The micro and the macro: How discourse of control maintains HIV-related stigma

Abstract

In this article we examine how HIV/AIDS caregivers negotiate stigma in their discourse of providing care to HIV-positive individuals. Using interview data, we demonstrate how participants employed discourse of control in attempting to avoid and counter HIV-related stigma: participants rejected fear of associating with HIV-positive individuals by drawing on their knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission and their ability to control and avoid infection. Such discourses backfire, however, as the concept of HIV/AIDS infection being controllable and thus avoidable maintains accountability for the disease. Thus, participants' micro discourse of control can maintain the macro discourse that produces HIV-related stigma.

Mental health stigma: Impact on mental health treatment attitudes and physical health

“…Research indicates that stigma is a broad concept that has been internationally identified and shown to impact many different identities and life domains. For example, Ranjbar et al (2016) demonstrated that HIV-related stigma can be intensified when HIV patients share HIV-related information with caretakers. Stevens et al (2017) found that weight stigma significantly mediates the relationship between physical, weight-related variables and mental health symptoms.…”

Effects of social norms and message framing on reducing the stigma of gynecological diseases: A cognitive‐affective‐behavioral model

“…Women's sexual and reproductive health has long been a focal topic for health organizations and practitioners worldwide (Glasier et al, 2006; Hall et al, 2020). In contrast to some well‐researched issues, such as sexually transmitted illnesses (Ranjbar et al, 2016), the prevalent gynecological diseases (GDs) as a significant threat to women's sexual and reproductive health seem to be largely neglected by public health research. The term GDs is generally used to denote “structural or functional disorders of the female genital tract” (Bang et al, 1989).…”