POST III: Analysis of a Scholarly Source
Gregory M. Herek documented his study of the pervasive stigma attached to AIDS, in relation to other diseases - in “AIDS and Stigma” – which appeared in a 1999 issue of American Behavioral Scientist. [http://abs.sagepub.com/content/42/7/1106.full.pdf+html] Here exists a detailed account of global stigma that still existed for those infected, almost two decades later. The article stresses that 1997 survey revealed a lowered public support of quarantine, compared to 1991, however there is still a misconception of how the disease is spread, especially in racial and ethnic communities where mistrust in the medical community is more prevalent. I did appreciate the four distinctions Herek makes regarding AIDS in comparison to other diseases, citing several studies. First, stigma is associated one where the victim’s behavior is blamed for contracting the disease and HIV / AIDS is often still perceived to be the result of high risk behavior. Second, greater stigma is tied to conditions which are degenerative and AIDS is still perceived as a death sentence. A tertiary concern is the fear of contagion, and AIDS is still overestimated in its risk of infection. Lastly, a greater stigma exists when infection is physically apparent and AIDS “often dramatically affect an individuals’ physical appearance….” I did appreciate how this article did elaborate in the distinction the public still overall associates with how HIV / AIDS is contracted. Also, the demographics of those more accepting versus less tolerant seemed to, not surprisingly, be reflected in the respondents’ age and education. I didn’t like necessarily how this article focused on a more global approach, where I am trying to limit my focus of this blog to the United States. Additionally, I felt the very isolated examples in the late 90’s used in the introduction, in contrast to the more pervasive handling overall of those infected in the early 80’s gave a misleading assessment of what the study would find. I was rather shocked by the mentality of someone beating to death an individual infected with HIV, when exposure to infected blood is a sure way to contract the disease. It is difficult to speculate how much is just enough time passing. Like the Ebola scare, once time elapses without an epidemic occurring – the panic went away. With HIV and AIDS, the epidemic seems less scary in the United States these days – now that medical advances have occurred. It’s also less talked about. This study is a great piece to accompany my web source, showing the outcome perhaps of the public awareness brought to light in the 80’s, and how progress is happening but rather slow moving .... JANE