Sofia Morales

Followers

Following

Public Views

With specialization in communications and sociology, Sofia Morales’ research spotlights phenomenon such as migration/mobility, multiculturalism, diversity, health communications, gender based violence and social networks. Currently on a one year research placement in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda, Sofia Morales is investigating the ‘ghost’ pluralistic usage of biomedical and traditional medical practices and the role in the discourse of government health promotion campaigns and the multiculturalism and diversity of Uganda. In 2016, Morales was asked by the Slovak UNESCO Chair for Human Rights Research to present a written piece for publication on children’s rights, with focus on the Aboriginal Community in Canada.

Forced to leave her home country, El Salvador, with her family at a young age due to violence, Sofia Morales has grown up in the United States and Canada. Many of her research interests come from personal experience and Morales uses a reflective, auto-ethnographic approach.
Supervisors: Muriisa Roberts and Nils Olav

less

InterestsView All (11)

Uploads

Research by Sofia Morales

HUMAN RIGHTS NEWS VULNERABLE GROUPS AND RIGHTS OF MINORITIES A single type of child: Canada Accessibility of Rights for People with Disabilities

(P. 4) In the young days of Canada, there existed three main categories of different types of peo... more (P. 4) In the young days of Canada, there existed three main categories of different types of people: (1) French Canadians, (2) English Canadians, and (3) indigenous people. The category of indigenous people has only evolved in its given name. It has fluctuated from indigenous to natives, to Aboriginals, to First Nations; nonetheless, the category remained alive to this day. When in 1867 Canada became a new federation, with its own constitution, and independence from Britain, along with celebrations for the newly inaugurated sovereignty, there existed a strong yearning to build the new country’s identity, to establish a nation. What would be the characteristics of a Canadian person? What would Canada stand for? What would be Canadian culture?

Download

A Sociological Consideration on Maternal Self-care in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda

The research location of this study is in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement (Uganda); I was placed ... more The research location of this study is in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement (Uganda); I was placed here for two months in Nyarugugu Health Center with Medical Teams International (MTI), to study maternal health. Recurring inquiries exist on the quality of maternal and reproductive health services of different humanitarian organizations to various refugee communities, for example best practice analyses. However, a knowledge gap recurs on the subject of refugees’ ability to comply to self-care practice recommendations. My study posed the question: What societal, social and individual factors determine mothers’ access to self-care practices in the Nakivale refugee settlement? My study unveils an opposition: healthcare professionals ́ perception of individually determined self-care practices and maternal patients’ perceptions of these same self-care practices instead being socially founded. Challenges to maternal healthcare promotion then grounded in this opposition. In the final section of this paper, I offer an addition to Jone’s (2009) Cliff Analogy for healthcare access to include self-care as a vital factor.

Download

All About: Grounded Theory

In mid-twentieth century data enquiry, qualitative methods were viewed by many scholars as impres... more In mid-twentieth century data enquiry, qualitative methods were viewed by many scholars as impressionistic and biased, characteristics which did not support any reliability for data enquiry at this time. Within this setting, Grounded Theory surfaced as a method. The new method required theory-grounded-in-data through rigorous data coding, which gave the qualitative a place next to the quantitative throne by forcing the two methods to work together. Yet, the combination of these opposing fields of thought produced a flexible method of research, of constant action instead of stagnant data gathering and observation. Under this light, from its beginning, Grounded Theory became popular across academic fields, encompassing research in life sciences equally as in social sciences. And although many alternative formats to go about Grounded Theory have been proposed, the current leading Grounded Theorist is Kathy Charmaz. In this text, the Grounded Theory method of then, and the changes which have brought it to the now will be summarized.

Download

"Mobility": On it's parametric conditioning for enactment

My paper begins by recounting the story of Becky, a young Nigerian girl who dreams of going to It... more My paper begins by recounting the story of Becky, a young Nigerian girl who dreams of going to Italy. I use the film documenting Becky’s story as a magnifying glass to uncover other ways mobility can be thought of, beyond its defintion in policy. My main observation through this is how there appear to be meanings deemed connotative and meanings deemed denotative. In this lens, I pose the research question: How do definitions of mobility[ies] impact its enactment?

Download

Drafts by Sofia Morales

IOM Bangladesh: Looking into the forms of healthcare intervention for systematically sexually assaulted refugee Rohingya women and girls arriving in Cox's Bazar

Let us turn the global lens East, over the prime meridian, onto Southeast Asia, and find hidden u... more Let us turn the global lens East, over the prime meridian, onto Southeast Asia, and find hidden under layers of other political strifes and migratory patterns to date, the genocidal crisis of the Rohingya people of Myanmar. There are approximately 850,000 displaced Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and surrounding nations, with thousands more still waiting at the borders (Dussich, 2018). An elaborate compilation of ethno-religious conflicts between Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim factions in Myanmar, dating back to the World Wars, reinforced by a nation struggling with poverty, hatred, linguistic differences and confused ancestral rights is recognized behind the crisis (Ibid.). In a news report cited by John P. J. Dussich (2018), it was referred to as “the largest and fastest flow of destitute people across a border since the 1994 Rwandan genocide” (p. 4). John P. J. Dussich (2018) lists the human rights’ violations against Rohingya in Myanmar including removal of citizenship, systematic persecution and racism, denial of education, confiscation and destruction of property, restrictions on marriage, forced expulsion, abuse of children, elders and women, and mass rapes. On September 20th, 2018, the Canadian House of Commons adopted a motion recognizing officially this situation as genocide ( “Canadian Parliament Votes Unanimously to Recognize Rohingya Genocide”, 2018). This essay intends to examine and, furthermore, explicate the healthcare conditions of Rohingya refugees at Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh. But, some argue mass systematic rapes are a main weapon in this genocidal, ethnic cleansing effort (Dussich, 2018). Therefore, this essay will place prime focus on victims of sexual violence (SV) arriving at Cox’s Bazar. The U.N. World Health Organization (WHO) has made recommendations specifically addressing treatment of victims of SV; the central question this text will address is what forms of healthcare intervention has the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and other non-governmental groups behind healthcare at Cox’s Bazar, taken to assist arriving raped Rohingya refugees? Studies show sexual violence requires extensive post-assault mental and physical healthcare. New IOM reports describe action for women’s mental health intervention titled “Safe Spaces”, an initiative with lucrative towards the emotional freedom of Rohingya women at Cox’s Bazar. Yet, at Cox’s Bazar the question on healthcare in relation to SV not only relates to women but also to the mothers many of these women become and to the babies conceived at these forced sexual acts.

Download

Canada: Reflections of multiculturalism and diversity in services offered to women after sexual assault

How do post-sexual assault services in Canada interact with the country’s claims on diversity and... more How do post-sexual assault services in Canada interact with the country’s claims on diversity and multiculturalism? This paper aims to discuss this research question by first delineating the difference between the often mistakenly synonymized multiculturalism and diversity, followed by elaborations on the prominence of sexual assault in Canada. This paper considers direct insight into the experience of sexual assault survivors in Canada from three different backgrounds: immigrant newcomer, Aboriginal, and non-Aboriginal Canadian. Through such analysis, the findings of this study indicate expected differences in access to aid after sexual assault by different groups, but as well a discrepancy appears not only in the perceptions of needed treatment of healthcare professionals and sexual assault survivors (patients), but surprisingly this difference in perception also reveals itself between the different groups of women as well.

Download

HUMAN RIGHTS NEWS VULNERABLE GROUPS AND RIGHTS OF MINORITIES A single type of child: Canada Accessibility of Rights for People with Disabilities

Download

A Sociological Consideration on Maternal Self-care in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda

Download

All About: Grounded Theory

Download

"Mobility": On it's parametric conditioning for enactment

Download

IOM Bangladesh: Looking into the forms of healthcare intervention for systematically sexually assaulted refugee Rohingya women and girls arriving in Cox's Bazar

Download

Canada: Reflections of multiculturalism and diversity in services offered to women after sexual assault

Download

Sofia Morales

Uploads

Research by Sofia Morales

Drafts by Sofia Morales

Log In