Abstract

GIACOMOZZI, Andréia Isabel; BOUSFIELD, Andréa Barbará S.; PIRES COLTRO, Beatriz  and  XAVIER, Marlon. Social representations of living with HIV/AIDS and experiences of prejudice in Brazil. liber. [online]. 2019, vol.25, n.1, pp.57-70. ISSN 1729-4827.  http://dx.doi.org/10.24265/liberabit.2019.v25n1.07.

Objective: this study aimed to investigate the social representations of people living with HIV/AIDS and their experiences of prejudice. Method: one hundred fifty- four (154) people living with HIV/AIDS participated in the study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and underwent a descending hierarchical analysis through the IRaMuTeQ software. Results: the study results showed that for these individuals the moment of diagnosis was perceived as a turning point, but after a while they eventually anchored their health condition as a chronic disease. Infection occurred mostly due to intravenous drug use and unprotected sex. Discussion: the participants reported that dealing with social prejudice was more difficult than living with HIV/ AIDS. Prejudice was a recurring daily experience for those who decided to reveal their serological status, and led to a practice of concealing their condition from society to avoid being rejected

Keywords : social representations; HIV/AIDS; prejudice; discrimination; social psychology.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in English     · English ( pdf )