Suchergebnisse

This review of recent studies examines the conceptual and methodological tools that are used to understand sexual behavior and HIV. Whereas surveys have provided reliable indicators of behavior, their validity is uncertain, their correlation with biological indicators tenuous, and the explanations they offer limited. Microlevel research has called into question the rationalizing, medically informed, and risk‐averse frameworks used in the public health literature on HIV and behavior, but its impact has been limited. Thus, surveys and qualitative research have proceeded along two separate tracks, and this separation has hampered our understanding of sexual behavior. A small but growing number of studies, however, provide examples of less‐compartmentalized research that avoids oversimplification. They show that expanding the models that drive research in this area is possible, and that efforts to combine disciplinary perspectives result in deeper understandings of knowledge, risk perceptions, attitudes, and behavioral change.

SummaryThis paper investigates the normative and behavioural dimensions of son preference in Morocco and Tunisia, using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of the two countries. It considers three measures of son preference: (1) mothers' ideal number of children, and any preference for having more sons than daughters; (2) the desire for additional children, given their existing family; (3) reported use of contraception in relation to the existing number of children of each sex. The analyses indicate a moderate preference for sons in both countries, and suggest that this preference is somewhat stronger in Tunisia. These findings are interpreted within the cultural context of the two countries, and in particular societal notions of women's status.

Explores commonalities between Western notions of reproductive rights and the principles that define gender rights in Islam.