HIV and identity: The experience of AIDS support group members who unexpectedly tested HIV negative in Uganda

Sociology of Health and Illness

Volumn 34, Issue 3, 2012, Pages 330-344

  Seeley, Janet ^a,b,e   Mbonye, Martin ^b   Ogunde, Nelly ^a   Kalanzi, Isaiah ^c   Wolff, Brent ^b   Coutinho, Alex ^c,d  

^a UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA   (United Kingdom)

^b MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL   (United Kingdom)

^c THE AIDS SUPPORT ORGANIZATION   (Uganda)

^d Infectious Diseases Institute   (Uganda)

^e LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Africa; HIV testing; HIV AIDS; Identity; Uganda

Indexed keywords

ADULT; AGED; ARTICLE; DIAGNOSTIC ERROR; FEMALE; HUMAN; HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS INFECTION; INTERVIEW; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; SELF HELP; SOCIAL BEHAVIOR; UGANDA;

ADULT; AGED; DIAGNOSTIC ERRORS; FEMALE; HIV SEROPOSITIVITY; HUMANS; INTERVIEWS AS TOPIC; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; SELF-HELP GROUPS; SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION; UGANDA;

EID: 84858152075     PISSN: 01419889     EISSN: 14679566     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2011.01384.x     Document Type: Article

References (40)

1. Allen, T. and Heald, S. (2004) HIV/AIDS Policy in Africa: what has worked in Uganda and what has failed in Botswana? Journal of International Development, 16, 8, 1141-54.
2. Alonzo, A. and Reynolds, N. (1995) Stigma, HIV and AIDS: an exploration and elaboration of a stigma trajectory, Social Science and Medicine, 41, 3, 303-15.
3. Asbring, P. (2001) Chronic illness-a disruption in life: identity transformation among women with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 34, 3, 312-9.
4. Barnett, T. and Blaikie, P. (1992) AIDS in Africa: its Present and Future Impact. New York: The Guilford PressYork.
5. Barroso, J. and Powell-Cope, G.M. (2000) Metasynthesis of qualitative research on living with HIV infection, Qualitative Health Research, 10, 340-53.
6. Baumgartner, L. (2007) The incorporation of the HIV/AIDS identity into the self over time, Qualitative Health Research, 17, 7, 919-31.
7. Bletzer, K.B. (2007) Identity and resilience among persons with HIV: a rural African American experience, Qualitative Health Research, 17, 2, 162-75.
8. Bond, V.A. (2010) 'It is not an easy decision on HIV, especially in Zambia': opting for silence, limited disclosure and implicit understanding to retain a wider identity, AIDS Care, 22, S 16-13.
9. Brashers, D.E., Neidig, J.L., Cardillo, L.W., Dobbs, L.K., Russell, J.A. and Haas, S.M. (1999) 'In an important way, I did die': uncertainty and revival in persons living with HIV or AIDS, AIDS Care, 11, 2, 201-19.
10. Bury, M. (1982) Chronic illness as biographical disruption, Sociology of Health and Illness, 4, 2, 167-82.
11. Carricaburu, D. and Pierret, J. (1995) From biographical disruption to biographical reinforcement: the case of HIV-positive men, Sociology of Health and Illness, 17, 1, 65-88.
12. Charmaz, K. (1983) Loss of self: a fundamental form of suffering in the chronically ill, Sociology of Health and Illness, 5, 2, 168-94.
13. Charmaz, K. (1995) The body, identity, and self: adapting to impairment, The Sociological Quarterly, 36, 4, 657-80.
14. Corbin, J. and Strauss, A. (1985) Managing chronic illness at home: three lines of work, Qualitative Sociology, 8, 3, 224-47.
15. Crossley, M. (1998) 'Sick role'or 'empowerment'? The ambiguities of life with an HIV positive diagnosis, Sociology of Health and Illness, 20, 4, 507-31.
16. Cusick, L. (1999) The process of disclosing positive HIV status: findings from qualitative research, Culture, Health & Sexuality, 1, 13-18.
17. De Cock, K.M. and Johnson, A.M. (1998) From exceptionalism to normalisation: a reappraisal of attitudes and practice around HIV testing, British Medical Journal, 316, 290-3.
18. Goffman, E. (1963) Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, New York: Touchstone.
19. Greeff, M., Phetlhu, R., Makoae, L.N., Dlamini, P.S., Holzemer, W.L., Naidoo, J.R., Kohi, T.W., Uys, L.R. and Chirwa, M.L. (2008) Disclosure of HIV status: experiences and perceptions of persons living with HIV/AIDS and nurses involved in their care in Africa, Qualitative Health Research, 18, 311-24.
20. Hampton, J. (1990) Living Positively with AIDS: the AIDS Support Organization (TASO), Uganda. London, Nairobi and Colchester, UK, ActionAid/AMREF/World in Need.
21. Hogg, M.A. and Vaughan, G.M. (2002) Introduction to Social Psychology, London: Prentice Hall.
22. Howard, J.A. (2000) Social psychology of identities, Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 367-93.
23. Jones, K.L. (2008) Surviving childhood cancer - growing up too fast, Social Work Today, 3, 8, 20.
24. Kalichman, S.C., DiMarco, M., Austin, J., Luke, W. and DiFonzo, K. (2003) Stress, social support and HIV-status disclosure to family and friends among HIV-positive men and women, Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 36, 4, 315-31.
25. Kelly, M. and Field, D. (1996) Medical sociology, chronic illness and the body, Sociology of Health and Illness, 18, 2, 241-57.
26. Lewis, J. (1994) Identity transformation: the experience of positive gay men, Dissertations Abstracts International, 56, 2877B.
27. Mathieson, C. and Stam, H. (1995) Renegotiating identity: cancer narratives, Sociology of Health and Illness, 17, 3, 283-306.
28. Robins, S. (2006) From 'rights' to 'ritual: AIDS activism in South Africa, American Anthropologist, 108, 2, 312-23.
29. Roth, N. and Nelson, M. (1997) HIV diagnosis rituals and identity narratives, AIDS Care, 9, 2, 161-80.
30. Rozario, P. and Derienzis, D. (2009) 'So forget how old I am!' Examining age identities in the face of chronic conditions, Sociology of Health and Illness, 31, 4, 540-53.
31. Russell, S. and Seeley, J. (2010) The transition to living with HIV as a chronic condition: working to create order and control on anti-retroviral therapy, Social Science and Medicine, 70, 375-82.
32. Sandstrom, K.L. (1990) Confronting deadly disease: the drama of identity construction among gay men with AIDS, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 19, 271-94.
33. Siegel, K. and Lekas, H. (2002) AIDS as a chronic illness: psychosocial implications, AIDS, 16, S69-S76.
34. Ssebbanja, P.K. (2007) United against AIDS: the Story of TASO, Oxford and Kampala: Strategies for Hope Trust and The AIDS Support Organization (TASO).
35. Tewksbury, R. and McGarghey, D. (1998) Identities and identity transformation among persons with HIV disease, International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Issues, 3, 3, 1566-768.
36. Thornton, R. (2008) Unimagined Community: Sex, Networks, and AIDS in Uganda and South Africa. Berkeley: University of California Press.
37. Turner, J.C., Hogg, M.A., Oakes, P.J. and Reicher, S.D. (1987) Rediscovering the Social Group: a Self-categorization Theory. Oxford: Blackwell.
38. Whiteside, A. and Smith, J. (2009) Exceptional epidemics: AIDS still deserves a global response, Globalization and Health 5: 15 (available at accessed 25th December 2010).
39. Williams, A. (2003) Ageing and Poverty in Africa: Ugandan Livelihoods in a Time of HIV/AIDS, Aldershot: Ashgate.
40. Wilson, S. (2007) 'When you have children, you're obliged to live': motherhood, chronic illness and biographic disruption, Sociology of Health and Illness, 29, 4, 610-26.