Kristin Yarris – Undergraduate Research Symposium Abstracts

Constructing Belonging: An In-Depth Analysis of the Oregon Sanctuary Movement

Presenter: Alexis Han − Global Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Kristin Yarris

Session: (In-Person) Oral Panel—HURF

In the 1980s, churches in Oregon and across the nation declared themselves as sanctuaries for Central Americans fleeing civil conflict. This marked the start of the sanctuary movement, a religious and political campaign to assist migrants seeking safety in the United States. The movement made its way into the political sphere in 1987 when Oregon became the first state to pass a sanctuary policy, limiting the use of local law enforcement to apprehend undocumented immigrants. Decades later, the Oregon legislature solidified these protections in 2021 with the passage of the Sanctuary Promise Act. In researching the many dimensions of the Oregon sanctuary movement, my research project takes a multi-disciplinary approach to answer these research questions: How has the Oregon sanctuary movement evolved from its origins in faith-based activism? And how does Oregon’s sanctuary policy and the work of sanctuary and immigrants’ rights activists intersect to cultivate belonging for undocumented people? I engaged in a multi-method study by thematically analyzing interviews with Oregon sanctuary activists and analyzing the Sanctuary Promise Act through analysis of the bill’s text and contextualizing its provisions with interviews from community advocates and submitted public testimonies. These analyses show the resiliency and adaptability of the Oregon sanctuary movement as a community-powered campaign that responds to the needs of undocumented Oregonians in order to cultivate belonging.

Gender, Power and Depo-Provera: Constraints on Reproductive Choice in Rural Nicaragua

Presenter: Nicolette Dent

Mentor: Kristin Yarris

Poster: 8

Major: Anthropology

Using interviews conducted with 87 women in 2003 in Nicaragua, my research explores how gender ideologies reinforce men’s non-involvement with family planning and limit women’s reproductive choices. The popularity of the injectable contraceptive Depo-Provera among this sample reflects these patterns of gender inequality and social constraints on women’s health and power in Latin America. I used Pearson chi-square statistics and t-tests of means to analyze the relationships between women’s marital and socioeconomic statuses and their contraceptive use. I found that rates of Depo-Provera use are higher among women who are married or in union, reflecting how the presence of a male partner influences women to choose “invisible” contraceptive methods. I also found that women who do not have access to electricity, as a measure of lower socioeconomic status, use Depo-Provera at higher rates than women who have electricity. I situate these findings within the historical and cultural context of Nicaragua, and within the contested social history of Depo-Provera. While the current administration in Nicaragua acknowledges the need to involve men in reproductive health issues, men’s lack of participation in family planning remains a global concern. I suggest that women will not be able to employ reproductive choice until governments address issues of gender equality and encourage male participation in reproductive health and responsibility.

Men’s Perception of Family Planning and the Resources Available to Them in Igoda, Tanzania

Presenter: Lauren Ott

Mentor: Kristin Yarris, International Studies

Oral Presentation

Major: International Studies

In rural Tanzania, accessing resources and educating citizens about family planning (FP) options is often a challenge, especially for men. Therefore, the aim of this research is to examine men’s perceptions of FP and the resources available to them. To further examine this issue, 25 surveys were disseminated and 25 men took part in 4 focus group discussions in the Igoda village in the Mufindi region of Tanzania during October 2014. Findings reveal that in rural Igoda the majority of men feel FP is not a women’s issue alone but a shared responsibility. Still, men need to be included further in the conversation to better meet community needs. One in four men surveyed demonstrated an unmet need for FP, stating that they wanted to delay pregnancy but were not currently using any FP. Access to government clinics and hospitals is still significantly limited; thus the lack of availability has limited FP practices in the community. Recommendations based on these findings include that the government do more to better educate men and reduce barriers to access to FP so they can participate to the same extent as their wives. Tanzania has a fertility rate of 5.4 children per woman, significantly higher than the global 2.6 child average. Therefore, understanding FP practices provides powerful insight into the health and development of Tanzania and similar nations.

Best Practices in University Crisis and Mental Health Services

Presenter: Kylie Juggert

Mentor: Kristin Yarris, International Studies

Poster: 35

Major: International Studies

Within the last decade there has been an increase in the number of students seeking university campus mental health and crisis intervention services, leading to long waitlists, delays in assistance, and redirected student searches for mental health aid away from trained providers to faculty and staff. Through thematic content analysis of counseling center websites and interviews with counseling center administrators from the University of Oregon and nineteen other UO similar institutions – public, large, coed, urban universities – we collate best practices for Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) programs that address these issues. Our findings reveal common problems, including: increased severity and complexity of student needs, limited resources, and minimal faculty training around handling student mental health situations. A negative association between the number of CAPS service issues reported in the administrator interviews and the administrator’s overall level of satisfaction with the current services was also found. Content analysis of CAPS websites by three coders determined that functionality and accessibility was the most important feature for perceived successfulness of the center’s website, followed by provision of resources for “concerned others” and prevention services and programs. The latter finding provides significant insight to potential best practice intervention methods, where improving the web content and accessibility of CAPS online sites and expanding resources for “concerned others” and prevention programs could mitigate some of the initial CAPS’ issues presented.

Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren: Subjective Well-being within Transnationally Divided Nicaraguan Families

Presenter: Julia Barber

Mentor: Kristin Yarris, International Studies

Oral Presentation

Major: Anthropology

This presentation examines the effects of transnational family separation on the subjective wellbeing of Nicaraguan grandmothers who have taken the role of guardian after their children have migrated for reasons of economic advancement. While the World Health Organization defines health as encompassing overall social and emotional wellbeing, identifying and measuring ‘wellbeing’ has been challenging. In our analysis, wellbeing is associated with family structure, the state, and transnational migration as well as the responsibilities of inter-generational caregiving. We argue that the state of economic and political systems in Nicaragua, the politicization of national borders, and the constant “micro-worries” (Boehnke, 1998:748) felt by the grandmothers in our study are the greatest actors in determining how the grandmothers define ‘being well’. This work speaks to the anthropology of wellbeing, that both accounts for cultural difference while being useful in international, comparative contexts (Izquierdo, 2009:67). Drawing largely on ethnographic interviews conducted with twenty-four women, this presentation examines the effects of shifting global economic migration patterns from a unique perspective–one that is based on the lived experiences of Nicaraguan grandmothers as they age and take on the guardianship of their grandchildren.

Representations of Madness in Zanzibar, Tanzania; An Analysis of Colonial Mental Health Diagnostic Labels

Presenter(s): Anne Peters − International Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Kristin Yarris, Melissa Graboyes

Oral Session 4M

Research Area: Humanities

Franz Fanon has shown how ideas of mental health and illness reflect historical and political constructs, especially for racialized and colonial subjects and their subjugators. “Confronted with a world configured by the colonizer, the colonized subject is always presumed guilty.” (Fanon, 1961). Drawing on Fanon and other post-colonial scholars, my research asks
the question: what influence did colonial ideas about race and mental illness have on mental health care practices in East Africa during British colonialism? I explore this question by examining primary source materials from archives of the British Superintendent-directed “lunatic asylum” in Zanzibar, Tanzania, from 1914 to 1947. In particular, I conducted a close reading and analysis of the diagnostic labels used during this time, how they were variously applied to African patients (colonial subjects) as compared to patients in British mental hospitals in the same period. My research reveals the colonial motives of the British Protectorate in both the diagnosis and the treatment of patients, and considers the broader political purpose these diagnoses may have served. Not only were the staff in charge inadequate to make such diagnoses, but also it was a commonly held belief that the native populations admitted to the asylum were mentally incapable of having the same diagnoses as their English counterpart. My research also contributes an historical perspective to the broader field of Global Mental Health, as I examine how shifts in psychiatric diagnoses reflect social interests, political power, and racialized ideas.

Postpartum Depression In Argentina’s Public Health Sector

Presenter(s): Sejal Asher – International Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): William Johnson, Kristin Yaris

Poster 93

Research Area: Global Health

Globally, Argentina has the highest population of psychologists per capita and is succeeding increasing psychiatric social acceptability; yet, the lack of maternal mental health programs and education is questionable and troublesome. The research presented focuses on the treatment and education of postpartum depression in the public healthcare sector of Argentina and why access to care is almost nonexistent in a nation openly invested in mental health care. The primary research was collected over four weeks and methods included formal interviews, informal conversations, and participant observation. A majority of this research was conducted while volunteering in Maternidad Martin, a public maternity clinic in Rosario. During the time in the clinic, the researcher interviewed many staff members, volunteers, and patients about maternal mental health. The conclusion was made that the lack of information and education surrounding maternal mental health is high because of the lack of government enforcement for a set standard of care in the public health system. In provinces further from the capital, the quality of care is progressively lower. This is not due to discrimination but rather to the lack of education amongst medical workers. In addition, the structure of the Argentine family adds to the widening informational gap surrounding the stigma of maternal mental health. Though general mental health is openly discussed, negative mental health issues associated with motherhood are taboo as women fear being labeled as an inadequate mother. This research is critical because it expands upon an issue affecting one in seven women globally. It is imperative to strengthen maternal mental health care because ignoring issues within the topic is not only detrimental to the quality of life for the mother, but also negatively affects the future of the child and stability of the family structure as a whole.

Embodied Experiences: The Health Implications of Transnationality and Undocumented Migration Among Latin Americans

Presenter(s): Samantha Sidline

Faculty Mentor(s): Kristin Yarris & Christabelle Dragoo

Oral Session 1 C

Given the current political climate, studying Latin American migrant experiences and adverse consequences to health is particularly important and relevant. By evaluating health disparities, studying social stigmas, and examining institutions and policies, ethnographic research has been able to show how being a Latin American in a transnational setting negatively affects health outcomes. This project draws on three ethnographic studies about health and transnational migration written by Kristin E. Yarris, Whitney L. Duncan, and Sarah B. Horton. The ethnographic research follows the experiences of Latin Americans in three distinctly different transnational circumstances, including grandmothers serving as caretakers of their grandchildren in their migrant daughter’s absence, families separated by the United States and Mexico border, and undocumented migrants in California. The arguments of this presentation synthesize the findings in these ethnographies by identifying key themes and commonalties among Latin American transnational migrants and applying theories to these themes. The health outcomes of the individuals studied in these ethnographies reveal how mental and physical health symptoms are the manifestation of lived experiences based on social position, such as socioeconomic and legal status. These outcomes are directly related to the concept of syndemics, which describes the interrelationship between mental health struggles and chronic disease. Intersectionality Theory, which describes how systems of oppression contribute to health inequity, is also foundational in the evaluation of health outcomes across Latin American populations. The culmination of these ethnographic studies and the application of other theories demonstrate how Latin American transnational families and undocumented migrants suffer disproportionately from chronic disease and mental health challenges.

Analyzing Treatment of Schizophrenic Patients within Morningside Hospital from 1955- 1958

Presenter(s): Rachel McGill

Faculty Mentor(s): Kristin Yarris

Oral Session 2 SW

Mental health affects all individuals directly or indirectly and remains a significant problem within the global burden of disease. As there is not a test for a schizophrenia diagnosis, nor a direct form of treatment, it has proved difficult to diagnose and control in patients even now. When looking to analyze the history of mental health, the Morningside Hospital in Portland provides original documents of patient records with various psychiatric diagnoses, with a heavy concentration of schizophrenic patients. Morningside Hospital ran from 1883- 1986, and through a contract with the US Interior, Alaskan patients were transported to Morningside as a mental illness was seen as a crime in Alaska. By using patient records from 1955-1958 donated by Dr. William Burke, a doctor at the hospital, diagnostic coding, and interviews, an outline of patient treatment were analyzed. Shown through the findings with patients being treated with ECT, electroshock therapy declined from 1955 to 1958 and the use of Thorazine increased during this period. While we have moved away from the controversial treatment of shipping mentally ill patients from Alaska to Morningside, the mental health industry is still facing financial problems, many state hospitals are now closed, and community outreach programs are stretched to the breaking point. Through this research, there is optimism that recognizing the past will be used to model the future. In the future, it will remain paramount that how mental disorders are perceived, diagnosed and treated continues to evolve and grow to reduce mental health’s global burden of disease.

Sidebar