ROLE, STATUS CHANGES AND FAMILY PLANNING USE AMONG CAMBODIAN REFUGEE WOMEN (WOMEN).
Contributors: University of California, San Francisco.
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 236
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Women's Studies.; Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies.
Description: This ethnographic study examined Cambodian refugee women's role and status changes after resettlement and how such changes are related to their family planning use. Participant observation for 18 months within a Cambodian community in Northern California generated information about Cambodian women's and men's roles and activities, as well as the influence of the culture and community on individuals and families. Ethnographic interviews were conducted with 30 women and 23 men, evenly distributed by rural and urban backgrounds. The men were more highly educated in Cambodia, and more competent in English. Although there was a high number of pregnancies among the entire sample of women, those under 30 are having fewer babies than did their mothers and grandmothers. Despite educational and employment opportunities, the majority of women do not take advantage because of community concerns. Women are perceived as changing too rapidly, and strict rules of behavior have been imposed on them. Family planning, is not seen as an available option because the common family planning methods are believed to cause undesirable side effects which are incompatible with Cambodian beliefs about the physical body and individual behaviors. There is a low use of family planning despite verbalization that small families are desirable. These findings demonstrate a need to teach family planning to both women and men in sessions in a manner that incorporates traditional ideas. A descriptive model called "Family Honor and Childbearing Interest among Cambodian Refugees" was developed to explain childbearing in the context of time and geographic location.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-08, Section: B, page: 4124.

Thesis (D.N.S.)--UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, 1991.

School code: 0034.