"This paper examines the issues of who is likely to migrate and why, and what happens when people migrate, by viewing the migratory process as a strategy formulated and implemented by networks of kin for culturally surviving the redefinitions of contemporary political systems within the context of the capitalist world economy. Specifically the argument presented is that people move across the juridical boundaries of contemporary nation-states as part of household strategies designed to maintain membership in a specific social stratum. For a substantial number this social stratum is a middle class. Self-identification with a social stratum, in other words, takes precedence over self-identification with, and commitments to, nation, region or ethnic group."
The use of ethnographic methods to estimate the number of homeless persons in the United States is explored. The authors describe how "ethnographic methods were integrated with survey procedures in a 1989 Census Bureau pilot test of an experimental daytime count of homeless persons in Baltimore, MD. We demonstrated that ethnographic techniques do not have to be merely supplemental to survey research, but can play an integral part in shaping the entire procedure. Ethnographic data proved valuable for choosing sites, designing questionnaires and developing new interview approaches, and have since proven equally useful in interpreting the test results."
"This paper examines migration to Oaxaca City, an intermediate city in southern Mexico, and describes the differences between migrants and non-migrants. The data show that migrants to Oaxaca City tend to come from district capitals rather than more rural municipios. Once in Oaxaca, migrants are not as different from non-migrants as is commonly asserted in the literature."
"This paper examines the relationships between migration and the life cyle of households in contexts where the economic activities of peasant families are increasingly diversified and where off-farm labor has come to form a vital part of subsistence strategies. Research from the department of Puno, southern Peru is used to explore the issues this raises including: (a) differences between externally induced economic differentiation and the life cycle dynamics of peasant households; (b) the differing migratory patterns of rich and poor households; and (c) the effects of migration on household labor supply and productive organization. The paper concludes by suggesting that for poor families, who exercise less control over the timing of the migratory process, migration may cause disruptive effects in [production], a reorientation of the household division of labor, and changes in reproductive decision-making."
This article examines the fertility control decision making of Puerto Rican women in Hartford, Connecticut a city that has a high sterilization rate among Puerto Rican heads or co-heads of households. Decisions regarding fertility are conceptualized as a result of a complex interaction among individual needs of women, factors influencing the family, the impact of religious institutions, accessibility of medical services, and socioeconomic resources of the household and the local community. A survey of 153 female household heads in Hartford conducted in 1978-79 by the Hispanic Health Council found that 79 (51.6%) had been sterilized. Further analysis was aimed at identifying the factors linked to sterilization in a subsample of the original respondents that included 3 categories: those using no birth control, those using the IUD or oral contraception, and those sterilized. The results indicate that Puerto Rican women begin their sexual activity with limited use of birth control, accept reversible methods primarily after the 2nd and 3rd births, become sterilized in significant numbers after their 3rd child, and have generally attaned sterilization after 5 births. Sterilization is the fertility control method most frequently selected at the point where women feel they have reached their desired family size. Since optimal family size is achieved quickly, many Puerto Rican women seek sterilization in their 20s. This widespread acceptance of sterilization in part reflects the effects of recent sterilization campaigns in Puerto Rico. It further reflects health care providers' expectation that Puerto Rican women will not be successful in their use of reversible methods. The major difference between higher and lower socioeconomic groups centers around the point in family size at which sterilization takes place, with women of higher socioeconomic status terminating childbearing after fewer births. It is concluded that interventions should aim to increase use of reversible methods of birth control, both for birth spacing and family size limitation, among Puerto Rican women of higher socioeconomic status and that a comprehensive approach, involving both socioeconomic factors and fertility control, should be directed toward those of lower socioeconomic status.
