The inappropriate use of Western medicines among the Mende of Sierra Leone is addressed as a cultural issue. We show that traditional beliefs about diseases and treatments have provided the explanatory framework for the contemporary Mende in reinterpreting the function of many Western medicines...

In Sierra Leone, where infant and child mortality rates are quite high, a large proportion of small children from 1 to 5 yr are fostered: living away from their mothers. This paper examines the relationships between fosterage and child feeding practices and children's access to Western medical...

Based on an analysis of the Spanish census and the January 1, 2005 municipal register and on exploratory fieldwork in Catalonia, this paper combines ethnography and demography, in conjunction with current Spanish reunification law, to examine the dynamics of what appears to be high fertility...