Authors
David A Rier
Publication date
2007/11
Journal
Sociology of Health & Illness
Volume
29
Issue
7
Pages
1043-1058
Publisher
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Description
This paper examines how, on Internet HIV/AIDS support groups, participants discuss the ethics of disclosing HIV seropositivity to partners. The data consist of all mentions of disclosure culled from over 16,000 pages overall of posts from 16 different groups, hosted on seven separate sites. The paper focuses on two main questions. First, apart from providing support and information, did the groups also debate moral dilemmas (and, despite groups’ common perception as ‘safe spaces’ for non‐judgmental exchanges, did these discussions include moral judgments and conflicts)? Secondly, did use of this new medium generate a new, alternative ethical discourse, or merely replicate existing discourses? The data demonstrate that online support groups did engage in debating, and trying verbally to enforce, certain views of the ethics of seropositivity disclosure. The most common view advocated full disclosure, though a …
Total citations
200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232561513764885454653