What African American Male Adolescents are Telling US About HIV Infection Among Their Peers: Cultural Approaches for HIV Prevention (Report) What African American Male Adolescents are Telling US About HIV Infection Among Their Peers: Cultural Approaches for HIV Prevention (Report)

What African American Male Adolescents are Telling US About HIV Infection Among Their Peers: Cultural Approaches for HIV Prevention (Report‪)‬

Social Work 2009, July, 54, 3

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Publisher Description

In the United States, African American male adolescents are at significant risk of HIV infection. For instance, male African Americans between the ages of 14 and 24 years comprise approximately 16.8 percent of the adolescent population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000), but they account for more than 55 percent of all new adolescent HIV infections (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006a). Consequently, more research is needed to obtain a clearer understanding of the factors associated with sexual risk behaviors within this group. Such research is critical if we are to develop culturally relevant approaches to curtailing the spread of HIV infection among African American male adolescents. Conspiracy theories in relation to health have long been present among some segments of the African American populace. According to Turner's (1993) classic study I Heard It Through the Grapevine: Rumor in African-American Culture, there is a distinction between malicious intent theories and benign neglect theories. Malicious intent theories refer to deliberate attempts by the government to "undermine" the African American population. An example would be the belief that AIDS was created by white America to eliminate the African American population (see Towns, 1995). As evidence, believers point to the disease's rapid spread in their community and the government's nonresponsiveness to African American health care needs (Parsons, Simmons, Shinhoster, & Kilburn, 1999), Benign neglect theories involve a government that does little to solve problems in the African American community because the well-being of African Americans is a low priority (Turner, 1993). A contemporary example of this theory, some would argue, is represented by Hurricane Katrina and the government's delayed and deplorably inadequate response to the disaster in New Orleans. It is believed that conspiracy beliefs stem from chronic experiences of discrimination (Bird & Bogart, 2005). Some of these beliefs also have historical origins. For instance, the Tuskegee Experiment,in which African American men were deliberately left untreated for syphilis in the name of "science," has undermined trust in public health officials and spawned a number of prominent conspiracy theories. For reviews of conspiracy theories among African Americans, see Parsons et al. (1999).

GENRE
Non-Fiction
RELEASED
2009
July 1
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
26
Pages
PUBLISHER
National Association of Social Workers
SELLER
The Gale Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation and an affiliate of Cengage Learning, Inc.
SIZE
236.4
KB

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