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- Title
The Informal Norms of HIV Prevention: The Emergence and Erosion of the Condom Code.
- Authors
Carson, Byron
- Abstract
The response many gay men took to the HIV epidemic in the United States was largely informal, especially given distant state and federal governments. The condom code, a set of informal norms that encouraged the use of condoms, is one instance of this informal response, which was wholly uncoordinated. Yet, it is not clear why these informal norms emerged or why they have since eroded. This paper explores how gay men in particular generated expectations and normative beliefs regarding condom usage, which helped to establish the condom code as an informal norm. Furthermore, the erosion of the condom code is viewed as a result of changing expectations, which change as bio-medical means of HIV treatment and prevention develop and as online and digital communities facilitate serosorting, all of which provide alternatives to condoms as a means of prevention and their associated informal norms. Future HIV prevention campaigns should recognize the extent to which informal norms coordinate and encourage preventative behavior, as well as how beliefs and expectations alter the informal norms people adopt.
- Subjects
UNITED States; HIV prevention; SOCIAL norms; CONDOM use; SAFE sex; DIAGNOSIS of HIV infections; HIV; AIDS laws; PUBLIC health laws; DISEASE prevalence; ANTIRETROVIRAL agents; HIV infection epidemiology; COMMUNITIES; CONDOMS; GAY men; HIV infection transmission; HIV infections; INTERNET; PREVENTIVE medicine; ECONOMICS
- Publication
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 2017, Vol 45, Issue 4, p518
- ISSN
1073-1105
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/1073110517750586