Regulating sexual bodies or addressing health needs? Men who have sex with men and partner notification

Abstract

Partner notification is the process by which people who are thought to have been exposed to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are traced, informed about their exposure and invited to attend clinical services. It is the cornerstone of genitourinary medicine for the prevention and treatment of STIs. The central question of the article is whether partner notification (PN) represents the medical regulation of sexual bodies or is an appropriate medical response to health care needs. The question is first of all addressed through contrasting theoretical lenses: a Functionalist Parsonian perspective, a Post-structuralist, Foucauldian perspective and a critical theory Habermasian perspective. The question is then explored empirically by drawing on the perspectives of men who have sex with men (MSM) as drawn from a study of MSM's lay perspectives on partner notification in the context of a syphilis outbreak in Dublin. The findings show that the views of MSM in this study suggest that PN is an appropriate response to health care needs and, thus, the lay views most clearly resonate with a functionalist understanding of trust in the expert and moral status of public health. However, the difficulties MSM experience in complying with PN also suggests that the medical logic of PN needs to be counter-balanced with the social logic as derived from lay experiences of its practice in their lives. A critical theory approach holds potential for mediating between medicine's regulation of sexual health and individual health care needs.

“Manejar la Situacion”: Partner Notification, Partner Management, and Conceptual Frameworks for HIV/STI Control Among MSM in Peru

“…Within dyadic partnerships, factors influencing PN include partnership type (primary/stable versus secondary/casual partner) and interpersonal dynamics (communication styles and relations of power within the partnership) (19–23). Social and structural characteristics like social norms of sexual behavior and communication, as well as the availability of resources necessary to support partner notification and treatment, then define the larger contexts of PN (24, 25). Biologically, the specific STI diagnosed, the perceived severity of the infection, and the perceived likelihood of having infected (or having been infected by) a given partner also influence PN decisions (26–28).…”

Urban Politics as the Unfolding of Social Relations in Place: The Case of Sexually Transmitted Disease Investigation in Mid‐Twentieth‐Century Gay Seattle

“…On the other hand, the role of disease investigation highlights the concurrent importance of a social and cultural epistemology (Lohan et al ., ). After all, VD was often politely named a ‘social disease’.…”

Examining the scope of public health nursing practice in sexually transmitted infection prevention and management: what do nurses do?

“…, O'Byrne & Dias , Lohan et al . ). There has been minimal research attention paid, however, to understanding whether or not nurses undertake these areas of practice or how these practices are enacted.…”