Mutuality and competition: Female landless labour and wage rates in Tamil Nadu

The factors determining rural wage rates have remained problematic in writings on agrarian structure in rural India. First, a striking segmentation of the rural labour market has been widely noted so that different wage rates exist even for contiguous villages. Secondly, it has been argued that the ‘stickiness downwards’ of wage rates, particularly the rigidity downwards of daily money wages, is very marked and is not susceptible to explanation in terms of conventional economic theories. A useful approach by Rudra to these two problems is examined here and it is suggested that the striking contrasts that emerge between his model (based on Bengali data) and the Tamil model presented here show that it is essential to incorporate a micro‐level anthropological approach in order to understand rural wage rate determinants. There can be no pan‐Indian model: only through micro‐level approaches can researchers understand the importance of complex socio‐cultural contexts to the ways in which wage rates are formed and changed.     

Property and proper chastity: Women's land rights in South Asia today

Bina Agarwal's ambitious and wide‐ranging book, A Field of One's Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), is reviewed. Agarwal's argument is that women in South Asia should have the same land rights as men. She considers, in detail, the pervasiveness with which such land rights are absent (although they do exist in certain limited areas), why this is so, and the means by which such rights might be obtained. Among the issues raised are: the need for women's organisations at the village level, whether legislation on its own can confer genuine rights (the answer is ‘no'), how control of women's sexuality connects with male control of land, and regional differences within India (especially between North and South). The book is seen to be a magisterial study of high quality. The one criticism made of it is the implication of Agarwal's theoretical discussion that gender ideologies are determined by economic causes. This is contested.

A Field of One's Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia, Bina Agarwal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Pp.xxii + 572. £60 (hardback); £24.95 (paperback). ISBN 81 85618 63 1 and 64 X.     

The Impact of Children on Legal Actions Taken by Women Victims of Intimate Partner Violence

Successful criminal or civil legal system response to assaults against intimate partners (intimate partner violence; IPV) usually rely on the victim’s participation in the legal process, including having contact with the prosecutor, filing charges, and/or applying for an order of personal protection. Using data abstracted from criminal and civil legal system records for a county-wide cohort of 990 female IPV victims over a 4-year period, we examine the impact of having children, and of specific child factors, on victims’ engagement with the criminal prosecution of their abusive partners and/or seeking a personal protection order (PPO) in the civil court system. Having children increased victim’s contact with the prosecutor and applications for PPOs, but did not increase her likelihood of wanting to file or drop charges. Findings support prior work suggesting both the importance and complexity of children on mothers’ decision-making. Policy makers and service providers may want to assess survivors’ thoughts about the role children play in their decision-making. Additionally, by offering survivors interventions to help their children address the impact of IPV exposure, survivors may be more willing to engage with services.     

SERVICES FOR CHILDREN OF INCARCERATED PARENTS

“Services for Children of Incarcerated Parents” provides an overview of the history, design and outcomes of human service programs provided for children of prisoners in the United States. The article examines services based in correctional settings and services sited in the community, using examples from the core programs and projects conducted by the Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents from 1990 through 2010. An analysis of the utility of specific services to children and families, and the effectiveness of those services in improving child outcomes is provided.