Document 0044
 DOCN  M9480044
 TI    Risky business: the cultural construction of AIDS risk groups.
 DT    9410
 AU    Schiller NG; Crystal S; Lewellen D; Department of Anthropology,
       University of New Hampshire, Durham; 03824.
 SO    Soc Sci Med. 1994 May;38(10):1337-46. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/94294837
 AB    AIDS researchers and policy makers have often employed the concept of
       'culture' to characterize 'high risk groups' and explain why members of
       these groups continue to practice 'risky behavior.' We argue that the
       widespread interest in ethnography tends to reflect a usage of the
       concept of culture that distances and subordinates. People with AIDS are
       portrayed as either minority street people abandoned by friends and
       family or as white gay men who live within a gay community, and in
       either case as socially deviant. This construction of HIV disease has
       facilitated distancing and denial of personal risk by persons outside
       the 'high risk groups,' impeding prevention efforts. Perceptions of
       subcultures of risk groups are contrasted with data on a random sample
       of persons with AIDS in New Jersey.
 DE    Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*EPIDEMIOLOGY/PREVENTION &
       CONTROL/TRANSMISSION  Adult  Anthropology, Cultural  *Attitude to Health
       *Cultural Characteristics  Denial (Psychology)  Female  *Health Behavior
       *Homosexuality  Human  Male  Middle Age  *Minority Groups  *Prejudice
       Primary Prevention  Risk Factors  *Risk-Taking  Sampling Studies  Social
       Distance  Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).