Open AccessTowards a Critical Biocultural Approach: Understanding HIV/AIDS Transmission Among Women in the United States and Implications for Prevention Programmes
Author(s) -
Jillie Retson
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of anthropology at mcmaster
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 0707-3771
DOI - 10.15173/nexus.v15i1.179
Subject(s) - insider , politics , meaning (existential) , ethnography , sociology , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , economic growth , political science , public relations , medicine , psychology , economics , anthropology , law , family medicine , psychotherapist
Recent trends in AIDS research suggest anthropologists must modify traditional conceptions to include political economics and multiple levels of analysis. A critical biocultural approach would integrate the political economy of risk behaviour; the ethnographic examination of insider understandings, meaning systems, and behaviours; and the biological analysis of health-related issues. This paper employs critical bioculturalism to investigate the factors contributing to the increased susceptibility of women in the United States to HIV/AIDS. Arguably, to develop appropriate prevention strategies, collaboration between anthropologists and community-based organizations is needed. Such strategies would help address the immediate needs of women, while advancing an agenda aimed at ameliorating oppressive conditions.