Jonathan Stadler
Biographic Data
| ID | 77553 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jonathan Stadler |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jonathan |
| FAMILY NAME | Stadler |
| SIGNATURE | STADLER J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of the Witwatersrand |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2325-2660 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 39 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 64 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 39 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
‘Our space with our rules’: Addicts and the imaginary world of prison gangs in rural South Africa
In the economically depressed coastal villages and small towns of the Eastern Cape, violent community activism is instigated against young jobless men who commit petty crimes, and who use illicit synthetic stimulants (crystal methamphetamine) and sedatives such as methaqualone mixed with marijuana. Labelled as ‘parasites’ ( amaphara ), they are cast out of the towns, rejected by their families, subjected to tortuous punishment, and have their sta…
Liminal bodies left in perpetual suspension: Social, cultural and political-economic responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in Southern African contexts
Precarity and Hope at the Intersections of HIV and Cervical Cancer in a Johannesburg Clinic
In a tragically ironic twist, antiretroviral therapy (ART) that promised an end to AIDS ushered in a syndemic of viral cancers, transforming hope to despair. In this article we draw from the illness narratives of HIV positive women attending a cervical cancer screening clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa, and chart their pathways from HIV to cancer, and their quest for treatment. Our interlocutors described protracted struggles to access surgica…
Public Secrets and Private Sufferings in the South African Aids Epidemic
Intentional Infections: Public Discourses of HIV Spread
Death and Dying: Narrating the End of Life
Revenge and Remembering: Idioms and Accusations of Witchcraft and Aids
Public Secrets and Private Sufferings in the South African Aids Epidemic
Surveillance, Discipline and Care: Technologies of Compliance in a South African Tuberculosis Clinic
Concerns about medical non-compliance have generated interest in the potential of remote, digital reminder and surveillance technologies. Amidst a devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic and outbreaks of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), compliance technologies are touted by developers and medical researchers as a solution to the ‘problem of non-compliance’. The appeal lies in the prospect of fashioning disciplined bodies, but at the cost of sacrificing th…
It Was Not My Aim to Sleep There”: The Impact of Timing and Location of Sex on Adherence to Coitally-Dependent HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis
Hold on’ ( Bambelela )! Lyrical interpretations of participation in an HIV prevention clinical trial
During a five-day workshop, former clinical trial participants and local musicians wrote the lyrics and recorded a song about an HIV prevention trial. Born of concerns about misconceptions regarding experimental drug trials, the aim was to engender engagement with medical researchers and open dialogue about the risks and benefits of trial participation. Composing lyrics that highlighted their credibility as communicators of medical scientific kno…
Using surrogate vaccines to assess feasibility and acceptability of future HIV vaccine trials in men: A randomised trial in inner-city Johannesburg, South Africa
Recruitment and retention of men into vaccine trials is feasible and acceptable in our setting. Findings from this surrogate vaccine trial show a high willingness to participate in future HIV vaccine trials. While access to potentially effective vaccines is important, quality health services are an equally compelling incentive for enrolment
From fear to resilience: Adolescents’ experiences of violence in inner-city Johannesburg, South Africa
Adolescents in Hillbrow commonly witnessed and had direct experience of many forms of violence in their environment, and these experiences differed markedly by gender. Interventions that build young peoples' social capital and resilience are essential for reducing violence-related trauma and long-term health and social consequences for adolescents in this community
Leaving no one behind’: Reflections on the design of community-based HIV prevention for migrants in Johannesburg’s inner-city hostels and informal settlements
To improve efforts to address HIV in urban informal settings, intervention designers must acknowledge and engage with the priorities set by the marginalised communities that live here, which may well encompass more pressing issues associated with daily survival
Honey, Milk and Bile”: A social history of Hillbrow, 1894–2016
This commentary constructs a social history of Hillbrow, an inner-city suburb in Johannesburg, South Africa, based on a review of relevant published historical, anthropological and sociological texts. We highlight the significant continuities in the social structure of the suburb, despite the radical transformations that have occurred over the last 120 years.Originally envisaged as a healthy residential area, distinct from the industrial activity…
Negotiating the use of female-initiated HIV prevention methods in a context of gender-based violence: The narrative of rape
Female-initiated methods of HIV prevention are needed to address barriers to HIV prevention rooted in gender inequalities. Understanding the sociocultural context of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) trials, including gender-based violence, is thus critical. MTN-003C (VOICE-C), a qualitative sub-study of the larger MTN-003 (VOICE) trial, examined sociocultural barriers and facilitators to PrEP amongst women in Johannesburg. We conducted focus-group…
Adherence and the Lie in a HIV Prevention Clinical Trial
The lie has been presented as a performance that protects identities against moral judgment in the context of power imbalances. We explore this assertion from the perspective of a pre-exposure prophylaxis trial to prevent HIV for African women in South Africa, in which context biological evidence of widespread lying about product adherence was produced, resulting in a moral discourse that opposed altruistic and selfish motivations. In this articl…
Bitten By Shyness: Menstrual Hygiene Management, Sanitation, and the Quest for Privacy in South Africa
Little is known about how menstruation is managed in low-income settings and whether existing sanitation systems meet women's needs. Using the 'Photovoice' method with 21 women in participatory workshops and in-depth interviews, we collected data on menstrual hygiene management in three sites in Durban, South Africa. All women reported using disposable sanitary pads. Although they were aware that disposable pads were nonbiodegradable, incompatibl…
Women’s Experiences with Oral and Vaginal Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis: The Voice-C Qualitative Study in Johannesburg, South Africa
BACKGROUND: In VOICE, a multisite HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) trial, plasma drug levels pointed to widespread product nonuse, despite high adherence estimated by self-reports and clinic product counts. Using a socio-ecological framework (SEF), we explored socio-cultural and contextual factors that influenced participants' experience of daily vaginal gel and oral tablet regimens in VOICE. METHODS: In Johannesburg, a qualitative ancillary s…
I heard about this study on the radio’: Using community radio to strengthen Good Participatory Practice in HIV prevention trials
Community radio is a potent tool for raising awareness and local knowledge about medical research and, in addition to other methodologies, can be used to promote recruitment into clinical trials. We suggest that future HIV prevention trials consider an investment in community radio beyond recruitment advertisements that incorporates this into the broader community engagement plan as a key element of Good Participatory Practice in clinical trial s…
Male Partner Influence on Women’s HIV Prevention Trial Participation and Use of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis: The Importance of “Understanding”
Hidden harms: Women's narratives of intimate partner violence in a microbicide trial, South Africa
Malicious Whites, Greedy Women, and Virtuous Volunteers: Negotiating Social Relations through Clinical Trial Narratives in South Africa
As clinical trial research increasingly permeates sub-Saharan Africa, tales of purposeful HIV infection, blood theft, and other harmful outcomes are widely reported by participants and community members. Examining responses to the Microbicide Development Programme 301-a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled microbicide trial-we investigate the ways in which these accounts embed medical research within postcolonial contexts. We explore thre…
The study has taught me to be supportive of her’: Empowering women and involving men in microbicide research
Recognising that women often have little control over most HIV-prevention methods, including condoms, researchers have made efforts to develop new bio-technological interventions, such as microbicides, that could allow women greater autonomy in HIV-prevention decision making. In many situations, women are unable to negotiate condom use with their partners, meaning that they could be better protected through the use of an effective microbicide. Th…
Blockage and flow: Intimate experiences of condoms and microbicides in a South African clinical trial
Based on qualitative research undertaken during a phase-three microbicide gel trial, this paper explores female participants' experiences and perceptions of gel and condom use and the opinions of their male partners and community members. Participants were aware that condoms were effective in preventing HIV infection and that the efficacy of the microbicide was unproven. Yet, in narratives about gel and condom use, participants ascribed improveme…
Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenthood in South Africa
South Africa's total fertility rate is estimated to be one of the lowest in sub‐Saharan Africa, fewer than three births per woman nationally and declining. At the same time, adolescent childbearing levels remain high: More than 30 percent of 19‐year‐old girls are reported to have given birth at least once. Evidence from focus‐group discussions conducted in urban and rural areas in South Africa with young black women and men, and with the parents …
Witches and witch-hunters: Witchcraft, generational relations and the life cycle in a Lowveld village
This article1 describes witchcraft accusations and witch‐hunting in a lowveld village in the former ‘homeland’ district of Mhala, Gazankulu. Two dominant trends are revealed. Firstly, middle‐aged men and the elderly are the prime targets of witchcraft accusations. Secondly, the younger generation have assumed a leading role in anti‐witchcraft campaigns. The article seeks to explain these phenomena from the perspective of generational relations an…
Gelling medical knowledge: Innovative Pharmaceuticals, Experience, and Perceptions of Efficacy
As new pharmaceutical products to combat the acquisition of HIV are produced, their clinical efficacy is determined through large-scale clinical trials. Trial participants, however, also independently evaluate the effectiveness of these technologies. During a phase III microbicide clinical trial in Johannesburg, South Africa, female participants acknowledged that although the gel had not yet been clinically proven to be efficacious, they believed…
Malicious Whites, Greedy Women, and Virtuous Volunteers: Negotiating Social Relations through Clinical Trial Narratives in South Africa
As clinical trial research increasingly permeates sub-Saharan Africa, tales of purposeful HIV infection, blood theft, and other harmful outcomes are widely reported by participants and community members. Examining responses to the Microbicide Development Programme 301-a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled microbicide trial-we investigate the ways in which these accounts embed medical research within postcolonial contexts. We explore thre…
Adherence and the Lie in a HIV Prevention Clinical Trial
The lie has been presented as a performance that protects identities against moral judgment in the context of power imbalances. We explore this assertion from the perspective of a pre-exposure prophylaxis trial to prevent HIV for African women in South Africa, in which context biological evidence of widespread lying about product adherence was produced, resulting in a moral discourse that opposed altruistic and selfish motivations. In this articl…
Women's perceptions and experiences of HIV prevention trials in Soweto, South Africa
"A Tale of Two "Cultures: HIV Risk Narratives in South Africa
There has been a tendency for many researchers and health professionals examining HIV transmission in South Africa to focus on explanations that specifically implicate culture as a primary vector affecting the prevalence of high-risk sexual behavior, such as multiple partners, unprotected sex, and dry sex. In contrast, the residents of Orange Farm, a former informal settlement south of Soweto, portray culture as seldom, if ever, motivating action…
Bitten By Shyness: Menstrual Hygiene Management, Sanitation, and the Quest for Privacy in South Africa
Little is known about how menstruation is managed in low-income settings and whether existing sanitation systems meet women's needs. Using the 'Photovoice' method with 21 women in participatory workshops and in-depth interviews, we collected data on menstrual hygiene management in three sites in Durban, South Africa. All women reported using disposable sanitary pads. Although they were aware that disposable pads were nonbiodegradable, incompatibl…
Surveillance, Discipline and Care: Technologies of Compliance in a South African Tuberculosis Clinic
Concerns about medical non-compliance have generated interest in the potential of remote, digital reminder and surveillance technologies. Amidst a devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic and outbreaks of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), compliance technologies are touted by developers and medical researchers as a solution to the ‘problem of non-compliance’. The appeal lies in the prospect of fashioning disciplined bodies, but at the cost of sacrificing th…
Hold on’ ( Bambelela )! Lyrical interpretations of participation in an HIV prevention clinical trial
During a five-day workshop, former clinical trial participants and local musicians wrote the lyrics and recorded a song about an HIV prevention trial. Born of concerns about misconceptions regarding experimental drug trials, the aim was to engender engagement with medical researchers and open dialogue about the risks and benefits of trial participation. Composing lyrics that highlighted their credibility as communicators of medical scientific kno…
Hidden harms: Women's narratives of intimate partner violence in a microbicide trial, South Africa
Muchongolo Dance Contests: Deep Play in the South African Lowveld
This article argues that Geertz's concern with cultural performances as stories people tell about themselves continues to be a valid focus of anthropological inquiry. Like Balinese cockfights, muchongolo dancing contests in the Bushbuckridge municipality of South Africa offer metacommentary on everyday life and struggles in the form of a competition. Through the juxtaposition of movements and costumes with the actions of spectators outside the da…
Witches and witch-hunters: Witchcraft, generational relations and the life cycle in a Lowveld village
This article1 describes witchcraft accusations and witch‐hunting in a lowveld village in the former ‘homeland’ district of Mhala, Gazankulu. Two dominant trends are revealed. Firstly, middle‐aged men and the elderly are the prime targets of witchcraft accusations. Secondly, the younger generation have assumed a leading role in anti‐witchcraft campaigns. The article seeks to explain these phenomena from the perspective of generational relations an…
Love, passion and play: Sexual meaning among youth in the northern province of South Africa
Conventional health promotion models of behaviour change tend to explain « risky » sexual behaviour in terms of individual deficits – be these deficits of knowledge, risk perception, motivation, self‐esteem or skills. It is, however, increasingly recognized that these « deficit » models may neglect the importance of the social, interpersonal and cultural factors that shape sexual behaviour among individuals and groups. This paper investigates the…
Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenthood in South Africa
South Africa's total fertility rate is estimated to be one of the lowest in sub‐Saharan Africa, fewer than three births per woman nationally and declining. At the same time, adolescent childbearing levels remain high: More than 30 percent of 19‐year‐old girls are reported to have given birth at least once. Evidence from focus‐group discussions conducted in urban and rural areas in South Africa with young black women and men, and with the parents …
The young, the rich, and the beautiful: Secrecy, suspicion and discourses of Aids in the South African lowveld
This article investigates emic accounts of the AIDS deaths that have occurred in a village in the Bushbuckridge district of the South African lowveld. I argue that whilst AIDS was publicly hidden and shrouded in secrecy, private gossip created moral scripts about those suspected of having died of AIDS. Details of 47 AIDS deaths revealed that young women and relatively wealthy, sometimes powerful men were vulnerable to AIDS. I suggest that AIDS co…
Muchongolo Dance Contests: Deep Play in the South African Lowveld
This article argues that Geertz's concern with cultural performances as stories people tell about themselves continues to be a valid focus of anthropological inquiry. Like Balinese cockfights, muchongolo dancing contests in the Bushbuckridge municipality of South Africa offer metacommentary on everyday life and struggles in the form of a competition. Through the juxtaposition of movements and costumes with the actions of spectators outside the da…
The ‘healthy brothel’: The context of clinical services for sex workers in Hillbrow, South Africa
Conventional health services often present barriers to sex workers seeking health care resulting in untreated sexually transmitted infections (STI) and increased risk of HIV infection. A brothel-based clinic was established to provide STI treatment for sex workers who worked in the inner city suburb of Hillbrow, South Africa. Qualitative research demonstrated that the clinic was acceptable to women in terms of service quality, accessibility, and …
Sexual coercion and sexual desire: Ambivalent meanings of heterosexual anal sex in Soweto, South Africa
Anal sex within heterosexual relationships is usually underreported or not reported at all, yet is increasingly recognised as a potential mode of HIV transmission. Understanding the circumstances of anal sex is critical for trials that seek to assess the efficacy of microbicides. This article draws on qualitative data collected during a feasibility study for a clinical trial of microbicides in Soweto, South Africa. Focus groups of women enrolled …
The role of partnership dynamics in determining the acceptability of condoms and microbicides
Microbicides are a class of substances under development that could reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases when applied locally to genital mucosal surfaces. Microbicide acceptability research has largely focused on product characteristics, rather than processes of negotiation within relationships about use. Gender relations, decision-making power and communication within sexual relationships are recognised a…
Secrecy, disclosure and accidental discovery: Perspectives of diaphragm users in Mombasa, Kenya
The diaphragm is receiving renewed attention as a promising female-controlled method of preventing HIV and other sexually-transmitted infections. It is anticipated that female-controlled technologies will reduce women's biological susceptibility and assist in counteracting their sociocultural vulnerability to HIV. Understanding the subjective experiences of diaphragm users in different settings has the potential to inform the development and prom…
Women's perceptions and experiences of HIV prevention trials in Soweto, South Africa
"A Tale of Two "Cultures: HIV Risk Narratives in South Africa
There has been a tendency for many researchers and health professionals examining HIV transmission in South Africa to focus on explanations that specifically implicate culture as a primary vector affecting the prevalence of high-risk sexual behavior, such as multiple partners, unprotected sex, and dry sex. In contrast, the residents of Orange Farm, a former informal settlement south of Soweto, portray culture as seldom, if ever, motivating action…
Rumours about blood and reimbursements in a microbicide gel trial
A rumour that emerged during a microbicide gel trial tells the tale of clinic staff purchasing trial participants' blood. This paper documents the rumour and explores its divergent interpretations and meanings in relation to the context of the trial and the social and economic setting at two of the trial sites (Soweto and Orange Farm) in South Africa. The article is based on qualitative research conducted during the Microbicides Development Progr…
Re-framing microbicide acceptability: Findings from the MDP301 trial
Microbicides are most usually conceptualised within a disease prevention framework and studies usually define acceptability in terms of product characteristics, willingness to use and risk reduction. This starting point has led to assumptions about microbicides which, rather than being challenged by empirical studies, have tended to foreclose the data and subsequent conceptual models. Few studies take an emic ('insider') perspective or attempt to…
Gelling medical knowledge: Innovative Pharmaceuticals, Experience, and Perceptions of Efficacy
As new pharmaceutical products to combat the acquisition of HIV are produced, their clinical efficacy is determined through large-scale clinical trials. Trial participants, however, also independently evaluate the effectiveness of these technologies. During a phase III microbicide clinical trial in Johannesburg, South Africa, female participants acknowledged that although the gel had not yet been clinically proven to be efficacious, they believed…
Blockage and flow: Intimate experiences of condoms and microbicides in a South African clinical trial
Based on qualitative research undertaken during a phase-three microbicide gel trial, this paper explores female participants' experiences and perceptions of gel and condom use and the opinions of their male partners and community members. Participants were aware that condoms were effective in preventing HIV infection and that the efficacy of the microbicide was unproven. Yet, in narratives about gel and condom use, participants ascribed improveme…
The study has taught me to be supportive of her’: Empowering women and involving men in microbicide research
Recognising that women often have little control over most HIV-prevention methods, including condoms, researchers have made efforts to develop new bio-technological interventions, such as microbicides, that could allow women greater autonomy in HIV-prevention decision making. In many situations, women are unable to negotiate condom use with their partners, meaning that they could be better protected through the use of an effective microbicide. Th…
Malicious Whites, Greedy Women, and Virtuous Volunteers: Negotiating Social Relations through Clinical Trial Narratives in South Africa
As clinical trial research increasingly permeates sub-Saharan Africa, tales of purposeful HIV infection, blood theft, and other harmful outcomes are widely reported by participants and community members. Examining responses to the Microbicide Development Programme 301-a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled microbicide trial-we investigate the ways in which these accounts embed medical research within postcolonial contexts. We explore thre…
Women’s Experiences with Oral and Vaginal Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis: The Voice-C Qualitative Study in Johannesburg, South Africa
BACKGROUND: In VOICE, a multisite HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) trial, plasma drug levels pointed to widespread product nonuse, despite high adherence estimated by self-reports and clinic product counts. Using a socio-ecological framework (SEF), we explored socio-cultural and contextual factors that influenced participants' experience of daily vaginal gel and oral tablet regimens in VOICE. METHODS: In Johannesburg, a qualitative ancillary s…
I heard about this study on the radio’: Using community radio to strengthen Good Participatory Practice in HIV prevention trials
Community radio is a potent tool for raising awareness and local knowledge about medical research and, in addition to other methodologies, can be used to promote recruitment into clinical trials. We suggest that future HIV prevention trials consider an investment in community radio beyond recruitment advertisements that incorporates this into the broader community engagement plan as a key element of Good Participatory Practice in clinical trial s…
Male Partner Influence on Women’s HIV Prevention Trial Participation and Use of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis: The Importance of “Understanding”
Hidden harms: Women's narratives of intimate partner violence in a microbicide trial, South Africa
Negotiating the use of female-initiated HIV prevention methods in a context of gender-based violence: The narrative of rape
Female-initiated methods of HIV prevention are needed to address barriers to HIV prevention rooted in gender inequalities. Understanding the sociocultural context of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) trials, including gender-based violence, is thus critical. MTN-003C (VOICE-C), a qualitative sub-study of the larger MTN-003 (VOICE) trial, examined sociocultural barriers and facilitators to PrEP amongst women in Johannesburg. We conducted focus-group…
Adherence and the Lie in a HIV Prevention Clinical Trial
The lie has been presented as a performance that protects identities against moral judgment in the context of power imbalances. We explore this assertion from the perspective of a pre-exposure prophylaxis trial to prevent HIV for African women in South Africa, in which context biological evidence of widespread lying about product adherence was produced, resulting in a moral discourse that opposed altruistic and selfish motivations. In this articl…
Bitten By Shyness: Menstrual Hygiene Management, Sanitation, and the Quest for Privacy in South Africa
Little is known about how menstruation is managed in low-income settings and whether existing sanitation systems meet women's needs. Using the 'Photovoice' method with 21 women in participatory workshops and in-depth interviews, we collected data on menstrual hygiene management in three sites in Durban, South Africa. All women reported using disposable sanitary pads. Although they were aware that disposable pads were nonbiodegradable, incompatibl…
Using surrogate vaccines to assess feasibility and acceptability of future HIV vaccine trials in men: A randomised trial in inner-city Johannesburg, South Africa
Recruitment and retention of men into vaccine trials is feasible and acceptable in our setting. Findings from this surrogate vaccine trial show a high willingness to participate in future HIV vaccine trials. While access to potentially effective vaccines is important, quality health services are an equally compelling incentive for enrolment
Medicine (31 works) · Sociology (25 works) · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (22 works) · Psychology (20 works) · Political science (18 works) · Family medicine (17 works) · Environmental health (15 works) · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV (15 works) · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions (14 works) · Population (14 works)