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Sociology
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Identity, Expertise and HIV Risk in a Case Study of Reflexivity and Medical Technologies

Mark Davis

Monash University, mark.davis{at}arts.monash.edu.au

Using qualitative interviews with gay men with HIV and with reference to identity, expertise and HIV medical technologies, this article contributes to debate concerning the concept of risk reflexivity. Since the mid 1990s, people with HIV in the affluent, global North have had access to HIV treatment that substantially improves health. Recent research has expressed fears that, by satisfying hopes for effective treatment among affected citizens, HIV prevention will be undermined. This paradoxical idea has sharpened focus on how users apply knowledge regarding the effects of treatment on the risk of HIV transmission through sexual practice. This article argues that the concept of risk reflexivity has value because it draws attention to the limitations of extant assumptions about the users of HIV medical technologies. But this concept requires development in terms of the positioning of the person with HIV in risk reflexivity and the related mobilization of blame.

Key Words: gay men • HIV treatment • medical technology • risk reflexivity

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Sociology, Vol. 41, No. 6, 1003-1019 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0038038507082312
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This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
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Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
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Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (2)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
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Right arrow Articles by Davis, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
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Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?