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JULY-DECEMBER 1993 - NUMBER 3-4
JANUARY-JUNE 1994 - NUMBER 1-2

94.03.01 - Serbo-Croat - Mirjana RASEVIC

Women's Knowledge and Abortion: A Survey in Metropolitan Belgrade, 1990

Induced abortion is one of the main methods used in Central Serbia in order to limit fertility. Although the frequency of abortion decreased slightly with the spread of contraceptive methods, it remains one of the highest in Europe and the number of abortions is higher than the number of live births. This article presents the results of research undertaken in 1990 on 400 women living in Belgrade and aims to establish whether the lack of information that women have about anatomy and the physiological aspects of reproduction and on the techniques and means of controlling fertility is a significant explanatory determinant of the high number of abortions in Central Serbia. Women's degree of information can be considered low and even very low on specific points. No matter what the differences are in the women's level of knowledge according to their age and education level they know practically nothing about these subjects. It is therefore necessary to provide adequate information in order to ensure widespread comprehension for both men and women of the value of contraception both as a preventive measure and for maintaining health. (YOUGOSLAVIA, INDUCED ABORTION, EDUCATION OF WOMEN, KNOWLEDGE OF CONTRACEPTIVES)

94.03.02 - Serbo-Croat - Mina PETROVIC

Insufficient Fertility as Observed from the Multidisciplinary Perspective

Using a critical review of the various types of approach to insufficient fertility, the author pleads the cause of a multidiciplinary approach by favouring the combination of sociological and demographic perspectives. For the author, it is only the use of an in-depth sociological analysis of the concrete context that an idea can be gained of the complexity of the system of reproductive decisions, the absence of automatic reactions in economic and demographic trends and the importance of tradition, culture, political decision, etc. No general fertility theory can apply to all these societies and at every period in time. The author would like to see a historico-anthropological approach be substituted for stucturalist-functional analysis. (METHODOLOGY, BELOW REPLACEMENT FERTILITY, SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS)

94.03.03 - Serbo-Croat - Nada RADUSKI

The Main Features and Significance of Direct Fertility Determinants

Fertility depends on numerous direct and indirect factors. The importance of direct determinants varies from one socio-economic system to another as it is governed by the social, economic and cultural environment of each population. In traditional societies, it is biological factors (age at marriage, fertility, sterility, sexual taboos, etc.) which play the main part while, in modern societies, the strongest direct influence comes from socio-economic determinants (contraception, abortion, celibacy, etc.). Family planning is the main direct determinant of the differences in fertility levels amongst populations. It is a sociological factor which has had a direct effect on fertility decline and the fact that it has stayed at a low level amongst populations. It is a sociological factor which has had a direct effect on fertility decline and the fact that it has stayed at a low level in most of the developed countries. The other direct determinants, such as divorce, the woman's age, celibacy and sterility, have less impact than contraception and abortion. Some factors which have practically no effect in the developed countries (women's age at first marriage, traditional sexual abstinence, breastfeeding amennorhea) retain a great impact in developing countries where family planning is still not very widespread. (FERTILITY DETERMINANTS, TRADITIONAL SOCIETY, MODERNIZATION, FAMILY PLANNING)

94.03.04 - Serbo-Croat - Miroljub RANCIC

Fertility of Female Serb Population

For each five year age group above 15 years old, the author compares the number of fertile women (in 1981) to the total number of women and examines the age structure thus obtained for Serb women and for the other nationalities and minorities of ex-Yugoslavia. The proportion of fertile women in the female Serb population is the highest, but this population is also amongst the oldest. The author compares the general fertility rates of Serbs and Slovenians (two groups which have entered the post-transitional phase) with those of the Albanian minority (which has barely begun to show any change in its high levels of fertility). Serb and Slovenian females generally stop having children around 35 years of age, while Albanian women still show high levels of fertility at more advanced ages. Finally, the ethnic and regional variations in fertility can be explained by historical, economic, cultural and other determinants which characterise the individual environment and phases of social evolution. (YUGOSLAVIA, DIFFERENTIAL FERTILITY, NATIONALITY, ETHNIC MINORITIES)

94.03.05 - Serbo-Croat - Zoran PONJAVIC

Legal Framework for Realization of a Right to Artificial Insemination

"Assisted" reproduction is not always completely regulated in Yugoslavia. In practice, decisions are made by the doctor who carries out the artificial insemination (the most common technique). The author believes that general conclusions should be drawn from the medical postulations and ethical principles which are required for each case of artificial insemination. Two conditions need to be satisfied in any hypothesis: the decision to use this technique must respond to an exclusively therapeutical imperative and the child's interests must have been seriously studied. The author examines various specific situations. (YUGOSLAVIA, LAW, ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATIONA, ETHICS)

94.03.06 - Serbo-Croat - Branislav S. DURDEV

Urban and Rural Demographic Development

Migration is the main factor for differences appearing in the growth rates between urban and rural environments. While the rural exodus, which has existed for a long time now, has used up the demographic dynamics of rural populations, the net emigration rates of the rural areas are still high. However, the emigration opportunities are now greatly reduced, which is restricting the growth of the towns. Numbers are changing little, but the proportion of urban population is still increasing. At the same time, this process is continuing to lead to a deterioration in the demographic situation of the countryside with, sometimes, a deficit at the population's active ages. Standardised birth rates are, generally speaking, higher in rural areas than they are in urban ones, except in Austria and Germany; the opposite is true for standardised mortality rates, except in Austria and The Netherlands. Development of the rural population is comparatively satisfactory in Poland. (URBAN POPULATION, RURAL POPULATION, COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS, INTERNAL MIGRATION)

94.03.07 - Serbo-Croat - Goran MILICEVIC

Analysis of a Possibility to Unify Criteria to Differentiate Urban from Non-Urban Settlemets

The extreme diversity of criteria for defining an urban environment hinders international comparisons relative to urbanisation. The author takes a fresh look at the issue. of the critical size of an agglomeration in order for it to qualify as urban and reviews the other types of criteria used. He shows that the criterium of the commune's various infra-structures is the most pertinent and the most synthetic. The average cost of land would also be an excellent criterium of urbanisation, but it is rarely applicable due to the lack of statistics. (URBANIZATION, METHODOLOGY)

94.03.08 - Serbo-Croat - Slavica PENEV

Demographic Investments in Serbia

Demographic investments are defined as the share of internal production which must be invested in order to maintain at a constant level the per capita internal production. An empirical analysis of the demographic investments in three Serb regions (Kosovo-Metohija, Central Serbia and Voivodine).shows a good example of the interdependence between growth rates of demographic investments and level of regional development. Between 1966 and 1980, a period of economic growth, the population growth was much higher in Kosavo-Metohija than in Voivodine and Central Serbia and the efficiency of investments was considerably lower: the rate of demographic investments there was twelve times higher than in Voivodine and six times higher than in Central Serbia. With the economic recession between 1981 and 1990, the general decline in investments led to the disappearance of these differences. Demographic investments therefore led to a drop in the per capita internal production, a situation which recent trends have only aggravated. (YUGOSLAVIA, INVESTMENTS, ECONOMIC DEMOGRAPHY, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT)

94.03.09 - Serbo-Croat - Gordana MATKOVIC

Population and Labour Force of the Golija Region

A demographic analysis of the region of Golija is part of a wider study aimed at establishing a socioeconomic development programme for this underdeveloped region. The differences between the communes from the point of view of population composition by nationality, age structure and geographical locality have led to the polarisation of the communes depending on natural growth, age structure, average household size and rates of economic activity. Furthermore, there are similarities with regard to the trend towards depopulation which is due to excessive migratory flows, the population's low level of education and the high proportion of agricultural manpower. (YUGOSLAVIA, LOCAL COMMUNITIES, POPULATION, MANPOWER)

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