Epidemics, Reaction Paper Example

Bourgois, Prince & Moss (2004) state that street drug culture has an impact on violence against women, as well as the vulnerability of addicts. The authors find the link between drug culture, homelessness and violence in the social and economic vulnerability of neophyte women. (Bourgois et al., 2004, p. 5). The article states that “cultural scripts for behavior around the

gender and sexual power dynamics translate into specific micro practices of risky syringe

handling and ancillary paraphernalia sharing”. While this is true, it is important to note that  – at this stage of the research – it is not proven that violence and women’s self-degrading behavior directly influences risky behavior. In order to deal with the epidemic of Hepatitis C, it is more important to determine these risky syringe handing patterns and educating all users about safeguards to be used, instead of determining relationship between street culture, violence and habits. To successfully tackle habits, effective communication and intervention frameworks need to be developed.

Eichelberger’s (2007) article focuses on the process of producing risk in vulnerable groups. Focusing on Chinatown of New York, the research is examining the impact of stigmatization and fear on the spread of the epidemics. This study is important to understand risk discourses within Chinatown on an individual and community level. The research can, indeed, be used for further research in order to find the right communication channels to reach the most vulnerable groups of the community and effectively transfer messages related to prevention and self-care. While the relationship between health outcomes and stigma is clearly demonstrated by the author, this research can only contribute towards tackling epidemics, if the findings are used to develop a community health program based on groups’ perception about themselves and stereotypes that exist in the society about them.

References

Bourgois, P.,  Prince, B. & Moss, A. (2004) The everyday violence of hepatitis c among young women who inject drugs in San Francisco. Hum Organ. 2004 September ; 63(3): 253–264.

Eichelberger, L. (2007) SARS and New York’s Chinatown: The politics of risk and blame during an epidemic of fear. Social Science & Medicine 65: 1284–1295