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This paper explores the intersection of gender and class concerning welfare clients with medically unexplained symptoms. The study is conducted in Denmark using qualitative interviews with welfare officers and clients. The paper's focus is on how issues of gender and class intersect in the negotiation of illness among welfare officers and clients. The particular client group in question consists of individuals that are defined by their lack of a bio-medical diagnosis. Their 'lack' of identity accentuates how gender and class become central in the categorisation practices, constructing the ill person as either bio-medically sick or as a person who may be suffering but only from diffuse psychological problems. The paper shows that it is predominantly poorly educated women without a bio-medical diagnosis that welfare officers describe as suffering from psychological problems despite the fact that the women themselves focus on physical ailments in their illness stories. Men and better-educated women are described by the welfare officers as tired and exhausted or truly stressed after a long working life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feminised caring occupations like nursing and social work are popularly considered to be respectable occupations for women. This objective of this paper is to investigate the role of respectability in paid caring work by women within nursing and social work. This paper draws on Ball's conceptualisation of respectability as a heuristic device in the analyses of 39 in-depth interviews with women who work and study in nursing and social work. The paper finds that normality, morality, impression management and esteem are central to the operation of respectability in the paid caring occupations and concludes with recommendations for rethinking the relationship between respectability and these occupations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for exploring the ways in which class and gender interact in occupational fields. In recent years, very little research has been specifically concerned with the relationship between gender and class. Much of the literature which grapples with the question of how gender and class interact contains theoretical limitations which appear to stem from a reliance on categorical theories of both class and gender. In this paper it is proposed that, when used in conjunction, the approaches of Bourdieu and Butler provide a framework for exploring class and gender in terms of embodied practice. In order to illustrate the possibilities enabled by 'appropriating Bourdieu and adding Butler', the paper suggests ways in which this conceptual framework makes possible the examination of the complex relations between gender and class within one particular area of 'women's work': the field of nursing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the obstacles to understanding the links between social inequality and mental health distress is the reliance on heterogeneous diagnostic categories. In this paper, it is argued that a solution to this problem is to explore more homogenous experiences of distress. This paper investigates one particular form of distress: paranoia. The relationship between social inequality and paranoia is then examined, focusing on two aspects. Firstly, it is argued that social inequality might affect the experience of paranoia itself since the experience of the surveillance encountered in the everyday use of public space may vary depending on one's location in social categories like gender, 'race' and culture and class (these social categories are, of course, themselves stratified by social inequality). Secondly, mental health service users' locations in these categories may influence the way that the plausibility of ostensibly paranoid claims are evaluated by mental health professionals. Within the discussion of each category, links are drawn between community and clinical samples to understand how the experience of paranoia may be influenced by these social categories. The paper concludes with implications for research and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The twentieth century has witnessed an epidemic of metaphors in our attempt to make sense of sexuality and sexual health. This paper explores some of those constructs in order to gain insights into how we think, and ultimately how we practice. While many metaphors come from the wider culture, our health care institutions are a product of that same culture and we cannot help but be influenced by them and use the metaphors ourselves (Plummer 1995). In this paper, we will examine the use of notions of contamination, transmission and contagion to describe non-infectious social phenomena such as homosexuality and homophobia. Social constructionism discusses sexuality and gender, not as essential characteristics, but as socially produced, reproduced and transmitted, with the latter's symbolic similarity to infection transmission. However, while non-hegemonic expressions of gender and sexuality are viewed through these metaphors, the hegemonic variations remain unproblematised. As such, the unproblematised hegemonic representations are more likely to be viewed by the public as bearing essential qualities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite recent critiques of contemporary obesity discourses that link 'modern Western lifestyles' to an 'obesity epidemic', the population's weight remains a central concern of current dietary guidelines. Food choices that are considered beneficial to maintaining a certain weight are understood to play a key role in one's health. This concern reflects medico-moral assumptions about the properties of food and what people should eat. However, the impact of obesity discourses on different individuals and social groups is rarely considered, although there is some evidence that people do generate, reflect and resist the norms and standards set for them, including those that relate to food/weight. In this paper, we will examine the perspectives on fatness and food choice amongst Black and White women and men living in Vancouver and Halifax, Canada. With this examination, we will challenge conventional assumptions about the singular 'modern Western lifestyle' that leads to obesity concerns by teasing out some of the social, cultural and political contexts within which people conceptualise issues regarding weight and make their food choices. By examining the experiences of both women and men we will also provide important insights into the gendered ways in which people engage with obesity discourses and the injunction to 'eat healthily' as a form of weight management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preventing disease is by definition a valuable objective, and most debates have revolved around improving the effectiveness of prevention. In this discussion, I explore the latent functions - the unintended consequences - of what I call the 'project of prevention'. Although many latent functions are welcome, some have undesirable effects, and it is therefore important to instigate a rich exchange between innovative theory and rigorous research to minimise such effects. I argue that the hazards are particularly acute in the absence of a reflexive and critical awareness of the political environment and the cultural economy within which prevention occurs. In the paper, I sketch the challenges to mobilising that awareness, show some of the limitations of the conventional theoretical approaches to prevention, and point to directions for developing more fruitful perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the association between civic engagement and self-rated health among a sample of adults living in refugee camps in Jordan. The analysis is based on a cross-sectional sample survey of all households residing in Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan, and interviewed in the spring and summer of 1999. The outcome variable is self-rated health. Associations between civic engagement and self-rated health are assessed using ?2 tests and logistic regression models. Findings from a logistic regression model show that civic engagement, as measured primarily by membership in clubs and other civic groups, has a significant association with self-rated health net of the effects of demographic, human capital and health risk factors. The final model shows that the effects of control variables are in the anticipated direction, with age, marital status, health risk, education and poverty statistically significant. However, the findings pertaining to civic engagement hold for men but not women. We conclude that civic engagement is a powerful and significant predictor of self-rated health status among refugee men living in poor communities, but not for women. Low literacy and persisting patriarchy may account for the non-significant association between civic engagement and health status among women in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an emerging trend to recognise the importance of fathers in health service provision. This is consistent with feminist objectives to re-shape fatherhood to enhance gender equity in the home and in the workplace. How best to include fathers in services, overwhelmingly utilised by mothers, is now a topic of considerable interest. However, the desire to re-shape fatherhood in ways conducive to gender equity is easily co-opted by conservative political agendas which do not seek to re-shape fatherhood but re-claim the rights of fathers by re-instating paternal authority within the family. This cooption is facilitated by new fatherhood discourses utilised by many service providers which blame mothers for the lack of fathers' involvement in early infant care. The paper argues that mother-blaming is aggravated by service providers who fail to understand the nature and extent of maternal anxiety and by unrealistic images of the new father. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining work and family can be a significant source of tension and conflict. For young dual-earner couples especially it is a challenge to find a balance. We examine the impact of negative work-to-family and family-to-work spillover on feelings of depression and life satisfaction, as well as crossover effects between partners. Of particular interest are differences between married and cohabiting partners. Dyadic data stemming from a subsample of the Belgian survey 'Relationships in Flanders' (2010) are used (N newlywed couples = 376, N recently cohabiting couples = 344). Regressions confirm that both work-to-family and family-to-work spillover are major stressors. In line with gender role theories, men seem somewhat more affected by family-to-work spillover; women by work-to-family spillover, also when their partner allows work to interfere with family. Overall, the cohabiting do not feel more distressed, but do feel less satisfied with life. Moreover, interesting differences appear when comparing both groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how Indigenous women who receive intercultural healthcare programs manage to develop cooperation networks, get involved in community affairs and improve their reproductive healthcare. It concentrates on the case of the Bolivian intercultural health program 'EXTENSA' and analyzes how this program is successful at activating greater community participation in health prevention and improving the reproductive healthcare of the Indigenous women who live in the Department of Beni, Bolivia. Through an ethnographic analysis, it argues that community participation and healthy behaviors are the result of tapping into bonding social capital and fostering women's empowerment. The analysis shows that the program gives women community leaders and women networks members (who predate EXTENSA) access to different types of resources, allowing women to transform their community assets into sources of collective empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite concerns about stress levels in young people, research about stress and stressors among boys and girls that apply an intersectionality approach is scarce. This cross-sectional study explored gender, class (indicated by academic orientation) and multi-group (gender/class) patterning of perceived stress and reported stressors in a sample of 1,663 17-year-old Swedish students. The students, especially girls, were highly stressed. No class differences were found. Performance-related stressors were predominately indicated by students in academic programmes and girls (regardless of class). Looks-related stress was more common among girls than boys, whilst economic and relational stressors were mostly indicated by vocational programme students, particularly girls. There was a complex gender and class patterning of stress due to demands and lack of money. The interplay of gender and class should be acknowledged in identifying determinants of stress in young people. Possible implications for mental health are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Men have a stake in ending gendered violence but this stake has not yet been widely embraced by men. Thus we must think carefully about our future strategic directions. Taking the case of sexual violence, I suggest that these directions involve re-thinking sexuality and sexual health by considering absences in the scholarly and policy literatures. While young people are constantly exhorted in popular media to be sexual and to undertake sex, young men have not been engaged by 'critical' analyses of sexuality. The critical literatures - which include writings in Gender/Sexuality studies and Preventive Health - aim to offer alternative understandings of heterosexuality which move beyond the imperatives of the popular media. Yet such critical approaches remain undeveloped, largely negative and/or focussed upon danger rather than considering heterosexuality in positive terms that might offer a substantive alternative and encourage young men in particular to embrace the aim of egalitarian sexual practices, including ending sexual violence. Tensions in Gender/Sexuality scholarship, and Preventive Health sex education materials which draw upon that scholarship, produce significant absences with regard to analysis of heterosexuality and heterosexual subjects. In this context, existing research indicates that recognition of pleasure in sexual health has resulted in increased use of condoms by men and greater involvement of women in the negotiation of sexual practices. Such research is not just relevant to prevention of disease, but has implications for strategies regarding sexual violence. Re-imagining the theoretical framing of Gender/Sexuality studies and Preventative Health to take account of pleasure in sexuality and sexual health is not just a theoretical issue but has some very practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]