'Resistance' and health promotion
Abstract
The main aim of this paper is to present some theoretical ideas which derive from the author's empirical research on health promotion, specifically amongst gay men, and health promotion relating to safer sexual practices. This research has been ongoing over the last five years and has involved sustained analysis of gay men's narratives relating to sexual practices, derived from ethnographic work, interviews, focus groups, questionnaire data and a detailed analysis of published autobiographical and fictional works. The paper suggests that reported increases in unprotected anal intercourse amongst gay men may be partially explained by a 'transgressive' and 'resistance' stance towards repeated health promotion efforts. It is also hypothesised that this 'resistant' response to health promotion may not be specific to gay men and may become increasingly common amongst the general population. Accordingly, the paper ends by sounding a cautionary note for health education and promotion, and emphasises the need for sustained empirical research in this area.
Get full access to this article
View all access and purchase options for this article.
References
Harpaz B.ABC Living News: Risky Business. http://204.202.137.111/sections/living/DailyNews/safesex990131.html, 1999.
Dodds J., Nardone A., Mercey D., Johnson A. Increase in high risk sexual behaviour among homosexual men, London 1996-8: cross-sectional, questionnaire study. BMJ 2000: 320: 1510-1.
Crossley ML The Perils of Health Promotion and the 'Barebacking' Backlash. Health 2000, in press.
Gendin S. Riding Bareback. POZ, June: 64-6. POZ Publishing, LLC, 1997.
Rotello G. Sexual Ecology: AIDS and the Destiny of Gay Men. New York : Dutton,1997.
Crossley ML The 'Armistead' Project: Assessing a community based health prevention programme for gay men/MWHSWM. International Journal of Health Promotion and Education 2000: 38(2): 54-64.
Rofes E. Dry Bones Breathe: Gay Men Crcating Post-AIDS Identities and Cultures . New York: Harrington Park Press, 1998.
Rofes E. Gay Today: AIDS Prevention - A controversial thesis: Gay men are neither dumb nor self destructive. http://gaytoday.badpuppy.com/garchive/health/030899he.htm, 1999.
Odets W. In the Shadow of the Epidemic: Being HIV Negative in the Age of AIDS . USA: Duke University Press, 1995, p 189.
De Wit J., Teunis N., Godfried N., Van Griensven J., Sandfort T. Behavioural Risk Reduction Strategies to Prevent HIV Infection Amongst Homosexual Gay Men: A Grounded Theory Approach. AIDS Education and Prevention 1994: 6(6): 493-505.
Lowy E., Ross M.' It'll Never Happen to Me'. Gay Men's Beliefs, Perceptions and Folk Constructions of Sexual Risk. AIDS Education and Prevention 1994: 6(6): 467-82.
Smith J., Flowers P., Osborn M. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and the Psychology of Health and Illness. In: Yardley L (Ed.), Material Discourses of Health and Illness. London : Routledge, 1997, p85.
Rhodes T. Risk theory in epidemic times: sex, drugs and the social organisation of 'risk behaviour'. Sociology of Health and Illness 1998: 4(2): 209-27.
Crawford R. The boundaries of the self and the unhealthy other: Reflections on health, culture and AIDS. Social Science and Medicine 1994: 38( 10): 1347-65.
Radley A. Making Sense of Illness: The Social Psychology of Health and Disease . London: Sage, 1994, p190.
Crossley ML Rethinking Psychological Approaches to Health Promotion. Psychology and Health 2000, in press.
Crossley ML The 'Armistead' Project: An exploration of gay men, sexual practices, community health promotion and issues of empowerment. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology 2000, in press.
White E. The Farewell Symphony. London: Verso, 1997, p298-9.
Brehm J., Brehm S. Psychological Reactance. New York: Wiley, 1981.
Brehm J. A Theory of Psychological Reactance. New York: Academic Press,1966.
Tobacco-Related Internet Resources. http://tobacco.org/Resources/tobsites.html, 1999.
Hollander and Hechsher Book News. Eat Dangerously: The Blow Health Out Your Ass Cookbook. http://www.eatdangerously.com/introduction.html, 1999.
Lewis B., Velloso R. Eat Dangerously: The Blow Health Out Your Ass Cookbook. USA: Hollander and Hechsher, 1999, pl.
West L. Doctors on the Edge: General Practitioners, Health and Learning in the Inner City. London: Free Association Books, 2001.
Cite article
Cite article
Cite article
OR
Download to reference manager
If you have citation software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice
Information, rights and permissions
Information
Published In
Article first published: September 2001
Issue published: September 2001
Keywords
Authors
Metrics and citations
Metrics
Article usage*
Total views and downloads: 97
*Article usage tracking started in December 2016
Articles citing this one
Receive email alerts when this article is cited
Web of Science: 0
Crossref: 0
-
A Failure to Communicate
-
Toward a humanistic model in health communication
-
When Increasing the Strength of the Argument Becomes Counterproductive...
-
Predicting resistance to health education messages for cannabis use: T...
-
Men, Public Health and Health Promotion: Towards a Critically Structur...
-
Men Who Have Sex With Men Account for Nonuse of Condoms
-
Decline but no fall?
-
QUEER(Y)ING PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
-
Why sexual health promotion misses its audience
-
The health‐promoting school: what role for nursing?
-
Is Health Promotion Relevant Across Cultures and the Socioeconomic Spe...
-
In pursuit of pleasure: health education as a means of facilitating th...
-
How effective are health education programmes—resistance, reactance, r...
-
'Would You Consider Yourself a Healthy Person?' : Using Focus Groups t...
-
Promoting Public Health: Media Constructions and Social Images of Heal...
-
Resistance to health promotion: a preliminary comparative investigatio...
-
Introduction to the Symposium 'Health Resistance': The limits of conte...
-
The health resistance (HR) scale: Developing a measure of resistance t...
Figures and tables
Figures & Media
Tables
View Options
Get access
Access options
If you have access to journal content via a personal subscription, university, library, employer or society, select from the options below:
loading institutional access options
Alternatively, view purchase options below:
Purchase 24 hour online access to view and download content.
Access journal content via a DeepDyve subscription or find out more about this option.
