Hegemonic Masculinity, HIV/Aids Risk Perception, and Sexual Behavior Change Among Young People in Ghana

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4618547
AutoresJohn Kuumuori Ganle (0000-0002-8382-3437, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, autor de correspondencia)
Año2016
Volumen26
Número6
Páginas763-781
Fecha de publicación2016-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaQualitative Health Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1049732315573204
PMID25721715
OpenAlexW2104016592
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas20
Referencias citadas34

Among the youth in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa, a paradoxical mix of adequate knowledge of HIV/AIDS and high-risk behavior characterizes their daily lives. Based on original qualitative research in Ghana, I explore in this article the ways in which the social construction of masculinity influences youth's responses to behavior change HIV/AIDS prevention interventions. Findings show that although awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the risks of infection is very high among the youth, a combination of hegemonic masculinity and perceptions of personal invulnerability acts to undermine the processes of young people's HIV/AIDS risk construction and appropriate behavioral change. I argue that if HIV/AIDS prevention is to be effective and sustained, school- and community-based initiatives should be developed to provide supportive social spaces in which the construction of masculinity, the identity of young men and women as gendered persons, and perceptions of their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS infection are challenged

Developmental psychology · Family medicine · Hegemonic masculinity · Hegemony · Masculinity · Perception · Political science · Sexual behavior · Sociology · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Clinical Psychology · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Medicine · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Psychology · Social Psychology