TY - JOUR
T1 - Amigos and amistades
T2 - the role of men's social network ties in shaping HIV vulnerability in the Dominican Republic
AU - Fleming, Paul J.
AU - Barrington, Clare
AU - Perez, Martha
AU - Donastorg, Yeycy
AU - Kerrigan, Deanna
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through the US Agency for International Development under the terms of the Project SEARCH [Contract No. GHH-I-00-07-00032-00]. Additional funding was provided by the UNC Junior Faculty Development Award of the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, and the Carolina Population Center for training support [grant numbers T32 HD007168 and R24 HD050924].
PY - 2014/9
Y1 - 2014/9
N2 - While men's social networks have been identified as a source of influence on sexual behaviour, less is known about the different types of friendship ties within men's networks. We analysed data from qualitative in-depth interviews with 36 men in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic who are current or former sexual partners of female sex workers to understand how: (1) men describe trust and communication with different types of friendship ties, (2) characteristics of trust and communication reflect norms of masculinity, and (3) these friendship ties influence HIV-related behaviours. We identified a distinction between amistades, social drinking buddies who are not trusted, and amigos, trusted friends. The majority of men lacked any amigos and some had neither amigos nor amistades. In general, men reflected traditional norms of masculinity and said they did not feel they could discuss their relationships or emotional topics with other men. Trust and communication dynamics, and how norms of masculinity shape those dynamics, should be understood and addressed in the design of HIV prevention efforts with men's social networks as they have implications for the potential effectiveness of such efforts.
AB - While men's social networks have been identified as a source of influence on sexual behaviour, less is known about the different types of friendship ties within men's networks. We analysed data from qualitative in-depth interviews with 36 men in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic who are current or former sexual partners of female sex workers to understand how: (1) men describe trust and communication with different types of friendship ties, (2) characteristics of trust and communication reflect norms of masculinity, and (3) these friendship ties influence HIV-related behaviours. We identified a distinction between amistades, social drinking buddies who are not trusted, and amigos, trusted friends. The majority of men lacked any amigos and some had neither amigos nor amistades. In general, men reflected traditional norms of masculinity and said they did not feel they could discuss their relationships or emotional topics with other men. Trust and communication dynamics, and how norms of masculinity shape those dynamics, should be understood and addressed in the design of HIV prevention efforts with men's social networks as they have implications for the potential effectiveness of such efforts.
KW - Dominican Republic
KW - HIV prevention
KW - masculinity
KW - men
KW - sexual behaviour
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U2 - 10.1080/13691058.2014.919028
DO - 10.1080/13691058.2014.919028
M3 - Article
C2 - 24939001
AN - SCOPUS:84905269565
SN - 1369-1058
VL - 16
SP - 883
EP - 897
JO - Culture, Health and Sexuality
JF - Culture, Health and Sexuality
IS - 8
ER -