Hassan M Manzurul, Atkins Peter J, Dunn Christine E
Department of Geography and Environment, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh.
Soc Sci Med. 2005 Nov;61(10):2201-11. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.04.021.
Besides its toxicity, groundwater arsenic contamination creates widespread social problems for its victims and their families in Bangladesh. There is, for instance, a tendency to ostracise arsenic-affected people, arsenicosis being thought of as a contagious disease. Within the community, arsenic-affected people are barred from social activities and often face rejection, even by their immediate family members. Women with visible arsenicosis symptoms are unable to get married and some affected housewives are divorced by their husbands. Children with symptoms are not sent to school in an effort to hide the problem. This paper employs mainly qualitative methods to interpret people's understandings about the toxic impact of groundwater arsenic poisoning on their social lives. Arsenic-affected patients in southwest Bangladesh were asked to determine their 'own priorities' in measuring arsenic toxicity on their social activities and to explore their perceptions about their own survival strategies. We found that patients' experiences reveal severe negative social impacts, and a sharp difference of perceptions about arsenic and social issues between arsenicosis patients and unaffected people.
除了其毒性之外，孟加拉国的地下水砷污染还给受害者及其家庭带来了广泛的社会问题。例如，存在排斥砷中毒患者的倾向，因为砷中毒被认为是一种传染病。在社区内，砷中毒患者被禁止参加社交活动，常常面临被排斥的情况，甚至连他们的直系亲属也会这样做。有明显砷中毒症状的女性无法结婚，一些患病的家庭主妇还被丈夫离婚。有症状的儿童不被送去上学，目的是隐瞒问题。本文主要采用定性方法来解读人们对地下水砷中毒对其社会生活产生的毒性影响的理解。研究人员要求孟加拉国西南部受砷影响的患者确定他们在衡量砷中毒对其社交活动的影响时的“自身优先事项”，并探究他们对自身生存策略的看法。我们发现，患者的经历揭示了严重的负面社会影响，以及砷中毒患者与未受影响的人在对砷和社会问题的看法上存在巨大差异。
