African Americans who live in low-income communities are more likely to engage in unprotected sexual activities than those who live in higher-income communities.
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Table of Contents
Chapter Page/s
I. The Problem 1-2
II. Theoretical Framework 3-5
III. Hypothesis 6
IV. Population and Design 7-8
V. Conclusion 9-10
VI. Bibliography 11-12
1
I. Problem
Little to nothing was known about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) when it first erupted in the 1970s. When the epidemic finally reached noticeable proportions in the early 1980s, a disease that knows no gender, racial, or class boundaries has created a devastating impact on society. This disease has afflicted society in virtually epidemic proportions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, there are an estimated 1 million Americans infected with AIDS and 40,000-80,000 new infections with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) each year.
There are few people who do not know someone who has died of AIDS, and it is estimated that, early in the new millennium, some forty million people worldwide will be infected with HIV, and ten million of them will develop AIDS. Research and statistics reveals that individual behavior is the strongest determinant of HIV and AIDS risk. This high-risk behavior place them in danger and is passed on to others by means of exchanging sex for money or drugs, injection drug users (IDUs), incarcerated persons, unborn babies of infected mothers, and other persons who have numerous sex partners.
Individuals in communities where Sexual Transmitted Diseases are prevalent are also at high risk rates of AIDS and HIV infection are substantially higher in blacks than among whites, especially among adolescents and young adults (Healthy People 2000). Many factors contribute to why there are more African Americans infected with HIV, AIDS, and STDs than any other racial and ethnic group.
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The purpose of this explanatory study is to find out why African Americans who live in low-income / African American communities are more likely to en...
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report. Atlanta: Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, 1995; 7(1): 1-34.
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Center for Disease Control and Prevention. National Prevention Information Network.
Maryland: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv
Crosby, Richard A. Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Atlanta:
http://www.reutershealth.com/frame2/eline.html
National Center for Healthy Statistics. Healthy People 2000 review. 1994. Hyattsville, MD: Public Health Service, 1995. (Publication no. DHHS (PHS) 95 – 1256 – 1).
Research on Molecular Immunology of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. NIH GUIDE, Volume 21, Number 19, May 22, 1992.
Human immunodeficiency virus infection / acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system transmitted between people by the mixing of bodily fluids. It is an extremely deadly disease that has killed over thirty-six mi...
Whether you're white, African-American, or Hispanic, poverty for today's youth has many recurring themes. A recent article by Duncan and Brooks for The Education Digest points out some very discerning facts that face today's poor youth. "Low Income is linked with a variety of poor outcomes for children, from low birth weight and poor nutrition in infancy to increased chances of academic failure, emotional distress, and unwed childbirth in adolescence." (Duncan& Brooks, pg. 1). They also claim that low-income preschoolers show poorer cognitive and verbal skills because they are exposed to fewer toys, books, and other brain-stimulating items at home than their higher-income classmates.
The spread of aids threatens our population daily. Lives lost to it number over 12 million, including 2 mil...
US Department of Health and Social Services, Healthy People 2010, 2nd Ed., US Gov. Printing Office, 2000.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2014 African Americans held the highest poverty rate of 26%, with Hispanics holding the second highest rate at 24% (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2015). When comparing this to the poverty rates of Whites at 10% and Asians at 12% in 2014, we see that in America, racial and ethnic minorities are more vulnerable to experiencing poverty (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2015). In addition, discrimination is seen between genders among those living in poverty. Family households of a single adult are more likely to be headed by women and are also at a greater risk for poverty (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2015). In 2014, 30.6% of households headed by a single woman were living below the poverty line compared to 15.7% for households headed by a single male (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2015). Many factors such as poor wages for women, pregnancy associations, and the increase of single-woman parented families have impacted the increase of women in poverty. Children are most harshly affected by poverty because for them the risks are compounded, as they lack the defenses and supports needed to combat the toxicity surrounding them. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 21% of all U.S. children (73.6 million children) under 18 years old lived in poverty in 2014 (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor,
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). AIDS weakens the immune system hampering the body’s defense mechanisms. AIDS is known to be a deadly disease, especially if it is not treated in a timely manner. AIDS and HIV is an epidemic that is increasing among the African American population with roots tracing back to Africa, AIDS and HIV needs greater exposure and more awareness within the African American community and in the homosexual community.
Half of the world’s cases are found in what is referred to as the AIDS belt, a chain of countries in eastern and southern Africa that is home to two percent of the global population. The main vehicle for spreading HIV throughout Africa is heterosexual intercourse. In contrast, this is the opposite compared to the U.S. where the virus is usually transmitted through homosexual intercourse or contaminated syringes shared by drug users. Besides heterosexual intercourse, HIV transmission through transfusion and contaminated medical equipment is common in sub-Saharan Africa. Africans infected with HIV die much sooner after diagnosis than HIV-infected people in other parts of the world.
Fain, N. C. & Lewis. N. M. (2002). Wellness: The Holistic Approach to Health. Journal of
CDC. (2010). Retrieved 02 10, 2014, from HIV in the United States: At A Glance: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/basics/ataglance.html
In the US, teen pregnancy rates have been decreasing in the last decade even though current rates remain twice as high as those found in other industrialized nations (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994). In spite of decreasing rates, among African American teenagers, the pregnancy rate is particularly high. In 1996, the pregnancy rate was 178.9 per thousand among African-American females aged 15 to 19 years, compared with a pregnancy rate of 82.6 among whites (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1999). Additionally, on the basis of the findings of the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, it was determined that African American females (48%) aged 15 to 17 were more likely than their white (34%) counterparts to have had sexual intercourse since menarche. On the basis of information provide by the National Center for Health Statistics (1997), African-American females aged 15 to 19 were more likely than their white peers to have had their first sexual experience (i.e., intercourse) without using effective contraception (24% versus 14%, respectively). Consequently, on the basis of such risky behavior, African American teenagers are at greater risk than their white peers for experiencing a pregnancy.
The authors worked for the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies which belongs to AIDS resea...
With this minority members in a society can result in discriminating actions such as exclusion, oppression, expulsion, and extermination. Good Americans who want to reduce poverty say that race should not be relevant to problems. Poor African Americans are more likely to live in high poverty neighborhoods with less resources and options than whites. This is a problem because high poverty communities are more likely to have less quality schools, housing and health care. African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to live in these communities than whites.
Babbie, E. (2007) The Practice of Social Research. Thomson Higher Education. Belmont. (USA) Eleven Edition.
The AIDS virus is the most common disease, and with no cure, an infected person will die. It is estimated that 90 to 95 percent of AIDS infections occur in developing countries where the world’s worst living conditions exist.
Martinez, Gladys, Joyce Abma, and Casey Copen. “Educating Teenagers About Sex In The United States”. CDC.GOV. Center of Disease Control and Prevention, 15 Sept. 2010. Web. 09 Feb.2014