Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Few studies have investigated the role of disenfranchisement and denial of agency in women’s sexual health. To address this, a cross-sectional study of disenfranchisement, control (general and reproductive control) and health was conducted in Ireland, where abortion is severely restricted. Multiple mediation models (N = 513 women) indicated that general but not reproductive control mediates the association between disenfranchisement and psychological well-being. Additionally, serial mediation shows disenfranchisement is associated with lower sense of control, which is linked to poorer well-being and risky sexual behaviour. Disenfranchisement arising from socio-political contexts may have important implications for women’s sexual health.

Keywords

abortion control disenfranchisement health well-being

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Andreassen

Trondsen

(2010) The empowered patient and the sociologist. Social Theory & Health 8(3): 280–287.

Bobak

Pikhart

Rose

et al . (2000) Socioeconomic factors, material inequalities, and perceived control in self-rated health: Cross-Sectional data from seven post-communist countries. Social Science & Medicine 51(9): 1343–1350.

Bosma

Marmot

Hemingway

et al . (1997) Low job control and risk of coronary heart disease in Whitehall II (prospective cohort) study. BMJ: British Medical Journal 314(7080): 558.

Center for Reproductive Rights (2017) World Abortion Laws. Available at: http://worldabortionlaws.com/questions.html (accessed 21 April 2017).

David

Dytrych

Matejcek

(2003) Born unwanted: Observations from the Prague study. American Psychologist 58(3): 224–229.

DeHart

Birkimer

(1997) Trying to practice safer sex: Development of the sexual risks scale. Journal of Sex Research 34(1): 11–25.

Ell

Mantell

Hamovitch

et al . (1989) Social support, sense of control, and coping among patients with breast, lung, or colorectal cancer. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology 7(3): 63–89.

Fletcher

(2001) Post-Colonial fragments: Representations of abortion in Irish law and politics. Journal of Law and Society 28(4): 568–579.

Fritsche

Jonas

Ablasser

et al . (2013) The power of we: Evidence for group-based control. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 49: 19–32.

10.

Gilmartin

White

(2011) Interrogating medical tourism: Ireland, abortion, and mobility rights. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 36(2): 275–280.

11.

Glasier

Gülmezoglu

(2006) Putting sexual and reproductive health on the agenda. The Lancet 368: 1550–1551.

12.

Goldberg

(1992) General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Windsor: NFER-Nelson.

13.

Grace

Anderson

(2016) Reproductive coercion: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. Epub ahead of print 16 August. DOI: 10.1177/1524838016663935.

14.

Hayes

(2013) Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based approach. New York: Guildford Press.

15.

Irish Examiner (2017) Everything you need to know about the Citizens’ Assembly recommendations on abortion. Available at: http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-citizens-assembly-recommendations-on-abortion-786904.html (accessed 9 May 2017).

16.

Irish Family Planning Association (n.d.) Abortion in Ireland. Available at: https://www.ifpa.ie/Hot-Topics/Abortion/Abortion-in-Ireland-Timeline (accessed 10 October 2017).

17.

Kerrigan

Fonner

Stromdahl

et al . (2013) Community empowerment among female sex workers is an effective HIV prevention intervention: A systematic review of the peer-reviewed evidence from low-and middle-income countries. AIDS and Behavior 17(6): 1926–1940.

18.

Kerrigan

Kennedy

Morgan-Thomas

et al . (2015) A community empowerment approach to the HIV response among sex workers: Effectiveness, challenges, and considerations for implementation and scale-up. The Lancet 385(9963): 172–185.

19.

Koenig

Büssing

(2010) The Duke University Religion Index (DUREL): A five-item measure for use in epidemological studies. Religions 1(1): 78–85.

20.

Krug

Mercy

Dahlberg

et al . (2002) The world report on violence and health. The Lancet 360(9339): 1083–1088.

21.

Lachman

Weaver

(1998) The sense of control as a moderator of social class differences in health and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74(3): 763.

22.

Macrodimitris

Endler

(2001) Coping, control, and adjustment in Type 2 diabetes. Health Psychology 20(3): 208–216.

23.

Marmot

(2004) The Status Syndrome: How Your Social Standing Affects Your Health and Life Expectancy. London: Bloomsbury.

24.

Moore

Frohwirth

Miller

(2010) Male reproductive control of women who have experienced intimate partner violence in the United States. Social Science & Medicine 70: 1737–1744.

25.

Schmid

Muldoon

(2015) Perceived threat, social identification, and psychological well-being: The effects of political conflict exposure. Political Psychology 36(1): 75–92.

26.

Schulz

(2005) Political efficacy and expected political participation among lower and upper secondary students. A comparative analysis with data from the IEA Civic Education Study. Online Submission. Paper prepared for the ECPR General Conference in Budapest, 8–10 September.

27.

Secura

Buckel

Zhao

et al . (2014) Change in sexual behaviour with provision of no-cost contraception. Obstetrics & Gynecology 123: 771–776.

28.

Sedgh

Henshaw

Singh

et al . (2007) Induced abortion: Estimated rates and trends worldwide. The Lancet 370(9595): 1338–1345.

29.

Smith

Son

(2013) Trends in public attitudes towards abortion. The National Opinion Research Center.

30.

Stollberg

Fritsche

Bäcker

(2015) Striving for group agency: Threat to personal control increases the attractiveness of agentic groups. Frontiers in Psychology 6: 649.

31.

The All-Party Oireachtas Committee of the Constitution (2005) Amending the Constitution. Available at: http://archive.constitution.ie/amending-the-constitution/default.asp?UserLang=EN (accessed 21 April 2017).

32.

Tschann

Adler

Millstein

et al . (2002) Relative power between sexual partners and condom use among adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health 31(1): 17–25.

33.

Upadhyay

Dworkin

Weitz

et al . (2014) Development and validation of a reproductive autonomy scale. Studies in Family Planning 45(1): 19–41.

34.

Wiggins

(2011) Popular education for health promotion and community empowerment: A review of the literature. Health Promotion International 27(3): 356–370.

35.

Wilkinson

Pickett

(2009) The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, vol. 6. London: Allen Lane.

36.

World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Population Fund and Key Centre for Women’s Health in Society (2009) Mental Health Aspects of Women’s Reproductive Health: A Global Review of the Literature. Geneva: WHO.

37.

Zimmerman

(1995) Psychological empowerment: Issues and illustrations. American Journal of Community Psychology 23(5): 581–599.

38.

Zimmerman

(2000) Empowerment theory. In: Rappaport

Seidman

(eds) Handbook of Community Psychology. New York: Springer, pp. 43–63.

Restricted reproductive rights and risky sexual behaviour: How political disenfranchisement relates to women’s sense of control,well-being and sexual health

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References