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Stigma and AIDS: Three Layers of Damage
Alvin Novick, MD
Stigmata associated with HIV/AIDS can
be organized into three layers. First, over 95% of persons with AIDS in
the United States belong to social groups whose fundamental human rights
had been truncated long before HIV had appeared-gay men, injection drug
users, African-Americans, Hispanics, and sex workers. All of these
people had been isolated, ostracized, or constrained by law and/or
tradition from occupying full citizenship. Long-term stigmatization has
profound effects on the lives of the disdained, including the
development of counterculture. In the case of gay men, for example,
stigmatization led widely to creating and fostering a milieu of
short-term, often anonymous, relationships as opposed to monogamy. Thus
society's attitudes actually caused AIDS by guaranteeing transmission of
HIV. And, finally, stigmata intrude on prevention, in that society is
inhibited from creating or supporting programs that are humane and
sensitive to the needs of vulnerable people.
Correspondence should be directed to
Alvin Novick, MD
Department of Biology
Yale University
PO Box 208104
New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8104
Email:
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