The impact of social environments on the effectiveness of youth HIV prevention: A South African case study

Abstract

Few would disagree that ‘social context’ shapes the effectiveness of HIV-prevention programmes. However much work remains to be done in developing systematic conceptualisations of HIV/AIDSrelevant aspects of social environments in vulnerable communities. This paper contributes to this challenge through a case study (44 interviews, 11 focus groups with 55 people and fieldworker diaries) of the impact of social context on a participatory peer education programme involving young people in a peri-urban community in South Africa. Three interacting dimensions of context undermine the likelihood of effective HIV-prevention. Symbolic context includes stigma, the pathologisation of youth sexuality (especially that of girls) and negative images of young people. Organisational/network context includes patchy networking amongst NGOs, health, welfare and education representatives and local community leaders and groups. This is exacerbated by different understandings of the causes of HIV/AIDS and how to manage it. These challenges are exacerbated in a material-political context of poverty, unemployment and crime, coupled with the exclusion of young people from local and national decision-making and politics. HIV-prevention initiatives seeking to promote healthsupporting social environments should work closely with social development programmes to promote young peoples’ social and political participation, increase opportunities for their economic empowerment, challenge negative social representations of youth, and fight for greater recognition of their sexuality and their right to protect their sexual health.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Professor Eleanor Preston-Whyte (HIVAN Director), Ms Debbie Heustice (HIVAN Project Manager) and Ms Mpume Nzama and her colleagues at the CYA for enabling this research.

This work was funded by a grant to HIVAN from Atlantic Philanthropies. The views in this paper are the personal views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of HIVAN or the funders. Ethical clearance for this study was received from the University Ethics Committee, University of KwaZulu-Natal, on 20 August 2002.

Notes

The names of our study community and our partner organization have been changed to protect the anonymity and confidentiality of research informants.

An activist group concerned with the rights of PLWAs.