ASSESSING
REFUGEE
COMMUNICATIVE
ECOLOGY
to
CRITIQUE
and
GUIDE
HEALTH
COMMUNICATION
CAMPAIGNS
on
HIV
PREVENTION
Nakia
Ma'hias-­‐Tshikuna
Doctoral
Candidate
Ohio
University
Media
Arts
and
Studies
Program
Scripps
College
of
CommunicaBon
IAMCR
2014
Hyderabad,
India

§ STUDY
CONTEXTS
&
PARTICIPANTS
§ RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
§ THEORETICAL
GUIDES
§ METHODS:
SAMPLING,
DATA
COLLECTION
&
ANALYSIS
§ EMERGENT
THEMES
§ CONCLUSIVE
REMARKS
OVERVIEW

§ Namibia’s
award
winning
Break
the
Chain
SBCC
Campaign
to
address
MCP
as
a
driver
of
HIV
§ Exclusion
or
neglect
of
refugee
populaRons
as
audiences
for
messages
&
programs
§ Research
shows
overlap
of
HIV
risk
factors
&
vulnerabiliRes
for
target
audiences
&
refugee
populaRons
§ Mobility
for
survival/
by
choice
§
resource
scarcity
§ cultural
&
gender
based
norms
§ sexual
behaviors
STUDY
CONTEXT
&
PARTICIPANTS

§ 10
week
snapshot
ethnography
in
Namibia
in
3
seZngs:
§ Windhoek
§ Otjiwarongo
§
28
days
in
Osire
refugee
camp
47
ParRcipants:
§ Male
refugees
18
to
54
years
§ NaRonaliRes:
Angola,
Rwanda,
Burundi,
Uganda,
CAR,
DRC,
Kenya
&
Ethiopia
§ Languages:
French,
Kiswahili,
Portuguese,
English,
Lingala
STUDY
CONTEXT
&
PARTICIPANTS

RQ2
How
can
the
communicaBon
ecology
of
male
refugees
be
understood
and
arBculated?
RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
RQ1
What
is
the
nature
of
and
impetus
for
mobility
rouBnes
enacted
by
male
refugees?

RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
RQ3
What
are
male
refugees’
knowledge
and
percepBons
of
the
Break
the
Chain
SBCC
campaign?
RQ4
How
are
HIV
and
AIDS
related
messaging
achieved
within
the
Osire
refugee
camp?

THEORETICAL
GUIDES
COMMUNICATIVE
ECOLOGY
§ INFORMATION
&
MEDIA
§ STRUCTURES
&
ASSETS
§ CULTURES
&
SALIENCE
§ EFFECTIVE
ENVIRONMENT*
§ COMMUNITY
CENTERED
SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTIONS
§ MEANING
IN
SOCIAL
ACTS
GROUNDED
THEORY
*Altheide
(1995)

§ OBSERVATION
§ PARTICIPANT
OBSERVATION
§ UNSTRUCTURED
INTERVIEWS
§ GO
ALONG
INTERVIEWS
§ MAPPING
ELICITATION
INTERVIEWS
§ AUDIO
RECORDINGS
§ PHOTOGRAPHS
§ JOTTINGS
&
FIELD
NOTES
§ PARTICIPANT
MAP
SKETCHES
METHODS:
SAMPLING,
DATA
COLLECTION
&
ANALYSIS
DATA
COLLECTION
TYPES
of
DATA
§ GROUNDED
THEORY
§ COMMUNICATION
ECOLOGY
ANALYSIS
§ PURPOSIVE
§ QUALITATIVE
SOCIAL
NETWORK
§ THEORETICAL
SAMPLING

THEME
1
PARTICIPANTS
PERCEIVE
HIV
COMMUNICATION
CAMPAIGN
MEDIA
&
MESSAGES
WITHIN
the
REFUGEE
CAMP
as
OBSOLETE
EMERGENT
THEMES
THEME
2
PARTICIPANTS
WERE
UNAWARE
of
the
PRESENCE
or
PURPOSE
of
NAMIBIA’S
‘BREAK
THE
CHAIN’
SBCC
CAMPAIGN
THEME
3
PARTICIPANTS’
MOBILITY
ACTS
MAINTAIN
SOCIO-­‐COMMUNICATIVE
&
SEXUAL
NETWORKS
WHICH
AVAIL
ACCESS
to
ECONOMIC,
POLITICAL
&
MATERIAL
RESOURCES
THEME
4
PARTICIPANTS
PREFER
to
RECEIVE
INFORMATION
from
REFUGEE
&
NON-­‐
REFUGEE
OTHERS
OUTSIDE
of
OSIRE

THEME
1
“...
I
can
be
Rred
to
see
them,
I‘m
here
for
almost
7
years
but
only
one
Rme
I
noRced
they
were
change
…”
[Male,
29,
Burundi,
Osire]
“…they
can
be
something
you
not
even
thinking
for
when
you
pass
it
and
you
don't
even
get
some
idea
,
no
senRment,
it’s
old
affiche…”
PARTICIPANTS’
USES
of
OSIRE
MEDIA
&
MESSAGES
§ AdverBsing
and
trade
§ GraffiB/
arBsBc
expression
§ Place
making
§ DirecBonal
and
meeBng
markers
§ Referencing
messages
for
jokes
PARTICIPANTS
PERCEIVE
HIV
COMMUNICATION
CAMPAIGN
MEDIA
&
MESSAGES
WITHIN
the
REFUGEE
CAMP
as
OBSOLETE
[Male,
27,
DRC,
Osire]

THEME
2
“That
is
the
one
…I
see
it
in
town
…
they
write
…
‘break
the
chain’.
I
see
the
sign
for
SIDA
but
I
understand
this
one
is
for
violence
to
break
violence,
to
love
more
and
break
violence
[Male,
23,
Angola,
Otjiwarongo]
“…I
go
in
the
clinic
all
the
Rme
for
my
medicines
for
my
breathing
…
I
don’t
hear
about
Break
the
Chain
before…
I’m
not
sure
about
MCP
but
if
it
is
for
the
health
we
can
get
it
in
Osire
later
”
PARTICIPANTS’
EXPOSURE
to
BREAK
THE
CHAIN
§ Outside
of
the
refugee
camp
§ Urban
and
Peri-­‐Urban
locaBons
§ Limited
to
mass
media
PARTICIPANTS
WERE
UNAWARE
of
the
PRESENCE
or
PURPOSE
of
NAMIBIA’S
‘BREAK
THE
CHAIN’
SBCC
CAMPAIGN
[Male,
29,
Burundi,
Osire]

THEME
3
“…I
can
stay
in
Osire
but
I
like
too
much
money,
then
I
have
my
family,
my
wife
is
from
here…I’m
running
too
much
to
Swakop,
to
Windhoek,
for
selling
some
nice
curio…in
lodge
for
tourists”
[Male,
23,
Angola,
Otjiwarongo]
“…no
life
in
Osire
you
can
be
hungry,
don’t
have
future,
suffering
too
much
for
the
house,
no
courant,
no
money
for
living…I
stay
to
Windhoek
then
do
my
music
in
the
band
traveling…
I
eat
nice…
we
can
stay
together
or
with
lady…”
PARTICIPANTS’
MOBILITY
ROUTINES
§ Urban,
Interregional
&
InternaBonal
§ Daily,
weekly
&
monthly
§ Undocumented
by
refugee
authoriBes
§ CohabitaBon
with
friends
and/or
sexual
partners
MOBILITY
MAINTAINS
COMMUNICATION
&
SEXUAL
NETWORKS
for
ACCESS
to
ECONOMIC,
POLITICAL
&
MATERIAL
RESOURCES
[Male,
34,
DRC,
Windhoek]

THEME
4
“Osire
people
like
too
much
lying…
those
ones
in
Windhoek
have
the
different
life
outside
here
they
don't
have
to
make
story
…
they
get
experience
to
know
living
here
and
geZng
around…”
[Male,
51,
DRC,
Osire]
“I
go
to
my
friends
in
Windhoek
and
I
ask
them
‘tell
me
what
I
must
do?...they
get
that
smart
for
living
out
of
camp
so
they
know
more
for
life
here…
if
I
visit
my
Damara
friends
they
give
me
the
idea
for
sula
…”
PARTICIPANTS’
INFORMATION
NEEDS
§ Refugee
administraBon
plans
§ Currency
exchange
rates
§ News
about
family,
friends
&
events
§ Trends
in
the
trade/sale
of
arBsanal
cra`s,
human
hair,
mobile
ICT’s,
clothing
&
staple
foods
PARTICIPANTS
PREFER
to
RECEIVE
INFORMATION
from
REFUGEE
&
NON-­‐REFUGEE
OTHERS
OUTSIDE
of
OSIRE
[Male
,
19,
Angola,
Osire]

CONCLUSIVE
STATEMENTS
§ COORDINATION
OF
POLITCAL
&
PROCEDURAL
AGENDAS
§ REFUGEE
COMMUNICATIVE
ECOLOGY
AS
STRUCTURES
&
STRATEGIES
§ UNDERSTANDING
REFUGEE
MOBILITIES
via
REFUGEES’
MOBILITIES
PARADIGMS

CONCLUSIVE
STATEMENTS
COORDINATION
of
POLITCAL,
PROCEDURAL
&
COMMUNICATION
AGENDAS
§ Refugee
agencies
§ Host
naBons
§ Campaign
developers
§ Implementers

CONCLUSIVE
STATEMENTS
REFUGEE
COMMUNICATIVE
ECOLOGY
as
STRUCTURES
&
STRATEGIES
§ Privilege
refugees’
communicaBon
that
support
social
interacBons
&
future
orientaBons
§ Absence
or
presence
of
communicaBon
assets
is
not
always
indicaBve
refugees’
communicaBon
ecology

CONCLUSIVE
STATEMENTS
UNDERSTANDING
REFUGEE
MOBILITIES
via
REFUGEES’
MOBILITIES
PARADIGMS
§ CommunicaBve
engagement
of
refugees
outside
of
the
context
of
designated
refugee
sites
§ Corporeal
flight
&
mobility
acts
beget
survival,
normalcy
&
subversion
of
circumstances