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The Sojourner Syndrome: An Interpretive Framework for Understanding Poor Black Women's HIV Risk
Author(s) -
Davis Sarita
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
transforming anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.325
H-Index - 9
eISSN - 1548-7466
pISSN - 1051-0559
DOI - 10.1111/traa.12034
Subject(s) - oppression , intersectionality , gender studies , black women , sociology , black feminism , race (biology) , atlanta , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , class (philosophy) , psychological resilience , social psychology , psychology , political science , geography , medicine , metropolitan area , archaeology , family medicine , artificial intelligence , politics , computer science , law
This study examines how the intersection of race, class, and gender influence HIV risk among 50 black women living in a poor urban community in Atlanta—the Bluff. The study posits that an intersectional approach to examining the dynamic interaction of race, class, and gender tells us more about disproportionate HIV rates among Black women than do statements about lifestyle choices. The study also applies an interpretive framework, the Sojourner Syndrome, to examine how these marginalized Black women resist, disrupt, and/or transform these intersecting obstacles to find resilience. The theory reframes the issue of HIV risk and poor Black women to make the role of social oppression more transparent.