Heller Jacob
Jacob Heller is with the Sociology Department, SUNY College at Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY.
Am J Public Health. 2015 Jan;105(1):e43-e50. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302284.
The social context of the early HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States provided fertile ground for rumors about transmission. Today, however, rumors about HIV/AIDS persist only within the African American public. Focus group and public discourse data reveal the content and distribution of HIV/AIDS origin and conspiracy rumors. Rumor and contemporary legend theory allows reinterpretation of rumors as a measure of trust between the African American public and health professionals, not as evidence of ignorance or of historical racial oppression. To improve public health results in the African American community, HIV/AIDS efforts must acknowledge the sources and meanings of rumors, include rumors as a measure of trust, and address the underlying distrust that the rumors signify.
在美国,早期艾滋病毒/艾滋病流行的社会背景为有关传播的谣言提供了滋生的土壤。然而如今,有关艾滋病毒/艾滋病的谣言仅在非裔美国人群体中依然存在。焦点小组和公共话语数据揭示了艾滋病毒/艾滋病起源及阴谋论谣言的内容和传播情况。谣言及当代传说理论使人们能够重新解读谣言,将其视为非裔美国公众与卫生专业人员之间信任程度的一种衡量标准,而非无知或历史种族压迫的证据。为了改善非裔美国社区的公共卫生状况,艾滋病毒/艾滋病防治工作必须承认谣言的来源和意义,将谣言作为信任程度的一种衡量标准加以考量,并应对谣言所表明的潜在不信任问题。