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AIDS has grown in just two decades from a rare disease to one that has already killed millions of men, women, and children worldwide. To help high school and college students understand the history and current status of AIDS as a social, political, psychological, public health, and cultural phenomenon, this documentary history provides 228 short and highly readable selections from primary and secondary sources of information about AIDS and HIV. Its scope covers the entire history of the epidemic from its beginnings to early 1997. The documents, many of which cannot easily be found elsewhere, will help the reader to understand and debate the many perspectives and points of view on this controversial topic.
Douglas A. Feldman, one of the country's leading specialists in international and domestic AIDS social research, and Julia Wang Miller, a research consultant, have selected documents and provided explanatory introductions to them to help readers gain a deeper understanding of the sociocultural ramifications of AIDS. Following a narrative historical overview of the AIDS crisis, the work is organized into nine topical chapters: the history of HIV/AIDS; the impact of the epidemic in the United States and globally; HIV/AIDS within communities and populations; AIDS in the developing world; the human side of AIDS; the politics of AIDS; education and behavioral change; legal and ethical issues; and the future of AIDS. Each chapter contains an introductory narrative overview of the topic, brief explanatory introduction to each document, and list of suggested readings. A glossary of terms and an AIDS resource directory of organizations to contact for further information complete the work. This important documentary history belongs on the shelves of every public school and college and university library.
List of contents
Introduction:the AIDS Crisis
The History of HIV/AIDSThe Origins of HIV/AIDS
An Epidemic Emerges
The Shaping of Public Opinion
Suggested Readings
The Impact of the EpidemicThe Situation in the United States
The Global Crisis
The Epidemic Takes Its Toll
Suggested Readings
HIV/AIDS Within Communities and PopulationsThe Teenager
Women
Children
Injecting Drug Users
The Gay Community
Commercial Sex Workers
The Homeless
Correctional Facilities
Persons with Hemophilia
Suggested Readings
AIDS in the Developing WorldThe African Pandemic
The Growing Crisis in Asia
AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean
Suggested Readings
The Human Side of AIDSThe Many Faces of AIDS
Psychosocial Needs of Persons With AIDS
The Role of Families, Partners and Friends
The Role of Health Care Providers and Caregivers
Suggested Readings
The Politics of AIDSCommunity Responses to the Crisis
Political Apathy
Political Activism
Suggested Readings
Education and Behavioral ChangePromoting Awareness and Education
Producing Behavioral Change
Suggested Readings
Legal and Ethical IssuesAIDS, the Workplace, and the Law
Ethics and AIDS Policy
Suggested Readings
The Future of AIDSSuggested Readings
Glossary
AIDS Resource Directory
Index
About the author
DOUGLAS A. FELDMAN is a Medical Anthropologist and President of D. A. Feldman & Associates, a behavioral and program evaluation organization in Hollywood, Florida. He is co-editor of The Social Dimensions of AIDS (Praeger, 1986) and editor of Culture and AIDS (Praeger, 1990). Dr. Feldman has conducted AIDS social research on adolescents in Zambia, persons with AIDS in Rwanda, dentists in Florida, and gay men in New York and Florida . He founded the AIDS and Anthropology Research Group of the Society for Medical Anthropology and co-founded the American Anthropological Association's Task Force on AIDS.
