Dorie J. Gilbert

Culturecology, Women, and African-Centered HIV Prevention:

The Healer Women Fighting Disease Integrated Substance Abuse and HIV Prevention Program for African American women is based on a conceptual framework called “culturecology” and an African-Centered Behavioral Change Model (ACBCM). Culturecology poses that an understanding of African American culture is central to both behavior and behavioral transformation. The ACBCM model suggests that behavioral change occurs through a process of resocialization and culturalization. These processes minimize negative social conditions and maximize prosocial and life-affirming conditions. The participants were 149 women—105 in the intervention group and 44 in the comparison group. Findings show significant changes among participants from pretest to posttest in (1) increasing motivation and decreasing depression (cultural realignment), (2) increasing HIV/AIDS knowledge and self-worth (cognitive restructuring), and (3) adopting less risky sexual practices (character development). The African-centered approach demonstrates promise as a critical component in reducing and/or eliminating health disparities in the African American community.

Exploring Women’s Empowerment Through “Credit-Plus” Microfinance in India

Transnational feminist discourse has critiqued the pursuit of women’s empowerment through international development programs. Empowerment, when reduced to the provision of financial resources and services, is unlikely to lead to wider changes in gender inequality unless programs strategically combine credit with other vital services. We interviewed women participating in a multifaceted empowerment program in Mumbai, India, to explore the potential of the “Credit-Plus” model to facilitate pathways of individual and collective empowerment. Emergent themes of empowerment were enhanced socioemotional well-being, increased economic assets, and improved household gender equity. Interview responses demonstrate changes in individual, household, and collective agency dynamics.

Teaching ‘community engagement’ in engineering education for international development: Integration of an interdisciplinary social work curriculum

This article reviews the literature on challenges faced by engineering faculty in educating their students on community-engaged, sustainable technical solutions in developing countries. We review a number of approaches to increasing teaching modules on social and community components of international development education, from adding capstone courses and educational track seminars to integrating content from other disciplines, particularly the social sciences. After summarising recent pedagogical strategies to increase content on community-focused development, we present a case study of how one engineering programme incorporates social work students and faculty to infuse strategies for community engagement in designing and implementing student-led global engineering development projects. We outline how this interdisciplinary pedagogical approach teaches students from the two disciplines to work together in addressing power balances, economic and social issues and overall sustainability of international development projects.

International Social Work: Experiences and Implications Regarding Substance Abuse

The trip was to the shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe outside Mexico City. People go there to swear to the Virgin (in front of family and the priest) that they will give up alcohol, and then receive a certificate to that effect. Our guide said that in Mexico this was often a much more powerful a force for stopping drinking than AA, which has difficulties dealing with class differences in this society. The guide pointed to a separate building in the huge complex of the Shrine where a line of very sheepish, nervous looking people waited to see the priest, say what they

Exploring the Relations Between Religious Orientation and Racial Identity Attitudes in African College Students A Preliminary Analysis

As the Black African college student population increases across U.S. college campuses, helping professionals are encouraged to more clearly understand the unique identity developmental needs of these students in order to fortify their academic endeavors and contribute to their success. Both religion and race are powerful forces that shape identity, providing an overall sense of purpose, a feeling of connection with others, and a sense of community. Yet, both of these aspects of identity are rarely studied in Black African college student populations. This study examined the relations between religious orientation and racial identity attitudes in 49 Black African college students, whose diverse racial, ethnic, and religious experiences have been understudied. The results from multiple regression analyses indicated that religious orientation was significantly related to racial identity status. Specifically, intrinsic religious orientation was positively related to preencounter (i.e., pro-White, anti-Black beliefs about one’s own racial group) racial identity attitudes, quest religious orientation was positively related to immersion-emersion (i.e., anti-White, pro-Black attitudes about one’s own racial-cultural group) racial identity attitudes, and the relations between intrinsic religious orientation and internalization (i.e., internalized positive self-acceptance) racial identity attitudes approached significance. Recommendations for future research and implications for diversity in higher education are discussed.

HIV Testing Changes and Implications for Social Workers

On September 22, 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents and Pregnant Women in Health Care Settings (CDC, 2006). These recommendations are the latest effort by the CDC to address the continuing number of new HIV cases (more than 40,000 per year) that are reported in the U.S. each year. A major initiative was launched in 2003 entitled Advancing HIV Prevention with four strategies: incorporating HIV testing as a routine part of care in medical settings, increasing models of testing including rapid testing, working with HIVpositive people and their partners to prevent transmission (prevention with positives) and decreasing mother to child transmission (CDC, 2003). Extensive educational and service programs were launched based on consultations with community groups, people living with HIV, provider groups and experts on stigma and prevention, national committees and advocacy groups and almost

Attitudes, Knowledge, Behavior in the Context of HIV/AIDS Stigma

200 million dollars in implementation funding in addition to the CDC’s “regular” prevention activities (CDC, 2006). Nine health departments were awarded funds to develop new

The Annual National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS

The traditional trio of attitudes, knowledge, and behavior still comprises a good framework to understand the realities of people living with HIV, HIV-affected individuals, and HIV/AIDS service providers– all of whom must negotiate aspects of marginalization related to HIV/ AIDS. Indeed, one of the universals in the HIV epidemic continues to be the contextual HIV stigma (Herek & Glunt, 1988), which is pervasive throughout the world. Although the actual and perceived stigma varies across and within affected groups, the social policy environment, cultural differences, as well as discrimination, and bias impact the quality of life, mental health, and engagement in care for people living with HIV. While stigma, grief, social distancing, and reactions have been recognized since the beginning of the epidemic, continual exploration and documentation of how HIV-related stigma interacts with social motivation among HIV-affected individuals and service providers remain critical to effective social service provision. In the early 1990s, Weiner’s (1993) attributional model of social motivation sought to explain the links between perceptions of control, responsibility, and affective and prosocial responses toward stigmatized victims. As such, judgments about people’s personal responsibility for contracting the disease or spreading the disease are linked to the societal reactions to HIVaffected populations, people’s willingness to serve this population, and, further, to particular strategies used in prevention services. This issue includes several articles exploring themes of stigma, societal attitudes,

Social Work and HIV/AIDS

In this issue’s Foreword, Vincent Lynch chronicles the history of the Annual National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS. The conference began in 1989 and over the years has grown to be a prominent resource and network for educational opportunities focused on social work and related professions addressing the psychosocial and social service aspects of HIV/AIDS. Another piece of that history relates to this journal in that the initial support and impetus to create the Journal of HIV/AIDS & Social Services grew out of discussions at the Annual National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS, and more specifically, through the National Social Work AIDS Network (NSWAN), an organization with its roots in the conference. Both entities had a vision of a journal that would provide a forum in which social workers and other professionals in the field of HIV/AIDS can access the latest research and techniques in order to provide effective social, educational, and clinical services to all individuals affected by HIV/AIDS. It is very fitting, therefore, that we introduce now our first annual issue featuring peer-reviewed conference papers from the 15th Annual National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 29 June 1, 2003. Through this issue we hope to extend that part of our mission aimed at fostering communication and support among social workers, mental health providers, and other so-

In the best interest of the child : Maintaining family integrity among HIV-positive mothers, children, and adolescents

As we enter the third decade of HIV/AIDS, we are witnessing shifting paradigms in the course of the epidemic. In many ways, HIV/AIDS has been a moving target, expanding its impact across various populations and transforming practice as it changed from an imminently fatal disease to one that increasingly can be medically managed as a chronic illness, where resources are available. While advancements have certainly been made, the AIDS epidemic continues to have a devastating effect on individuals and groups both in North America and globally. From the beginning, social workers have played key roles in responding to those affected by HIV/AIDS in the United States. Social workers comprise the single largest group of mental health professionals providing services to those affected by HIV and AIDS (Lynch, 1993). In many cases, social workers are part of interdisciplinary teams of service providers or researchers. Social workers continue to remain at the cutting edge of salient HIV/AIDS issues, including addressing the persistent problems associated with preventing HIV disease and caring for those already infected and affected by the epidemic. As an introduction to the charter issue of this journal, we reflect here on the past per-