News from the Fafo frontpage October-December 2011

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New article on introductory programs for immigrants

9 December 2011
Fafo's head of research Anne Britt Djuve has written the article "Introductory Programs for Immigrants - liberalism revisited, or changing ideas of citizenship?" The article is published in Nordic Journal of Migration Research 3/2011. The article deals with changes in Norwegian integration policy for immigrants, and the ideological anchoring of the changes. The UK activation discourse provides a contrastive case for the analysis. The reform studied, the Introductory Act for newly arrived immigrants, follows the Western-European social policy trend towards more activation and conditionality. A main topic in the debate over activation is whether conditionality is imposed in order to qualify and enable, or rather is motivated by an intention to control and deter - in other words, empowerment or neoliberalism.  This paper argues that the Norwegian reform rests on an ideological cocktail of empowerment, gender/political equality and neo-liberalism. The reform was preceded by considerable changes in the political and academic discourses on citizenship, and the new discourses on empowerment and gender/political equality are clearly reflected in the act.
Download the article: Introductory Programs for Immigrants - liberalism revisited, or changing ideas of citizenship?

New book chapter on armed fight, rebels and warlords

November 2011
The Fafo researchers Morten Bøås and Kathleen M. Jennings have written the chapter "Lutte armées, rebelles et seigneurs de la guerre: le spectre du patrimonialisme" (Armed fight,  rebels and warlords: the spectre of patrimonialism) in the book L’état néopatrimonial. Genèse et trajectories contemporaines (The neo-patrimonial state. Genesis and contemporary trajectories). The book is edited by Daniel C. Bach and Mamoudou Gazibo and published by University of Ottawa Press.
Read more about the book at University of Ottawa Press: L' État néopatrimonial

Infant feeding and child nutrition in India

November 2011
Child undernutrition continues to represent a major challenge in India. The Norway-India Partnership Initiative (NIPIi) was initiated in 2007 to contribute to India’s effort in reducing child mortality and improving child health to attain the millennium development goal 4 by 2015. The Fafo researchers Marina de Paoli and Liv Elin Torheim have recently presented their findings from studies in three districts of Madhya Pradesh, together with their research partner in India, dr Mallavarapu Prakasamma at Answers (Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh). The research is based on a household survey with 1204 women with babies 3-11 months, exit interviews with 358 mothers after insitutionalised delivery, three sequential in-depth qualitative interviews with 22 mother-infant pairs, at infant ages 3, 6 and 11 months, respectively, and focus group discussions with various groups of health workers and mothers-in-law. The findings were presented at a dissemination seminar the 2nd November in New Delhi. The study was funded by the Norwegian Embassy in India.
The summary report Key findings from studies in three districts of Madhya Pradesh in India: Hoshangabad, Narsinghpur and Raisen can be obtained from Liv Elin Torheim at Fafo

Fafo-seminar 12 December: Using RDS on mobile populations – lessons from the field

Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is increasingly mentioned in migration research as a method that may improve data production for these populations. RDS is a network-based sampling method that may produce unbiased estimators. Several researchers have tried the method on mobile populations, and Fafo has invited some of these to present their experiences at Fafo 12/12 2011. The speakers are: Lisa Johnston, Tulane University; Jane Montealegre, The University of Texas School of Public Health; Leila Rodriguez, University of Cincinnati, and Jon Horgen Friberg, Fafo (pictured). The seminar will be in English.
Seminar programme

Fafo seminar 24 November with the Palestinian Prime Minister Dr Salam Fayyad

Two major events took place in 2011 which will have an impact on Palestinians: The Arab Spring and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' bid for Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly. Both events raise questions that are of great importance to young Palestinians' current and future prospects and role in society. Young people make up nearly 22 per cent of the population in Palestine and represent a big political potential, but their attitudes and beliefs are often ignored. What do young Palestinians think about their future and their role in Palestinian politics and in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will deliver remarks, preceded by Fafo researcher Jacob Høigilt’s presentation of the findings from Fafo’s latest research on Palestinian youths. The meeting is moderated by NOREF director Mariano Aguirre. The seminar takes place from 09:45-10:45.
Programme

New article on citizenship ceremonies

October 2011
Fafo-researcher Kaja Reegård has published the article "Changing teams': a participant perspective on citizenship ceremonies" in Citizenship Studies, Vol 15, 6-7, 2011, together with Anniken Hagelund at ISF. In the article, the authors analyse interviews with more than 50 newly naturalised Norwegian citizens about their reasons to attend or to not attend the voluntary ceremony in Norway. They find little resistance to the idea of citizenship ceremonies. For some participants, the ceremony seems to have great emotional value; the majority, however, chooses not to participate.
Download the article Changing teams': a participant perspective on citizenship ceremonies

Post-earthquake needs assessments in Sichuan

28 October 2011
CASTED and Fafo completed a large-scale project on needs assessment and monitoring in earthquake affected areas in Sichuan by holding an international conference in Beijing on October 27-28, 2011. The conference included disaster assessment experts from China, Norway, Japan, USA and the World Health Organization. Aiming explicitly at providing inputs to post-disaster development policies, the surveys represent a unique approach which can be highly useful for post-disaster needs assessments across the world.
The picture shows Fafo’s project leader Zhang Huafeng.
Read more about the conference and articles in the Chinese press

New article on video interpreting services in three countries

October 2011
Fafo-researcher Hilde Haualand has published the article "Interpreted Ideals and Relayed Rights: Video Interpreting Services as Objects of Politics" in Disability Studies Quarterly, Vol 31, No 4 (2011). The article deals with the different definitions of video interpreting (VI) services in the U.S., Sweden and Norway. The different definitions serve as a foundation for a discussion on how a technology that at first may appear the same, serves widely different goals in different social and political contexts.
Download the article: Interpreted Ideals and Relayed Rights: Video Interpreting Services as Objects of Politics

New article on how to measure nutrition knowledge among obese adults

October 2011
Fafo-researcher Liv Elin Torheim has published the article "Development of a nutrition knowledge questionnaire for obese adults" in Food and Nutrition Research 2011, 55: 7271. The study is carried out in cooperation with Anne Feren at Sør-Trøndelag University College and Inger T. L. Lillegaard at the University of Oslo. The aim was to develop a questionnaire for assessing nutritional knowledge among overweight adults. The questionnaire should reveal knowledge about current dietary recommendations, sources of nutrients, everyday food choices, and conditions related to overweight. The authors conclude that the questionnaire had an overall good reliability, and that it can be a useful tool for measuring nutrition knowledge among obese adults.
Download the pdf from Development of a nutrition knowledge questionnaire for obese adults

New article: Care challenges for informal caregivers of chronically ill lung patients

October 2011
Fafo-researcher Heidi Gautun has published the article "Care challenges for informal caregivers of chronically ill lung patients: Results from a questionnaire survey" in Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, October 2011. The article is written in cooperation with Anne Werner and Hilde Lurås at Ahus. The authors aim to answer who the informal caregivers of patients with COPD are, what kind of help they provide, and how they experience providing help to the patient. They conclude that paid sick leaves for caregivers that are employed, and hospital-at-home programmes that provide education and surveillance to the patient and his/her family through different phases of the illness, are policy means that both can help the informal caregivers to manage daily life and reduce the pressure on the formal healthcare.
Read the article: Care challenges for informal caregivers of chronically ill lung patients: Results from a questionnaire survey

Kristian Rose Tronstad new expert of The IOM integration and migration netwprk

October 2011
Fafo-researcher Kristian Rose Tronstad is appointed as a new expert in The IOM Independent Network of Labour Migration and Integration Experts (LINET) from 2011. The network was created in 2009 by the International Organization for Migration in order to provide DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of the European Commission with expert analysis and advice on economic migration and labour market integration of third country nationals.
Read more about The IOM Independent Network of Labour Migration and Integration Experts