Premium
Beyond the Gender Differential: Very Young Children Coping with HIV/AIDS
Author(s) -
Hayden Jacqueline
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
children and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0860
pISSN - 0951-0605
DOI - 10.1111/j.1099-0860.2006.00022.x
Subject(s) - girl , coping (psychology) , developmental psychology , psychology , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , young adult , stigma (botany) , medicine , clinical psychology , psychiatry , family medicine
This article reports on a recent study of HIV/AIDS which investigated the role of gender in the experiences of young children in one region of Namibia. The findings reveal that while gender is reported to shape school‐age girls and boys’ experiences of being infected or affected by HIV/AIDS in many African nations, gender was not an influential variable in the experiences of very young children coping with HIV/AIDS. Conditions of poor health, deprivation and stigma were equally distributed amongst young girl and boy participants. Connectivity with families and communities was shown to be influenced by living conditions but not differentiated by gender. No gender differences were identified regarding young childrens’ sense of hope and vision for the future. The article implies that there may be a particular juncture when gender begins to make a difference in the life of girls and boys—and that this could be an important focus for research. Copyright © 2006 The Author(s).