Monogamous Halo Effects: The Stigma of Non-Monogamy within Collective Sex Environments (original) (raw)
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Rethinking Risk, Culture, and Intervention in Collective Sex Environments
This article provides a narrative overview of research on HIV/STI risk and collective sexual behavior based on an inclusive analysis of research on environments where people gather for sexual activity—sex clubs, swingers’ clubs, bathhouses, parks, private sex parties, etc. The aim is to analyze how collective sex has been approached across disciplines to promote conversation across paradigms and suggest new lines of inquiry. Attention to context—such as the location of sex—was a necessary redress to universalizing models of sexual risk-taking behavior, leading to insights rooted in the particularities of each environment and its users. However, the identification of ever more precise risk groups or environmental idiosyncrasies eventually becomes theoretically restrictive, leading to an overestimation of the uniqueness of sexual enclaves, and of the difference between any given enclave and the broader social milieu. Using a theoretical framework of transgression to interpret the interdisciplinary literature, similarities in the spatial and social organization of collective sex environments are identified. Insights generated from this complementary perspective are then applied to understandings of collective sex: first, the example of male–female (MF) “swingers” is used to illustrate the need to establish, rather than assume, the distinctiveness of each non-normative sexual enclave, and to broaden the conceptualization of context; second, questions are raised about the practicality of interventions in collective sex environments. Finally, new lines of intellectual inquiry are suggested to shed light not just on collective sex but on sociosexual issues more generally, such as increasing protective sexual health behavior or negotiating consent in sexual encounters.
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 1996
Epidemiology provides the scientific rationale for public health decisions. Epidemiologists construct taxonomic collectives on the basis of individual attributes, or "risks." One of the public health approaches to the control of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is to identify population-based strategies that can be targeted to these risk groups. Public health decisions, however, are largely political and open to discussion beyond the academic environment. Terms such as "risk group" have different meaning in public discourse than in scientific jargon. The language of epidemiology, when used in public health campaigns to control STDs, has led to stigmatization and victimization of individuals. Public health policies that ignore the political and social organization of populations are in danger of becoming instruments of social and political repression.
Sexuality-related risks are judged more harshly than comparable health risks
Objectives: In three studies, the authors examined the extent to which STIs and sexual behavior were perceived negatively compared to objectively riskier behaviors. Methods: In Study 1, participants estimated the risk of death as a result of contracting HIV from one instance of unprotected sex (with a noninjection drug user) relative to the risk of death as a result of an automobile accident (a 300 mile drive). In Study 2a, participants read one of two vignettes, in which a target either unknowingly transmitted an STI (chlamydia) or a nonsexual disease (H1N1) to another person through a sexual encounter. In Study 2b, participants read one of 12 vignettes; the type of disease (chlamydia or H1N1), severity of the disease outcome (mild, moderate, or severe), and sex of transmitter (female or male) were manipulated. In Study 3, state-level public health and driving websites were coded for riskreduction recommendations. Results: In Studies 1 and 2, participants rated the target who transmitted chlamydia more negatively than the target who transmitted H1N1; participants also perceived the target who transmitted chlamydia with a mild severity outcome (the sexual partner took antibiotics for one week) more negatively than the target who transmitted H1N1 with a severe outcome (the sexual partner died from contracting H1N1; Study 2). In Study 3, most state-level public health websites promoted safety through a recommendation that the public abstain from sex; no similar recommendations were provided on driving websites (an objectively riskier behavior). Conclusions: The stigmatization of STIs is beyond the degree of severity (relative to other diseases) and viewed as unjustifiably risky (relative to other risky activities).
Sexual contexts and the process of risk reduction
Culture Health & Sexuality, 2011
Understanding the dynamics of sexual risks for HIV among men who have sex with men has been one of the ongoing challenges of HIV prevention. While the majority of HIV-prevention interventions target individual behaviour and decision making, multiple studies point to the importance of social context in shaping risk behaviour. Analysis of qualitative data from a study of men who have sex with men, drug use and sex found that sexual encounters were made up multiple contextual and interpersonal elements, which interacted to shape sexual practices and risk reduction strategies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 60 racially diverse men who have sex with men in NYC, recruited from multiple venues. The majority of respondents were gay-identified and half were 40 or older. Respondents described risk assessment and risk-reduction processes that develop throughout a sexual encounter, embedded in ongoing negotiations of sexual practices. Strategies of risk assessment and reduction draw on probability-based approaches to HIV prevention, presenting a challenge to health education.La compréhension de la dynamique des risques sexuels liés au VIH parmi les hommes qui ont des rapports sexuels avec des hommes (HSH) est l'un des défis constants que doit relever la prévention du VIH. Alors que la plupart des interventions en prévention ciblent les comportements et les prises de décision au plan individuel, de nombreuses études mettent l'accent sur l'importance du contexte social en tant que déterminant des comportements à risque. L'analyse de données qualitatives provenant d'une étude sur les HSH, l'usage de drogues et la sexualité, a révélé que les rencontres sexuelles étaient basées sur de nombreux éléments contextuels et interpersonnels dont l'interaction déterminait les pratiques sexuelles et les stratégies de réduction des risques. Des entretiens semi-structurés ont été conduits à New York, avec 60 HSH appartenant à différents groupes ethniques qui avaient été recrutés dans des lieux différents. La plupart des répondants s'identifiaient en tant que gays, et la moitié d'entre eux avaient 40 ans ou plus. Les répondants ont décrit les processus d'évaluation des risques et de réduction des risques qui se développent à travers les rencontres sexuelles et s'ancrent dans des négociations continues autour des pratiques sexuelles. Les stratégies d'évaluation et de réduction des risques exploitent des approches de prévention du VIH basées sur la probabilité, qui sont un défi pour l'éducation à la santé.Entender la dinámica de los riesgos sexuales de contraer el virus del sida entre hombres que tienen relaciones sexuales con hombres (HSH) ha sido uno de los continuos retos en la prevención del VIH. Aunque en la mayoría de los programas de prevención del sida se abordan el comportamiento individual y la toma de decisiones, en muchos estudios se hace hincapié en la importancia del contexto social para definir los comportamientos de riesgo. En el análisis de los datos cualitativos de un estudio sobre los HSH, el uso de estupefacientes y las relaciones sexuales, se observó que los encuentros sexuales estaban integrados por varios elementos contextuales e interpersonales que interactuaban definiendo las prácticas sexuales y las estrategias para reducir los riesgos. Para este estudio se llevaron a cabo entrevistas semiestructuradas con 60 HSH de diferentes etnias en Nueva York que fueron captados de diversos lugares. La mayoría de los entrevistados se identificaron como homosexuales y la mitad eran mayores de 40 años. Los entrevistados describieron los procesos para evaluar y reducir los riesgos que se desarrollan en un encuentro sexual y que forman parte de las continuas negociaciones en las prácticas sexuales. Las estrategias para evaluar y reducir riesgos se basan en planteamientos de probabilidad para la prevención del VIH, lo que representa un reto para la educación sanitaria.
Damaged goods: women managing the stigma of STDs
Deviant Behavior, 2000
This art icle uses interview data to explore how 28 women diagnosed with chronic sexually transmit ted diseases (STDs) managed the impact of stigma on how they saw themselves as sexual beings. Constant comparat ive analysis reveals the ways in which they manage the stigmatized sexual health stat us of genit al herpes and human papillomavirus infections. Findings from this study indicate that the women engaged in a three-st age process of reconciling their spoiled sexual selves. First, the majority of them passed for healthy ; some covered by lying about what was happening to their bodies. Second, almost all used stigma transference to de ect the blame onto real and imaginary others. In the end, all of the women prevent ively or therapeut ically disclosed to intimate others. The data suggest , through a narrat ive model of the self, that the women viewed their sexual selves as ''damaged goods'' yet prevent ed the stigma from infecting their core self-narrat ives.
The Double-Edged Sword of Providing Information About the Prevalence of Safer Sex1
Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2002
A group of 267 college students participated in an experiment to determine the effect of communicating different percentages (i.e., 12%, 36%, 64%, 88%) of the prevalence of safer sex in the student population on condom-use intention. A positive linear effect of prevalence information on condom-use intention was demonstrated, although the information that 64?4 engaged in safer sex seemed most effective in changing condom-use intention. This effect was independent of previous sexual behavior. Although prevalence information had a positive indirect effect on condom-use intention as a result of a change in perceived social norms, it had a negative indirect effect because of perceived risk. That is, information indicating a high prevalence of safer sex lowered the perceived risk of AIDS and, as a result, the intention to use condoms.
Misconceptions about STD-protective behavior. Project RESPECT Study Group
2000
CONTEXT Misconceptions about STD-protective behaviors have not been studied before and after STD counseling. Further, to the best of our knowledge, the relationship of these misconceptions to condom use and STD incidence has not previously been described in published reports. OBJECTIVES The main purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence of misconceptions about STD prevention among STD clinic attendees (N=3498) in five large cities, as well as whether misconceptions decreased after STD diagnosis, STD counseling, or both. The study also identified predictors of persistent misconceptions and determined the relationship of STD incidence and unprotected sex to persistent misconceptions. METHODS Data from a randomized controlled trial evaluating HIV/STD counseling interventions (Project RESPECT) were used for the present analyses. Participants completed an interview upon study enrollment and every 3 months following enrollment for a 1-year period. A portion of the interview ass...