Meddling With Mythology: Aids And The Social Construction Of Knowledge (international Library Of Sociology (paperback))

Meddling with Mythology examines the role of research in the construction of modern mythology or folklore surrounding HIV/AIDS. Researchers from a variety of disciplines reflect on the insights gained and the impact of their work, in light of the initial panic surrounding the prediction of an AIDS epidemic. Issues discussed include:- \* power \* representation \* the politics of text \* understanding research relationships \* impact of research on researchers and responders \* potential for change. Meddling with Mythology takes the reader from the theoretical to the practicable and from the public to the personal in the representations of AIDS. The issues raised here also have great significance for those concerned with the social construction of knowledge, theory building and the research process more generally. Book Cover......Page 1 Half-Title......Page 2 Title......Page 3 Copyright......Page 4 Dedication......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Contributors......Page 8 Read me first......Page 11 Acknowledgements......Page 18 BACKGROUND TO THIS VOLUME......Page 19 EXPLORING THE ‘SIGNIFICANT’ AND THE ‘TRIVIAL’......Page 21 MYTHOLOGY......Page 23 AIDS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH......Page 26 POWER......Page 28 NARRATIVE......Page 29 STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK......Page 30 I Power......Page 31 II Boundaries and identities......Page 32 IV Representation and agency......Page 33 Conclusion......Page 34 REFERENCES......Page 35 Part I Power......Page 37 INTRODUCTION......Page 38 AIDS/HIV NARRATIVES AND THE FLOW OF POWER......Page 39 REFLEXIVITY, CONVERSATIONS AND A DIALOGICAL IDEAL......Page 42 SILENCE AND RESEARCH......Page 46 SILENCE AND PWA/HIV......Page 50 REFERENCES......Page 52 INTRODUCTION......Page 55 THE BACKGROUND OF HIV-RELATED POLICY, PRACTICE AND RESEARCH......Page 56 STUDYING ETHNIC MINORITY DRUG USERS: POWER AND CULTURE......Page 58 HIV AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF ‘OTHERNESS’......Page 60 THE POLITICAL CONTEXT OF DRUG USE, HARM MINIMISATION AND HIV......Page 61 ‘CULTURAL’ APPROPRIATENESS AND SERVICE RESPONSIVENESS......Page 64 CONCLUSION......Page 68 REFERENCES......Page 69 INTRODUCTION......Page 72 SETTING THE SCENE......Page 74 PSYCHOTHERAPY......Page 75 COUNSELLING......Page 76 COUNSELLING AND THERAPY IN AN HIV/AIDS ORGANISATION......Page 78 THE AUTHOR’S TALE......Page 79 RESPONDENTS’ VOICES......Page 81 PSYCHOTHERAPY AS DISCOURSE......Page 82 CONCLUSIONS......Page 84 REFERENCES......Page 87 Part II Boundaries and identities......Page 90 INTRODUCTION......Page 91 AND RELATIONSHIPS .........Page 93 THE RESEARCHER AS EX—NURSE AND CARE PROVIDER......Page 94 THE INTERACTION OF PUBLIC, PRIVATE AND PROFESSIONAL ROLES......Page 95 THE IMPACT OF THE RESEARCH ON THE RESPONDENTS: PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ACCOUNTS......Page 97 DISCLOSURE AND DISSEMINATION......Page 101 CONCLUSION......Page 103 REFERENCES......Page 104 INTRODUCTION......Page 107 RESEARCHING EMOTIONS......Page 108 DISPLAYING EMOTIONS......Page 110 THE AURA OF CONFIDENCE......Page 114 THE ROLE OF SUPPORT......Page 116 CONCLUSION......Page 117 REFERENCES......Page 119 INTRODUCTION......Page 121 ‘YOU’RE ALL RIGHT YOU ARE’: CREDIBILTY, IDENTITY AND ACCESS......Page 122 NEGOTIATING BOUNDARIES......Page 124 THE RESEARCHER AS ACTIVE PARTICIPANT......Page 127 ‘JUST GIVE US THE FACTS’: DIFFERENT VIEWS OF RESEARCH......Page 131 ‘IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT YOU MAKE OF ALL THIS’: WRITING UP......Page 134 CONCLUSION......Page 137 NOTES......Page 138 REFERENCES......Page 139 Part III Narrative exchange......Page 142 INTRODUCTION: THE GIVING OF GIFTS......Page 143 ECONOMIC OR SOCIAL VALUES?......Page 146 THE COMPLEXITIES OF THE RESEARCH ENCOUNTER AND POSTMODERNIST IDEALS OF GIFT EXCHANGES......Page 150 THE WELFARE AND POLICY CONTEXT OF AIDS RESEARCH......Page 152 REFLEXIVITY, COLLABORATION AND POWER IN THE RESEARCH ENCOUNTER......Page 155 CONCLUSION......Page 157 REFERENCES......Page 159 INTRODUCTION......Page 162 A REASON FOR TELLING TALES......Page 163 TALES AT THE BOUNDARY......Page 165 THE MUTILATED BODY......Page 166 MANAGING AND HARNESSING POWERLESSNESS......Page 172 CONCLUSION......Page 176 REFERENCES......Page 177 MARGINALITY AS A STRUCTURAL POSITION......Page 178 NETWORKS: SERVICES FOR AND RESEARCH ON PEOPLE WITH HIV IN LOTHIAN......Page 181 NARRATIVES......Page 183 THE ‘GAZE’......Page 187 ‘US’ AND ‘YOU’......Page 190 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 194 REFERENCES......Page 195 Part IV Representation and agency......Page 197 INTRODUCTION......Page 198 RECIPROCITY AND REPRESENTATION......Page 199 ATTRIBUTION AND INTERPRETATION......Page 203 CONSTRUCTING THE ‘OTHER'......Page 206 SELECTION AND PRESENTATION OF MATERIAL......Page 208 ENGAGING WITH THE ‘OTHER’......Page 210 CONCLUSION......Page 212 REFERENCES......Page 213 COLLECTING THE SAMPLE: ACCESS TO THE FIELD......Page 216 CONTACTING CARERS......Page 218 ETHICS......Page 219 ELICITING DATA......Page 221 INTERPRETATION AND REPRESENTATION......Page 224 RESPECTING CONFIDENTIALITY: PRESENTATION OF THE DATA......Page 227 CONCLUSION......Page 230 NOTE......Page 231 REFERENCES......Page 232 BookmarkTitle:......Page 233 POLICY-MAKING, EVALUATION AND THE CONTRACTING CULTURE: THE HIV/AIDS AND DRUG EVALUATION INDUSTRY......Page 234 EVALUATION OPERATIONALISED: ASSUMPTIONS AND PRACTICALITIES......Page 236 NEGOTIATING EVALUATION......Page 240 RULES OF EVALUATION: FORMAL AND INFORMAL INFORMATION EXCHANGE......Page 242 LOOKING AND ACTING INFORMED......Page 245 CONCLUDING REMARKS: PUTTING ‘VALUE’ BACK IN ‘EVALUATION’......Page 246 REFERENCES......Page 247 Part V A tribute to Phil Strong and an overview......Page 249 Introduction to Chapter 14......Page 250 NOTES......Page 255 REFERENCES......Page 256 INTRODUCTION......Page 257 THE PESTILENTIAL DRAMA......Page 258 BIOLOGICAL REDUCTIONISM AND REFLEXIVITY IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE......Page 259 TWIN WORLDS, PARALLEL APOCALYPSES......Page 264 NOTES......Page 267 REFERENCES......Page 269 THE RESEARCH BARGAIN, REFLEXIVITY AND THE SOCIOLOGICAL GAZE......Page 272 THE STORIES RESEARCHERS TELL......Page 276 REFLEXIVITY AND THE ELUSIVE: CHASING THE LAST VISIBLE DOG......Page 278 REFERENCES......Page 280 Name index......Page 281 Subject index......Page 287 Read Me First / Ronald Frankenberg. 1. Introduction: Aids: From The Specialised To The Mainstream / Rosaline S. Barbour And Guro Huby -- Pt. 1. Power. 2. Silence And Strategy: Researching Aids/hiv Narratives In The Flow Of Power / Brian Heaphy. 3. Power, Culture And The 'hard To Reach': The Marginalisation Of Minority Ethnic Populations From Hiv Prevention And Harm Minimisation / Dima Abdulrahim. 4. Policing Boundaries: Linking The Theory And Experience Of Psychotherapy In Hiv/aids Research / Philip Gatter -- Pt. 2. Boundaries And Identities. 5. It's A Family Affair: On Public And Private Accounts Of Hiv/aids / Hugh Masters. 6. Researchers Experience Emotions Too / Jill Bourne. 7. Fact-finder, Fag Hag, Fellow And Funambulist: Research As A Balancing Act / Katie Deverell -- Pt. 3. Narrative Exchange. 8. The Story As Gift: Researching Aids In The Welfare Marketplace / Neil Small. 9. Of Tales, Myth, Metaphor And Metonym / Clive Foster. 10. On Networks And Narratives: Research And The Construction Of Chaotic Drug User Lifestyles / Guro Huby -- Pt. 4. Representation And Agency. 11. Engagement, Representation And Presentation In Research Practice / Rosaline S. Barbour. 12. Carrying Out Hiv-related Research In An Area Of Low Prevalence: Issues For Researcher And Researched / Cathy Stark. 13. Evaluation Within A Policy-making And Contracting Culture: Reflections On Practice / Edwin Van Teijlingen And Guro Huby -- Pt. 5. A Tribute To Phil Strong And An Overview -- Introduction To Chapter 14 / Anne Murcott. 14. The Pestilential Apocalypse: Modern, Postmodern And Early Modern Observations / Philip Strong. 15. Conclusion: From Meddling To Mastery? / Rosaline S. Barbour And Guro Huby. Edited By Rosaline S. Barbour And Guro Huby ; Foreword By Ronald Frankenberg. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.