In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

What's wrong with markets in everything? Markets today are widely recognized as the most efficient way in general to organize production and distribution in a complex economy. And with the collapse of communism and rise of globalization, it's no surprise that markets and the political theories supporting them have seen a considerable resurgence. For many, markets are an all-purpose remedy for the deadening effects of bureaucracy and state control. But what about those markets we might label noxious-markets in addictive drugs, say, or in sex, weapons, child labor, or human organs? Such markets arouse widespread discomfort and often revulsion. In Why Some Things Should Not Be for Sale, philosopher Debra Satz takes a penetrating look at those commodity exchanges that strike most of us as problematic. What considerations, she asks, ought to guide the debates about such markets? What is it about a market involving prostitution or the sale of kidneys that makes it morally objectionable? How is a market in weapons or pollution different than a market in soybeans or automobiles? Are laws and social policies banning the more noxious markets necessarily the best responses to them? Satz contends that categories previously used by philosophers and economists are of limited utility in addressing such questions because they have assumed markets to be homogenous. Accordingly, she offers a broader and more nuanced view of markets-one that goes beyond the usual discussions of efficiency and distributional equality--to show how markets shape our culture, foster or thwart human development, and create and support structures of power. An accessibly written work that will engage not only philosophers but also political scientists, economists, legal scholars, and public policy experts, this book is a significant contribution to ongoing discussions about the place of markets in a democratic society.

Explores the place of labor in children's lives and child development. By incorporating recent theoretical advances in childhood studies and in child development, the authors argue for the need to re-think assumptions that underlie current policies on child labor. Proposes a new approach to promote the well-being, development, and human rights of working children. From publisher description.

Applied Developmental Psychology: Volume 3 is a collection of papers from different experts in the field of psychology in an attempt to put forth a vision of psychology as a developmental science through its applications in different studies. The book covers topics such as psychological development in infancy, the meanings of constructs, and the measurement and meaning of parent-child interaction. Also covered are topics such as the development of high-risk infants in low-risk families, as well as the effects of deprivation on human visual development. The text is recommended to psychologists, especially those who would like to research on how the field can be viewed as a developmental science.

In contemporary academia, the multifaceted roles of women and the unique challenges they encounter throughout their lives and motherhood are often understudied and overlooked. Issues ranging from everyday struggles faced by immigrant women to the profound effects of domestic abuse, disability, and disordered eating on maternal well-being and child development persist in the shadows of scholarly exploration. This lack of comprehensive research not only hinders our understanding of women's vital contributions to society but also deprives us of the knowledge required to address these challenges effectively. Challenges and Opportunities for Women, Parenting, and Child Development is a groundbreaking book that fills the void in academic literature, offering a comprehensive exploration of women's lived experiences, strengths, and vulnerabilities in the present day. It provides a holistic perspective on women's roles in society and motherhood, from their early development to the unique challenges they face during pregnancy, infertility, and raising children with disabilities. Scholars, researchers, and individuals interested in the intricate study of women, motherhood, femininity, and child development will find this book to be an invaluable resource.

This book explores the role of public action in eliminating deprivation and expanding human freedoms in India. The analysis is based on a broad and integrated view of development, which focuses on well-being and freedom rather than the standard indicators of economic growth. The authors placehuman agency at the centre of stage, and stress the complementary roles of different institutions (economic, social, and political) in enhancing effective freedoms.In comparative international perspective, the Indian economy has done reasonably well in the period following the economic reforms initiated in the early nineties. However, relatively high aggregate economic growth coexists with the persistence of endemic deprivation and deep social failures. JeanDreze and Amartya Sen relate this imbalance to the continued neglect, in the post-reform period, of public involvement in crucial fields such as basic education, health care, social security, environmental protection, gender equity, and civil rights, and also to the imposition of new burdens such asthe accelerated expansion of military expenditure. Further, the authors link these distortions of public priorities with deep-seated inequalities of social influence and political power. The book discusses the possibility of addressing these biases through more active democratic practice.

Study conducted in Bangalore City of Karnataka, India.