The impact on any relationship when one of the
partners is ill, is staggering. But when the disease is highly
infectious-the strain can become unbearable. Questions of
infidelity, death, questions about how to treat and the possibility
of the caregiver also becoming infected. Medical treatment,
questions of how money will be spent, where will the money come from
the help in the treatment of, the possibility of infecting the other
partner, sexual relations, all of these and many more issues impact
a relationship when one of the partners is infected.
"For Asians/Pacific Islanders (A/PIs), disclosure of
HIV may be particularly difficult because of its association with
death, illness, drugs, and homosexuality, topics deemed to be
"taboo" in Asian cultures Indeed, some researchers have postulated
that the stigma associated with HIV in Asian populations has
inhibited the reporting of cases a contention supported by studies
showing rates of risk behaviors and markers of risk behaviors among
Asians to be roughly equal to those of other groups even though
official tabulations of AIDS rates are much lower That A/PIs
attribute their infection to blood transfusions-a more culturally
acceptable source of infection-two to seven times more than other
individuals a disparity with no apparent realistic basis, also
speaks to the stigma of HIV within this population
For A/PI women infected with HIV, the issue of disclosure may be
further complicated by cultural and gender values that emphasize
sexual modesty, reticence regarding sex and sexuality and the
fulfillment of family obligations and responsibilities). A
declaration that one is HIV-positive may be viewed by the self and
others as a rejection of these core values. Furthermore, because
Asian cultures are predominantly collectivistic, where individuals
are defined as part of groups such as families rather than as
separate, independent entities being HIV-positive may be seen as a
negative reflection not only on oneself but also on one's family or
community. Therefore, the potential for shame and loss of face
following disclosure is likely to be greater in this cultural
context than in more individualistic cultures, making the
concealment of one's seropositivity even more attractive.
The influence of cultural values on the decision to disclose has
been suggested in previous studies. found that Spanish-speaking
Latina women disclosed to fewer people, and in particular to fewer
family members, than did English-speaking Latinas. A similar pattern
of results was found for men, with Whites disclosing more than
Latinos, and English-speaking Latinos disclosing more than
Spanish-speaking Latinos. These authors suggested that these ethnic
and cultural differences may be due to a difference in cultural
values, specifically familism and simpatia, that inhibit disclosure.
A desire to protect others was more frequently cited by Latino than
White men as the reason not to disclose, consistent with the
collectivistic orientation found in Latino cultures and therefore
supporting the cultural hypothesis. " Disclosure of HIV Infection
Among Asian/Pacific Islander American Women: Cultural Stigma and
Support
|
A challenge for the Men in the Third Millennium
|
In all
societies, men are known to engage in high-risk activities for
acquisition of HIV. Often men have more sexual contact than
women. Intravenous drug users are more often men than women. Due
to the high risk behavior of men, their female sexual partners
are at high risk of acquiring HIV infection. HIV is also more
easily transmitted from the male to the female due to biological
reasons |
78 kb pdf
|
|
A REVIEW OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH ON HIV/AIDS |
Social
scientists have made significant research contributions by
examining how individuals and groups perceive risk and how
culture influences risk behaviours in a wide variety of
settings. Unfortunately this knowledge has seldom been
disseminated in fora directed to policy makers. To date, most
prevention efforts are still focusing on increasing individual
awareness about risks of transmission and promoting individual
risk reduction. Few HIV prevention programmes have been designed
where the socioeconomic and sociocultural contexts in which
individuals live are taken into consideration. |
|
|
Addressing HIV-Related Stigma and Resulting Discrimination in
Africa: A Three-Country Study in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Zambia |
The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) is leading
a research initiative in three African countries to investigate
the causes, manifestations, and consequences of HIV/AIDS-related
stigma and subsequent discriminatory acts. The basis for
analysis is the community and its institutions—health
facilities, the workplace, schools, and religious groups. ICRW
and its in-country partners hope to gain an understanding of
those factors that perpetuate or mitigate stigma and how they
affect access to HIV prevention, care, and support efforts. |
Pdf 52 kb |
|
Addressing Stigma in Implementing HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy |
Unless stigma is addressed, effective implementation of an
HIV/AIDS policy is impossible. This paper describes the
experience of ACORD Uganda in their efforts to implement an
effective workplace policy. It focuses in particular on the
importance of addressing stigma within the organisation - both
as an objective of the policy itself and as a prerequisite of
its effective implementation. |
Pdf 257 kb |
|
Adolescent Girls and Young Women and HIV/AIDS |
Most at risk
are those with a history of sexual abuse, poverty, violence, or
limited educational and economic opportunities |
152 kb pdf |
Adolescent Women
Face Triple Jeopardy:
Unwanted Pregnancy,
HIV/AIDS
|
New HIV infections and AIDS cases continue to increase in
most developing countries, while the AIDS epidemic has most
recently reached a plateau or shown signs of a slight overall
decline in much of the developed world. Where AIDS is
increasing, new HIV infection is disproportionately
high among young women who contract the virus through sexual
intercourse…This same group has the highest rate worldwide of
unwanted pregnancy, pointing to a potentially significant
epidemiological overlap of reproductive health risk.
|
|
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AIDS: The fear syndrome |
AIDS is not only an epidemic, but also a major crisis in public
health with social, economic and political repercussions, as
well as with important implications for human rights. At the
level of the virus as such, that is, at the level of its
microscopic structure and its modes of transmission and
multiplication, we have often – and rightly – had the impression
that, the more research progressed, the more elusive AIDS
became. At a more general level, as a global epidemic, AIDS is
also, unfortunately, defeating previous assumptions and posing
new threats. AIDS has become a multidimensional challenge. Over
and above the very real progress made in treating the disease,
this is the main lesson learned from more than 20 years of
struggle against AIDS: without a global response, it tends to
spread out of control, as is in fact happening today in several
regions of the world. Much too often, the struggle against AIDS
is waged in a piecemeal, fragmented way, when what is required
is, on the contrary, a high degree of coordination among all the
social players – including trade unions, which have a key role
to play. Today we know that, in order to be effective, an
HIV-AIDS prevention programme must target, in the first place,
all those who can act as intermediate links with the population:
teachers, employers, trade unionists, local chiefs, religious
leaders, healers, etc. In this respect, workers’ organisations
have excellent credentials. “ |
Pdf 73 kb |
|
AIDS Action testing |
An AIDS
awareness counselor recently summed up her experience of
society's response to AIDS: 'I believe that, although AIDS is a
new disease, it is laying bare all the old prejudices and
political injustices that already exist.' One area where this is
most apparent is the misuse of testing for HIV infection. |
|
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AIDS
Communication-an International view |
What is an
“international” perspective? |
|
|
Aids orphans 'to double'
|
A report
compiled by aid agencies, presented to the International Aids
Conference in Barcelona, said extended families often fail to
cope, and many children are forced to live on the street |
|
|
An analysis of the Policies, Pronouncements and Programmes on
HIV-related Stigma and discrimination in Nigeria |
More than two
decades into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, stigma and discrimination
against people who have HIV/AIDS (PLWH)
or are affected by HIV continue unabated. Although the global
pandemic has shown itself capable of triggering responses of
compassion, solidarity and support, bringing out the best in
people, their families and communities yet stigma and ostracism,
repression and discrimination continue to be reported in both
the rich developed and poor developing countries of the world.
Herek et a reported that AIDS remain a highly stigmatized
condition in the United States though the form of expression has
changed over the years. |
|
|
An ILO study on the socio-economic impact of HIV on infected
persons finds that the HIV-positive face the maximum
discrimination within their families |
ILO (India)
initiated a study to understand the socio-economic impact of
HIV/AIDS on infected persons and their families, particularly
women and children. The findings of this report, which was
published recently, are both meaningful and significant because
of the sensitivity with which the study was carried out. |
|
|
An overview of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination
|
All over the
world, the epidemics of HIV and AIDS are having a profound
impact, bringing out the best and the worst in people. They
trigger the best when individuals group together in solidarity
to combat government, community and individual denial, and to
offer support and care to people living with HIV and AIDS. They
bring out the worst when individuals are stigmatized and
ostracized by their loved ones, their family and their
communities, and discriminated against individually as well as
institutionally. |
|
|
ANGOLA: Enthusiastic caregivers and
silent sufferers |
Fear of stigmatisation in Angola is keeping people living with
HIV/AIDS in hiding. Caregivers are more than willing to help but
are having a hard time finding patients to take care of. |
|
|
Big Issues In Brief Scaling up responses to HIV/AIDS |
Stigma looms large and ominous, shadowing the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
It relates to every HIV intervention, including general
prevention, the prevention of mother-to-child transmission,
antiretroviral treatment, and care and support for the patient
and family, including children. On an institutional level,
stigma plays a major role, affecting the ability of public
health workers to prevent infection, to treat and to help people
living with HIV/AIDS, and to assist loved ones in managing and
coping with the condition. On a personal level, stigma can mean
loneliness, abandonment, ostracism, violence, starvation, and
death. |
Pdf 206 kb |
|
Breaking the silence - Stigma, discrimination and HIV/AIDS |
Hers is not the sort of life anyone would wish on his or her
worst enemy. To describe it as rough would be an
understatement.
|
|
|
Caregivers' Experiences Of Informal Support In The Context Of
HIV/AIDS |
Social
support is an important buffer for family caregivers of people
living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHIV/AIDS). With limited formal support
options, these caregivers have to rely increasingly on informal
networks. Yet, accessing this avenue is also fraught with
difficulty due to the stigmatising nature of HIV infection.
Research in this area is not just not sparse, but focuses
largely on sources of support and the circumscribing effects of
stigma. To further our understanding, a qualitative study was
conducted using various concepts from social support theory. |
|
|
China’s Growing AIDS Epidemic Increasingly Affects Women |
Increases in the heterosexual transmission of HIV in China are
fueling concerns—including among senior Chinese leaders—that the
epidemic may be moving from specific regions and at-risk groups
into the general population, where the virus could more easily
prey on women's vulnerabilities. |
|
|
Community Reaction to Person with HIV/AIDS and their Parents in
Thailand |
Stigma and
discrimination against persons with HIV and AIDS (PHAs) are
unfortunate and in some cases tragic consequences of infection
that compound the suffering of some PHAs and their families.
Whether such consequences are rare or common, they should serve
to draw attention and response to the special burdens such
families face |
1,378 kb pdf
|
|
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|
COPING MECHANISMS OF THE STIGMATIZED:
|
A stigmatized
person possesses and exhibits an attribute that conveys a
devalued personal and social identity within a particular social
context Stigmatized individuals are commonly the targets of
stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination |
|
|
COUPLES' PERCEPTIONS OF WIVES' CFS SYMPTOMS, SYMPTOM CHANGE, AND
IMPACT ON THE MARITAL RELATIONSHIP
|
The purpose
of this descriptive correlational study was to describe the
differences in couples' perceptions of wives' Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome (CFS) symptoms and to describe the relationship between
changing symptoms and the marital relationship. |
|
|
Criminal Justice Policies Toward the
Mentally Retarded Are Unjust and Waste Money |
Persons with mental retardation are a small but increasing
portion of the population under the jurisdiction of the criminal
justice system. In most states, that system makes little or no
allowance for the disabilities of such offenders, resulting in
dispositions that are inequitably harsh and in all likelihood
costlier to the public than need be the case. |
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Cruel and Inhumane: Executing the
Mentally Ill |
Recent U.S.
Supreme Court rulings barring executions of juvenile offenders
and people with mental retardation have given death penalty
opponents hope that the mentally ill may someday also be spared.
But the issue raises difficult questions for lawmakers and
courts. |
|
|
Deadly silence barriers to communicating HIV/AIDS in schools |
An estimated
11.8 million 15 to 24-year-olds are living with HIV worldwide.
Schools are the obvious place to teach young people about the
risks of infection. But what is the best way to do this?
Research by ActionAid identifies a number of silences in
communication which are hindering efforts in the classroom. |
|
|
Death a Result of Insufficient Care
|
Poor staffing
was the reason cited for the death of Mike Hurewitz, the living
liver donor at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, who died after a
portion of his liver was transplanted into his brother
|
|
|
DENIAL |
Because
HIV/AIDS carries so much stigma (qv) there are many pressures
for denying a seropositive status or not seeking a test.
Individuals may have a psychological aversion to hearing news of
what is considered to be virtually a death sentence and there
are more practical disadvantages such as the high chances of
being sacked or difficulties in getting insurance as well as
marital problems when serostatus is known. |
|
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DIE, THE BELOVED COUNTRIES: HUMAN SECURITY AND HIV/AIDS IN
AFRICA |
Children who lose a parent to AIDS suffer loss and grief like
any other orphan. However, their loss is exacerbated by
prejudice and social exclusion, and can lead to the loss of
education and health care (Breaking the Vicious Cycle, 1997).
That is, the shame, fear and rejection that often surrounds
people affected by HIV/AIDS can create additional stress for and
isolation of children – both before and after the death of their
parent or parents. The psychological impact on a child who
witnesses his or her parent dying of AIDS can be more intense
than for children whose parents die from more sudden causes.
‘HIV ultimately makes people ill but it runs an unpredictable
course. There are typically months or years of stress, suffering
or depression before a patient dies. And in developing
countries, where the epidemic is concentrated, effective pain or
symptom relief is often unavailable to alleviate a parent's
suffering’ |
Pdf 78 kb |
|
Disclosure of HIV Infection Among Asian/Pacific Islander
American Women: Cultural Stigma and Support
|
This decision
may be particularly difficult for Asian/Pacific Islander (A/PI)
women, owing to HIV's association with topics considered "taboo"
in Asian cultures. This study explored the process, influencing
factors, and consequences of disclosure among a sample of 9
HIV-positive A/PI women. On the basis of qualitative interviews
and quantitative social network data, findings suggest that
these women are acutely aware of and affected by the stigma
attached to HIV and that the decision to disclose is influenced
by fears about being stigmatized, concerns about disappointing
or burdening others, and concerns about discrimination.
|
|
|
Dying to learn: Young people, HIV and the churches |
More than half of those newly infected are young people, aged
between 15 and 24 (UNAIDS, 2002b). Young people are particularly
vulnerable to HIV. Many young people do not know how to protect
themselves from HIV. Half of teenage girls in sub-Saharan Africa
do not know that a healthy-looking person can be living with HIV
(UNAIDS, 2001). The churches responded quickly to the crisis,
using extensive and well-established networks, providing care to
the sick on a vast scale. However they have become less involved
in prevention work. In addition to the discomfort experienced by
many in talking about sex, the churches have been concerned that
sexual health and HIV education1 may lead to promiscuity2
amongst young people. |
Pdf 681 kb |
|
Ensuring Justice for Vulnerable Communities in Kenya |
Kenya has ratified major international treaties that guarantee
the rights of people living with HIV and AIDS to
nondiscrimination, to protection from violence, and to access to
voluntary, affordable, and quality medical treatment. Kenya has
also undertaken to protect the rights of those at high risk of
HIV infection, such as women, whose vulnerability to HIV is
fueled by violence, discrimination, and harmful customary
practices. The rights of those affected by the epidemic,
including orphans and vulnerable children, are also guaranteed
by human rights treaties ratified by Kenya. In practice,
however, these rights mean little without access to timely and
affordable legal services on the part of Kenya’s most vulnerable
citizens. |
Pdf 1474 kb |
|
Epidemic Ravages Caregivers; Thousands die from diseases
contracted through needle sticks |
Over the next
20 years, the epidemic would ravage the nation's medical
workers. Thousands of needle stick victims would die of AIDS,
hepatitis and other blood-borne infections. Tens of thousands
more would contract devastating diseases. Hundreds of millions
of dollars would be spent every year on replacing and treating
dying and infected workers. |
|
|
ECUMENICAL HIV/AIDS POSTER –FIGHTING HIV/AIDS-RELATED STIGMA AND
DISCRIMINATION |
HIV is not a virus that happens to "someone else" or to other
communities - it is present everywhere in the world, including
the United States. Stigma and discrimination contribute to the
spread of HIV and compound the suffering of those who are living
with HIV and their loved ones. Silence about HIV/AIDS
has perpetuated ignorance about the facts, risky behavior
and death
|
|
|
Evolved Disease-Avoidance Processes and Contemporary Anti-social
Behavior: Prejudicial attitudes and avoidance of People with
Physical Disabilities |
Drawing on
evolutionary psychological logic, we describe a model that links
evolved mechanisms of disease-avoidance to contemporary
prejudices against individuals with physical disabilities.
Because contagious diseases were often accompanied by anomalous
physical features, humans plausibly evolved psychological
mechanisms that respond heuristically to the perception of these
features, triggering specific emotions (disgust, anxiety),
cognitions (negative attitudes), and behaviours (avoidance). |
130 kb pdf |
|
EXAMPLES OF DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT |
Impairment in pre-work, Race discrimination in work, Pregnancy
discrimination and victimization at work, Prospective employee
asked age at interview, Race discrimination, Young worker
harassed at work, Sex discrimination and sexual harassment |
Pdf 285 kb |
|
EXPECTATIONS AND SOCIAL INTERACTIONS OF CHILDREN WITH AND
WITHOUT MENTAL RETARDATION |
Mentally
retarded and nonretarded perceiver children conversed by
telephone with a child who was described as a special or
regular education student. Perceivers reported that
special and regular education telephone partners
behaved differently during the conversation even though
observers who were unaware of how telephone partners had been
described did not detect behavioral differences between them.
These same observers did detect differences in stereotype
related social behaviors of mentally retarded and nonretarded
perceivers, but only when perceivers thought they were speaking
to a regular education student. |
|
|
Fear and Stigma: The Epidemic within the SARS Outbreak |
Because of
their evolving nature and inherent scientific uncertainties,
outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases can be associated with
considerable fear in the general public or in specific
communities, especially when illness and deaths are substantial.
Mitigating fear and discrimination directed toward persons
infected with, and affected by, infectious disease can be
important in controlling transmission. Persons who are feared
and stigmatized may delay seeking care and remain in the
community undetected. |
|
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Fighting
Stigma |
There are many ways we all can fight stigma. The simplest way is to
"come out of the closet" and present "positive visibility" in the
community and the media. Positive visibility is loosely translated as
"your best foot forward." When you let people in your community know
that you, who have been leading a blameless life right next door, have a
mental illness, it will make them question and (we hope) ultimately
reject the stigmatizing myths. |
|
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GOEDGEDACHT FORUM FOR SOCIAL REFLECTION
|
The potential
destructive impact of AIDS is enormous. It can successively
destroy individuals, families, communities and villages and is
certain to affect both the national and household economies.
|
|
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Hidden Battle-family & community |
The AIDS
epidemic will cause significant increases in illness and death
in prime age adults. This will affect both households and
communities. Prime age adult illness and death will manifest
itself through negative social, economic and developmental
impacts. The economic impacts at the household level of the
epidemic are decreased income, increased costs, decreased
productive capacity and changing expenditure patterns |
Pdf 76 kb |
|
HIV/AIDS, STIGMA AND RELIGIOUS RESPONSES |
Religious
groups, in general, have a reputation for responding to the
issue of HIV in negative terms. Factors that influence this
perception have included judgmental comment from religious
leaders; debate about condoms; and an obstructive stance
towards policy development, particularly regarding drug use,
commercial sex, and harm reduction approaches. The religious
sector has been largely unwilling to engage in any way that
could imply dilution of moral standards. As a result, people
with HIV have experienced rejection by religious people,
congregations or institutions. |
|
|
HIV Disclosure by Men Who have Sex with Men to Immediate Family
over Time |
Previous researchers have comprehensively documented rates of
HIV disclosure to family at discrete time periods yet none have
taken a dynamic approach to this phenomenon. The purpose of this
study was to address the trajectory of HIV serostatus disclosure
to family members. Time to disclosure was analyzed from data
provided by 135 HIV-positive men who have sex with men |
|
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HIV/AIDS EMPLOYMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE |
The NHS in Wales recognises that as an employer and a public
health body it has a duty to counter discrimination and stigma
against people who are or may become HIV positive or who have
AIDS. This duty includes employees of Local Health Boards. It
recognises the need to protect patients, to retain public
confidence, and to provide safeguards for the confidentiality
and employment rights of HIV infected health care workers. |
Pdf 23 kb |
|
Home Care
for PLWHA: The Power of our Community |
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has created a crisis of unprecedented
proportion that greatly impacts society as a whole, especially women
and their reproductive health. Communities everywhere are
struggling to respond
|
410 kb pdf |
|
I was blind but now I see |
This is both a true story and a generic story. It recounts the
experience and courage of many African women. It is a tribute to
the daily acts of compassion by countless women who despite
their poverty meet the needs of people infected and affected by
HIV/Aids. |
Pdf 134 kb |
|
Illness, Stigma and AIDS |
Imagine a
disease that arouses great fear throughout the United States,
especially in New York and other large cities where it is
rampant. Imagine that the disease has no cure and is fatal to
most people who manifest its symptoms. Physicians prescribe a
variety of treatments but with little success |
Pdf 119 kb |
|
Impact of AIDS on Older People in Africa: Zimbabwe Case Study |
The main
focus of the project is to "identify barriers that prevent older
people from providing adequate & fulfilling care to their
children dying from HIV/AIDS & subsequently, to their orphaned
grandchildren". |
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Introduction to Beliefs, Attitudes, and Ideologies
|
Certain
opinions seem to go together. People who support affirmative
action also seem likely to advocate stronger gun control, to
oppose capital punishment, and to hold a pro-choice position on
abortion. On the surface these diverse opinions do not seem to
follow from one another logically--there are even some implied
inconsistencies among them. And yet, knowing that a person holds
one of the opinions often enables us to predict correctly that
he or she also holds the others. This is possible, in part,
because the opinions all appear to follow from a common set of
underlying beliefs, attitudes, and values--from an ideology.
|
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Men of Quality are not afraid of equality. |
Besides deep
changes in society, what we need is a deeply spiritual
transformation in identity of men |
2,619 kb pdf |
|
Must-Tell Rules Would Keep Sexually Active Teens Away
|
Almost half
of the adolescent girls who seek prescribed contraception and
other sexual health services would cease doing so if they knew
that their parents were going to be notified -- but most would
continue to have sexual intercourse, indicate survey results
published recently in JAMA |
|
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Overcoming the stigma of chronic illness-Strategies for
‘straightening out’ a spoiled identity |
This paper
addresses the concept of chronic illness as a socially
constructed experience of stigma. The stigma of having a
chronic illness affects the person’s self-concept,
capacity to adapt to the illness and the quality of
his/her social networks. Social stigma is a
de-legitimizing social process derived from both popular
and medical views of chronic illness. Based on research
into the coping strategies of a range of people with
long-term, serious chronic illnesses, the paper argues
that Government health policies and services in Australia
can best help people with chronic illness by supporting
their self-help groups and community-based activities.
|
106 kb
pdf |
|
Peer
influence groups: identifying dense clusters in large networks |
Early
social network theorists argued that the power of social
networks lies in large-scale connectivity. The extended
effects of social networks are clear when we consider the spread
of diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, that have crossed the globe
through an intimate but far-reaching social network. |
743 kb pdf |
|
People with Disabilities and Social Work: Historical and
Contemporary Issues |
From the
earliest recorded history, people with disabilities have been
ostracized, rejected, and discriminated against in society.
Although social work has a history rich in advocacy for
oppressed people, the profession has been hesitant to become
involved with people with disabilities. |
|
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Potential moral stigma and reactions to
sexually transmitted diseases: Evidence for a disjunction
fallacy |
Five experiments demonstrate how potential moral stigma leads
people to underplay their susceptibility to STDs and dampens
their interest in getting tested. After adding unprotected sex
to a list of otherwise innocuous possible vectors for a disease,
we found that infected people were perceived to be less moral
(Experiment 1A), and individuals believed that if they had the
disease, others would see them as less moral too (Experiment
1B). Adding this stigmatized vector also reduced reported
testing intentions (Experiment 2) and perceived risk of exposure
(Experiment 3) – a disjunction fallacy because adding a
potential cause reduced estimated likelihood, in violation of
basic probability rules. Finally, we replicated the effect in a
computer virus analog (Experiment 4), and showed that it did not
result from simply knowing that one has not engaged in the
stigmatized behavior. Results suggest that avoidance of
potential stigma can have dramatic health consequences. |
Pdf 196 kb |
|
Poverty, HIV and AIDS – the challenge to the Church in the new
millennium |
Many orphans will grow up as street children or will form
child-headed households to avoid being separated from siblings.
Others will be brought up by grandparents with limited capacity
to take on parental responsibilities. All will have been
traumatized by the illness and death of parents, and often by
separation from siblings. Trauma will be exacerbated by the
stigma and secrecy around HIV/AIDS that hampers the bereavement
process and exposes children to discrimination in their
community and even in their extended family. Orphans will
probably be more susceptible to becoming HIV-infected through
abuse, sex work or emotional instability leading to high-risk
relationships. |
|
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Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: Do They matter for Children
and Young People made Vulnerable by HIV/AIDS? |
In order to break this cycle, there is a strong need to
strengthen the poverty reduction content of PRSPs by addressing
the specific needs and rights of the people affected by
HIV/AIDS, especially those of vulnerable children, orphans and
women. As highlighted in this review, despite their implications
for poverty reduction, orphans and vulnerable children receive
less attention than prevention amongst young people, PMTCT, and
care and support to children and families living with HIV/AIDS.
This may be attributable to subsuming orphans and vulnerable
children within the context of care and support for families
living with HIV/AIDS. Care and support interventions are largely
limited to the health sector, while orphans and vulnerable
children need multi-sectoral support. The limited attention
given to these social groups may also be attributed to the fact
that most National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plans (NSPs) give minimal
attention to the issue of orphans and vulnerable children,
despite the magnitude of this problem in some countries. |
Pdf 550 kb |
|
|
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Preventing Discrimination and Reducing Stigma and Isolation
|
In order to
provide better access to health services for people with
hepatitis C, it is particularly important that the
discrimination common in health care settings is acknowledged
and actively challenged |
413 kb pdf
|
|
Relationships between work and HIV/AIDS status |
This study provides some support for an association
between low state of mind of the patients and
unemployment Sixteen per cent of subjects are stated to
be out of work because of HIV contamination
consequences. These causes are mainly psychological
reasons, like nervous breakdown. Thirteen per cent lost
their job as a result of HIV disease |
Pdf 193 |
|
Rooting Out
AIDS-Related Stigma and Discrimination |
A debate over how best to weed out AIDS-related stigma and
resulting discrimination is growing within international health
circles, as experts try to address these stubborn obstacles to
HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. While there is increased
consensus that HIV/AIDS programs must tackle these issues
directly, researchers have yet to find an effective means of
tracking changes in attitudes toward infected people |
|
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Sacred lives
|
Previous
studies have shown sexually exploited Aboriginal children and
youth form a disproportionately high percentage of the sex trade |
Pdf 818 kb |
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Scapegoating And Mental Illness Stigma |
It is hard to understand how one thing gets stigmatized while
another thing does not without also understanding one of the
important ways that stigmas get applied the process of
scapegoating. The term scapegoating refers originally to a
rather ancient sort of magical ritual, used extensively in
religious practices, to clean a community of sin. In the
scapegoating ritual, the sins of a community are magically
transferred from the community members onto an animal (a goat or
other animal suitable for sacrifice) and then the animal is
destroyed or driven off away from the community. The community
practicing scapegoating believed that, through the destruction
or segregation of the sacrificial animal, which magically now
carried all the sin for the community, that the community was
cleansed in front of what ever form of deity might be judging
them. |
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School-related Issues Among HIV-Infected Children
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Only 3% of
school-age children were too ill to attend school, and almost
all were enrolled in public schools. The number of HIV-infected
children reaching school age will continue to grow, and public
schools will bear the responsibility for educating these
children. Health care providers will increasingly be called upon
for guidance by both educators and families to assure that
HIV-infected children receive the best education possible.
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Shaking off
'shame' |
In a
civilized society, people should not be scared to talk about
their ailments -- especially when the illness may have been
contracted from medical product infected with a potentially
fatal virus. Yet in Japan, between 1980 and 2001, an estimated
10,000 people may have been infected with the hepatitis C virus
(HCV) after being injected with a tainted blood coagulant during
labor or surgery -- but most choose to keep their condition
secret. |
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Socio-economic Impact of HIV/AIDS on Children in a Low
Prevalence Context: the Case of Senegal
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WE examine
the socio-economic impacts of HIV/AIDS on children in Senegal as
well as the impacts of the response policies implemented by the
different actors |
92 kb pdf
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STD Screening, Testing, Case Reporting, and Clinical and Partner
Notification Practices: A National Survey of US Physicians
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STD screening
levels are well below practice guidelines for women and
virtually nonexistent for men. Case reporting levels are below
those legally mandated; physicians rely instead on patients for
partner notification. Health departments must increase
collaboration with private physicians to improve the quality of
STD care |
115 kb pdf
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Stigma and Acceptance of Persons with Disabilities |
We explore
this critical aspect of the social context by investigating
employee acceptance of a coworker who has a disability. We
conceptualize acceptance specifically in terms of an incumbent
employee’s attitude toward a coworker who has a disability,
perceptions, of fairness of accommodations the coworker
receives, and employment judgments about that coworker (with
respect to hiring, promoting, and retaining. |
144 kb pdf |
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Stigma and Discrimination Defined
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[Erving] Goffman defined stigma as an "attribute that is deeply
discrediting" that reduces the bearer "from a whole and usual
person to a tainted, discounted one." Since Goffman, alternative
definitions have varied considerably. Two reasons for this
variation are that the concept has been applied to an enormous
array of different circumstances -- from schizophrenia to exotic
dancing -- and that it has been studied from the perspective of
many disciplines. We attempt to advance the study of stigma by
proposing a definition that encompasses these differences and
that attends to important critiques noting that much theory
about stigma is uninformed by the lived experience of the people
being studied and that research on stigma has an individualistic
focus, viewing stigmas as something in the person rather than a
designation that others affix to the person. |
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Stigma and Discrimination: Field Experiences and Research from
Africa, Asia & Ukraine |
“A woman will
never decide to do the testing. If she finds herself
HIV-positive she is signing three deaths: psychological death,
social death & physical death. Don’t you think that is a lot?” |
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Stigma in our Schools and Communities |
Stigma is
fundamentally different from discrimination. Most people
understand what discrimination is, but many are not clear what
stigma means. Discrimination focuses attention on the producers
of rejection and exclusion—those who discriminate against others
for any number of reasons. Stigma directs attention to the
people who are the recipients of these behaviors. |
136 kb pdf |
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Stigma Intervention & Research for International Health |
The concept
of stigma is rooted in history and social science, but the
historical concept of physical stigmata and the sociological
framework of deviance and social interactions fall short as a
guide to public health interventions and research to eliminate
or mitigate undesirable stigma. A wide range of social
phenomena, usually undesirable but not necessarily so, may be
considered under the heading of stigma. |
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Stigma when there is no other option:
“The poor even segregate the patient because there is nothing
they can do to help” |
Power Point Presentation |
966 kb |
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Stigma, HIV/AIDS and prevention of mother-to-child transmission
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HIV/AIDS-related stigma has been a major stumbling block in
addressing all aspects of HIV prevention, treatment and care
across the globe, |
148 kb pdf
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STIGMA: THE HIDDEN KILLER |
People who live with mental illness and their families often
state that the stigma associated with their diagnosis was more
difficult to bear than the actual illness. Stigma is
all-encompassing. It affects the ability to find housing and
employment, enter higher education, obtain insurance, and get
fair treatment in the criminal justice or child welfare systems.
Stigma is not limited to the attitudes and actions of others.
Self-stigma relates to internalized negative stereotypes that
lead people with mental illness and their families to adopt
attitudes of self-loathing and self-blame leading the a sense of
helplessness and hopelessness. |
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Strategies for working on the theme “stigma” |
Often stigma
is not due to the presence of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
Instead it is due to a whole series of assumptions about what
the presence of the virus implies. These assumptions can relate
to class-status, sexual morality, hygiene, gender, ethnicity and
so on. So when a woman living with HIV is refused a job in
Johannesburg, this may be as much to do with the employer’s
social prejudices, as it has with the fear of the virus, and the
workers long-term health prospects. |
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Survey Suggests Lack of Awareness
Heightens Risk for Sexually Transmitted Diseases |
New survey
results unveiled today by the American Social Health Association
(ASHA) - an organization dedicated to preventing sexually
transmitted diseases (STDs) -- suggest that lack of awareness
may put Americans at risk for contracting STDs. |
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Swapo Man Proposes 'Disclosure' of HIV When Person is Buried |
A TOP Swapo
official yesterday proposed that the globally respected norm of
"no disclosure" of illness should be relaxed when it comes to
HIV. |
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The burden of stigma |
Few people with HIV/AIDS escape the stigma and discrimination
that often comes with the disease. When those who are infected
live on the fringes of society, their misfortune is perceived by
many people as punishment for errant lifestyles. Drug addicts,
sex workers, men who have sex with men bring the virus on
themselves, say those who deny our shared humanity. HIV-positive
people are driven underground as a consequence, fearing the
prejudice and intolerance of communities which are not prepared
to accept them. The epidemic continues unabated and soon becomes
everyone's problem. |
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The Components and Impact of Stigma Associated with EAP
Counseling |
The economic
and social impact of workers with HIV/AIDS on businesses has not
waned with the increased public complacency regarding the virus
that seem to have marked the 1990s/ As we approach the beginning
of the third decade of the AIDS pandemic, increasing numbers of
businesses can expect to be faced with the reality of infected
employees. |
17 kb pdf
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The Impact of Relationship Violence, HIV, and Ethnicity on
Adjustment in Women |
Results
indicated that HIV-positive women reported significantly more
depressive symptoms, slightly more anxiety, but no differences
on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms than
HIV-negative women. Women victimized by relationship violence
also reported more depressive symptoms and anxiety and evidenced
significantly more PTSD symptoms than nonabused women. Indeed,
58% of victimized women evidenced significant PTSD symptoms.
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The Impact of Social Isolation on STD Transmission: A
Micro-Modeling Approach to Modeling Epidemics in a Network of
Heterogeneous Actors |
Based on recent empirical findings, we investigated the
potential importance of social isolation on the spread of
HIV…Our model corroborates that social isolation as well as the
degree of social isolation are important determinants for
prevalence of HIV.
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pdf 365 kb |
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THE
INVISIBILITY OF LESBIANS WITH AIDS |
There is
very little medical documentation of woman-to-woman sexual
transmission of AIDS. But a significant number of women who
identify primarily as lesbians have contracted AIDS through
intravenous drug use or heterosexual sex. |
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The Most Vulnerable of the Epidemic—Orphans
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It’s no
wonder that when protecting orphans, advocates go back to the
basics—stop the stigma. Promote education and awareness. As
Archbishop Bonifatius Haushiku declared at the opening of
Catholic AIDS Action in Namibia, an organization that helps
orphans, HIV/AIDS is a disease, not a sin. |
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The
National Mental Health Consumers: Fighting Stigma |
The Random
House Dictionary defines "stigma" as "a blemish on one's
record or reputation." Such a stigma affects anyone who has a
psychiatric history. There are myths that have become part of
American "folklore" that contribute to this stigma. |
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The
Scope of Injuries as Public Health and Research Problems |
It is
interesting that notions of fault and negligence of individuals
immediately involved in damaging transfers of mechanical,
thermal, chemical, and radiation energy have seldom been applied
to interpersonal transfers of harmful biologic organisms. In
medieval times, persons thought to be carriers of the plague,
but who actually were not, were persecuted and in some instances
murdered.(2) But in modern times people seldom if ever think of
suing someone who conveys bacteria or viruses that result in
disease. Surely the person who knowingly has a disease that is
transmitted by sneezing in crowds, kissing, sexual intercourse,
or whatever and who then infects others by engaging in those
activities is no less negligent than the alcoholic who drives
while intoxicated and injures someone. Why do we believe that
the latter is somehow more subject to control by legalistic
fault finding and punishment than the former? Infectious-disease
epidemiologists seldom if ever concern themselves with blame
assignment, although carriers of the more serious diseases may
be pursued by public-health physicians for the purpose of
treating the disease and stopping the chain of transmission. Yet
the primary purpose of police and often of expert investigation
of car crashes is to assign fault in reports or to testify in
lawsuits for damages. |
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The
tendency to stigmatise |
This time-honoured
propensity has probably served humankind and its
ancestors well in the service of species and related
personal survival. Such biological mechanisms as those
subserving immediate survival, the quest for food,
reproduction and related territorial needs are
presumably its foundation. Moreover, the crudity |
