Negotiating Collective and Individual Agency: A Qualitative Study of Young Women’s Reproductive Health in Rural India

The societal changes in India and the available variety of reproductive health services call for evidence to inform health systems how to satisfy young women’s reproductive health needs. Inspired by Foucault’s power idiom and Bandura’s agency framework, we explore young women’s opportunities to prac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Qualitative health research 2017-02, Vol.27 (3), p.311-324
Main Authors: Paul, Mandira, Essén, Birgitta, Sariola, Salla, Iyengar, Sharad, Soni, Sunita, Klingberg Allvin, Marie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
abortion
Abortion, Induced - psychology
Adolescent
agency
contraception
Contraception Behavior - ethnology
Contraception Behavior - psychology
Decision Making
Female
Health and Welfare
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health technology assessment
Humans
Hälsa och välfärd
Implications for Practice
India
Interviews as Topic
Medicin och hälsovetenskap
Negotiating - psychology
qualitative in-depth interviews
reproductive decision making
Reproductive Health - ethnology
reproductive health policy
rural India
Rural Population
Social Environment
Socioeconomic Factors
Women's Health - ethnology
Young Adult
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Summary:The societal changes in India and the available variety of reproductive health services call for evidence to inform health systems how to satisfy young women’s reproductive health needs. Inspired by Foucault’s power idiom and Bandura’s agency framework, we explore young women’s opportunities to practice reproductive agency in the context of collective social expectations. We carried out in-depth interviews with 19 young women in rural Rajasthan. Our findings highlight how changes in notions of agency across generations enable young women’s reproductive intentions and desires, and call for effective means of reproductive control. However, the taboo around sex without the intention to reproduce made contraceptive use unfeasible. Instead, abortions were the preferred method for reproductive control. In conclusion, safe abortion is key, along with the need to address the taboo around sex to enable use of “modern” contraception. This approach could prevent unintended pregnancies and expand young women’s agency.
ISSN:1049-7323
1552-7557
1552-7557
DOI:10.1177/1049732315613038