streptococcal infection in the etiology of glomerulonephritis. In the fields of malnutrition, human metabolism, child development, and sickle cell anemia, the Caribbean has been at the forefront of medical research internationally. Many characteristics of the Caribbean population including the disease profile, offer advantages and unique opportunities for significant research, despite difficulties related to the "brain drain" and weaknesses of the infrastructure. (Au)

How we were grown: cultural aspects of high-risk sexual behaviour in Jamaica

Paper states that based on a collection of over twenty ethnographic interviews of informants selected from a national sample of Jamaicans, "How we were grown" examines three issues, 1) sexual socialisation and value formation; 2) the establishment and maintenance of multiple relations; and (3) the use and non-use of the condom. Focuses on the role of culture in shaping and informing sexual conduct. Argues that Jamaicans are socialised to adopt a guilt-free, pleasure-oriented attitude to sex; that whereas male multiple relationships arise from cultural perceptions of gender, female multiple relationships are prompted by deterioration in the quality of primary unions. Shows how cultural norms of aesthetics and feelings of trust determine Jamaicans' approach to sexual intercourse, and considers the implications for policy of a clash between embedded cultural values and pragmatism. (AU)

Social integration of the physically disabled in Barbados

An emergent concern with the rehabilitation and social integration of disabled people in developing nations has created a need to identify cultural beliefs and behaviours which may affect the integration of the disabled into normative social roles. The focus of this study is the social integration of physically disabled adults among the nonelite, coloured population of Barbados, West Indies. This paper analysed the role participation of 30 physically disabled adults within the context of Barbadian beliefs and behaviours related to the disabled and to the 'normal' adult. Although village Barbadians do not expect the physically disabled to fulfill normative roles, some disabled individuals in this study do perform adult activities, such as maintaining employment and engaging in sexual relationships. However, very few of them participate in the reciprocal relationships among peers and neighbours through which village Barbadians achieve status and 'respect' as adults. (AU)

A biocultural analysis of blood pressure variation among the Black Caribs and creoles of St. Vincent, West Indies

This present study is a biochemical examination of blood pressure variation among the Black Caribs and Creoles of St. Vincent, West Indies. In particular, it investigates the etiology of essential (primary) hypertension by examining both cultural and biological contributory components. Four asspects of Caribbean culture are examined: Marital status, family size

Acute psychotic reactions in Caribbean-born patients

A prospective study of patients with religious delusions identified 24 West Indian and West African patients. Those who had none of Schneider's first-rank symptoms of schizophrenia (principally West Indians) differed from those who did by virtue of early religious commitment, life-long religious experiences, an acute admission precipated by social events, a greater chance of having their diagnosis changed, less than 10 different PSE syndromes, the absence of twentieth-century delusions, and the presentation of malevolent witchcraft as the sole explanation of the episode. It is suggested that this group can usefully be considered as demonstrating an acute psychotic reaction of the type previously described in Africa and the Caribbean. (Summary)