Feminist Approaches to Epidemiological Research and Interventions:Addressing the HIV/AIDS Epidemic among African American Women Público

Abstract

There is an increasingly urgent need to develop effective and sustainable interventions that can curb the HIV/AIDS epidemic among African American women in the US. In this project I analyze the underlying conceptions of identity and social structure that many public health researchers draw on when theorizing about the causes of and interventions for African American women's high HIV transmission rate. Utilizing Chandra Talpade Mohanty's theory of identity production through local power systems, I suggest that monolithic understandings of African American women's identity limit epidemiological research by obscuring how particular African American women's identities are constructed through social forces and how this identity development contributes to HIV transmission. Furthermore, drawing on Michel Foucault's formulation of power, I argue that thinking about contextual forces (e.g., social structure and culture) as all-powerful arrangements limits public health interventions to two general approaches: 1) abstract social change or 2) limited, individualized behavior modification. I propose that Mohanty and Foucault's theories offer a useful conceptual framework for envisioning how tangible structural interventions can generate lasting health benefits.

Moreover, I suggest that Foucault's conception of power offers a model for designing structural interventions based on an understanding of positive deviance (PD). This theory states that within any community plagued by a particular disease there is always a subset of at-risk individuals who remain healthy by engaging in particular kinds of behaviors. I conclude by exploring how a systems approach to PD research can unearth effective strategies for reducing the disparate rate of HIV infection among African American women.

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Chapter 1: Theories of Identity and Contextual Forces in Epidemiological Research . . .13

Chapter 2: Conceptual Frameworks for Structural Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Chapter 3: A Systems Approach to Positive Deviance Research and Interventions . . . 62

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Works Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Primary Sources (Chapter 1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Primary Sources (Chapter 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Degree	BS
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Black Studies Women's Studies Health Sciences, Epidemiology
Palabra Clave	HIV Feminist African American women Black women AIDS Epidemiology Feminism
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Wilson, Elizabeth, Emory University
Committee Members	Wallace-Sanders, Kimberly, Emory University Sterk, Claire E, Emory University

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