This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Ghaziani, A. Articles by Cook, T. D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ghaziani, A. Articles by Cook, T. D. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Reducing HIV Infections at Circuit Parties: From Description to Explanation and Principles of Intervention Design

Departments of Sociology and Management and Organizations at Northwestern University, a-ghaziani{at}northwestern.edu

Thomas D. Cook, PhD

Departments of Sociology, Psychology, Education, and Social Policy at Northwestern University

Circuit parties are weekend-long, erotically charged, drug-prevalent dance events attended by up to 25 000 self-identified gay and bisexual men who socialize and dance nonstop, sometimes for 24 hours or longer. Although these parties started originally as part of the gay community’s response to raise HIV/AIDS awareness and to build community and cultural identity, they may have become a site for transmitting HIV across geographical regions and socioeconomic groups of gay and bisexual men. This article reviews the descriptive published studies on circuit parties. The authors use these studies and the literature on drug use and high-risk sexual behavior in gay and bisexual communities, along with sociological and social psychological research, to propose a causal model of why circuit parties may contribute to unsafe sexual practices that increase HIV infection risk. The authors abstract 5 prevention messages relevant to circuit parties and review intervention studies in nonparty settings for insight into how to reduce risky sexual behavior within circuit events. These intervention studies help to identify 5 context-specific groups that can effectively carry the prevention messages. The 5-by-5 matrix represents a first stage in developing a causal model for reducing HIV infections, along with evaluable principles of intervention, at circuit parties.

Key Words: HIV/AIDS • intervention • circuit parties • club drugs • sexual behavior

Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (JIAPAC), Vol. 4, No. 2, 32-46 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1545109705277978


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?