AIDS (attitudes toward)

Attitudes towards AIDS have been clsely studied by psychologists since the condition becamewidespread.

Stigma
AIDS stigma exists around the world in a variety of ways, including ostracism, rejection, discrimination and avoidance of HIV infected people; compulsory HIV testing without prior consent or protection of confidentiality; violence against HIV infected individuals or people who are perceived to be infected with HIV; and the quarantine of HIV infected individuals. Stigma-related violence or the fear of violence prevents many people from seeking HIV testing, returning for their results, or securing treatment, possibly turning what could be a manageable chronic illness into a death sentence and perpetuating the spread of HIV.

AIDS stigma has been further divided into the following three categories:

Often, AIDS stigma is expressed in conjunction with one or more other stigmas, particularly those associated with homosexuality, bisexuality, promiscuity, and intravenous drug use.
 * 1) Instrumental AIDS stigma&mdash;a reflection of the fear and apprehension that are likely to be associated with any deadly and transmissible illness.
 * 2) Symbolic AIDS stigma&mdash;the use of HIV/AIDS to express attitudes toward the social groups or lifestyles perceived to be associated with the disease.
 * 3) Courtesy AIDS stigma&mdash;stigmatization of people connected to the issue of HIV/AIDS or HIV- positive people.

In many developed countries, there is an association between AIDS and homosexuality or bisexuality, and this association is correlated with higher levels of sexual prejudice such as anti-homosexual attitudes. There is also a perceived association between all male-male sexual behavior and AIDS, even sex between two uninfected men.

Those most likely to hold misconceptions about HIV transmission and to harbor HIV/AIDS stigma are less educated people and people with high levels of religiosity or conservative political ideology.


 * For more details on this topic, see Stigma and HIV-AIDS, A review of the literature

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References & Bibliography


Papers

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