Aids 3 AIDS Related Stigma Since the appearance of AIDS in the late seventies and early eighties, the disease has had attached to it a significant soc

Aids 3

AIDS Related Stigma Since the appearance of AIDS in the late seventies and early eighties, the disease has had attached to it a significant social stigma. This stigma has manifested itself in the form of discrimination, avoidance and fear of people living with AIDS (PLWAs). As a result, the social implications of the disease have been extended from those of other life threatening conditions to the point at which PLWAs are not only faced with a terminal illness but also social isolation and constant discrimination throughout society. Various explanations have been suggested as to the underlying causes of this stigmatization. Many studies point to the relationship the disease has with deviant behavior. Others suggest that fear of contagion is the actual culprit. Examining the existing literature and putting it into societal context leads one to believe that there is no one cause. Instead, there would appear to be a collection of associated factors that influence society’s attitudes towards AIDS and PLWAs. As the number of people infected with HIV increases, social workers are and will be increasingly called upon to deal with and serve PLWAs. Although not all social workers chose to work with PLWAs, the

One of the principal roles of the social worker is that of advocacy. Now AIDS would appear to fulfill such prophecies" (36). social experience may be a better teacher than educational efforts alone. Shortly after his death, a law was passed (the Ryan White Act) to try to prevent such discriminatory actions from happening again. Society tends to classify people who contract AIDS through blood transfusions, their mother"tms at birth, or other uncontrollable circumstances as innocent victims. As a result, the word AIDS alone conjures, for many, images of those who stray from what society deems normal behavior. Quam (1990) writes, "Their parents and other parental authorities warned them that if they succumbed to pleasures of the flesh they would suffer dire consequences. legislation was passed, the Canadian government included AIDS under its human rights commission anti- discrimination laws. Even today, AIDS is often referred to as "the gay plague" (Giblin, 1995). Homosexuals, in western culture, have almost always suffered the effects of being a stigmatized population.