From biographical disruption to biographical reinforcement: the case of HIV‐positive men

Abstract

In-depth interviews were conducted with 44 asymptomatic HIVpositive men infected through homosexual relations or medical treatment for haemophilia. The objective was to better understand interrelations between: the consequences of infection on everyday life; the meanings given to being HIV-pwsitive; and the reconstruction of identities. The consequences for everyday life are examined in relation to: the importance of keeping one's immune status secret; self-imposed restraints and the constraints ensuing from the immune status; and the resources interviewees tapped to cope with their new situation. The meanings given to infection arose as these men reinterpreted their individual and collective pasts. This biographical reconstruction reinforced components of identity that, prior to HIV-infection, had been built around haemophilia or homosexuality. This is what is called biographical reinforcement, a notion developed in relation to biographical disruption.

Additive and subtractive resilience strategies as enablers of biographical reinvention: A qualitative study of ex-smokers and never-smokers

“…Bury, 1991M. Bury, , 2000, biographical reinforcement (Carricaburu & Pierret, 2004) and biographical reinvention (Gabe, Bury, & Elston, 2004). We also draw on Giddens" ideas about the "project of the self" (Giddens, 1990) and the idea that the "self" is a reflexive project which is constantly being worked on in order to present "identity" as coherent (Giddens, 1991).…”

Illness and other assaults on self: the relative impact of HIV/AIDS on women’s lives

“…Charmaz 1983a, 1987, Corbin and Strauss 1987, Williams 1984, we are afforded an opportunity to assess the theory's relevance and applicability to a unique, understudied population. Although Bury's approach has been applied to men's experiences with HIV/AIDS (Carricaburu and Pierret 1995), we lack a clear understanding of how well this model reflects women's experiences. Factors including socioeconomic class, sexual preference, and lifestyle differences (e.g.…”

Chernobyl: Living with risk and uncertainty

“…Yet, in many ways, it mirrors what Carricaburu and Pierret (1992) have described as 'a situation at risk of illness', where no medical diagnosis can predict who will actually fall ill, and where persons must manage an apparently healthy life in conditions of uncertainty (Carricaburu and Pierret 1995). In such situations, many of the observations made in the context of the onset of a chronic illness in the seminal work of Bury (1982) apply.…”

“…On the collective level, we find little evidence of a mobilizing effect of the disaster which previous research would predict (Peacock et al 1996). Similarly on the individual level, the informants appear to exhibit the first two stages of behaviour observed among those 'at risk of illness' (Carricaburu and Pierret 1995), namely a disruption of taken-for-granted assumptions and a rethinking of biography (Bury 1982), but not the third stage where resources are mobilized to face an altered situation.…”