The Challenge of Staying HIV-Negative for Latin American Immigrants

Adaptation and Implementation of HoMBReS: A Community-Level, Evidence-Based HIV Behavioral Intervention for Heterosexual Latino Men in the Midwestern United States

“…Important cultural factors have been associated with HIV risk behaviors among Latino men including stigma associated with HIV (Carballo-Dieguez, 1998; Pérez-Jiménez, Seal, & Serrano-García, 2009; Sanchez, 1998), stigmatized sexuality including traditional gender roles for women fueled by machismo (Anderson, Lopez, & Sorensen, 2001; Hillman, 2008; Lo, Reisen, Poppen, Bianchi, & Zea, 2011), and marianismo that promote risk behaviors as normative among men and relegate women to subservient positions to men in a traditional hierarchy (Doll, Petersen, White, Johnson, & Ward, 1992; Wood & Price, 1997). Furthermore, Latinos who have recently immigrated to the U.S. face issues associated with transience, a lack of formal education, undocumented immigration status, inadequate access to health insurance and quality health care, and low wages—all of which hinder their access to HIV prevention, screening, testing, and care (Garcia & Duckett, 2009; Hillman, 2008; Martinez et al, 2011; Rhodes, Hergenrather, Bloom, Leichliter, & Montaño, 2009).…”

A randomized controlled trial to test an HIV-prevention intervention for Latino gay and bisexual men: lessons learned

“…(For a review of culturally grounded HIV prevention, see Wilson & Miller, 2003. ) Such interventions should pay particular attention to factors with which sexual risk behavior among Latino MSM is often associated: (1) experiences of oppression the participants may have endured in the course of their lives, such as anti-gay violence and discrimination, HIV/AIDS-related discrimination, and the perception of living in a homophobic and racist society (Carballo-Diéguez, 1998;Díaz, 1997Díaz, , 1998Díaz & Ayala, 1999Marín et al, 1998;Morales, 1995;Wolitski, 2002); (2) childhood sexual experiences with adults, especially when perceived as abusive (Carballo-Diéguez & Dolezal, 1995;Dilorio et al, 2002;Dolezal & Carballo-Diéguez, 2002); (3) disempowerment feelings that may be the result of such experiences and perceptions, such as low self-esteem, (Magel, 2002;Toro-Alfonso, 1996), depression, hopelessness, fatalism (Díaz & Ayala, 1999Morales, 1995) and internalized homophobia (Morales, 1995); (4) substance use as a coping mechanism, especially when use occurs in conjunction with sex (Díaz & Ayala, 2001;Dolezal et al, 2000); and (5) cultural norms prevalent among Latino men, such as machismo and the belief that sexual impulses are hard to control (Díaz, 1997).…”

“…Several researchers working with Latino MSM (Amaro, 1995;Carballo-Diéguez, 1998;Díaz, 1998;Magana, 1991;Morales, 1995) speculated that the theories of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, especially as articulated in Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Freire, 1970(Freire, , 1990, should be considered as a model for HIV prevention with this population. (The American Red Cross (2003) and the World Bank also propose the application of Freire's theory to HIV prevention with Latinos and Africans in general.)…”

A Qualitative Analysis of Cultural and Social Vulnerabilities to HIV Infection Among Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Asian Youth

“…Where appropriate, workers and peer volunteers should engage these youth in critical dialogue about their lives in the context of HIV, racism, homophobia, and other forms of social oppression. As Cranston (1992) and Carballo-Diéguez (1998) have argued, this dialectic approach to HIV education can facilitate a self-empowerment process and increase self-efficacy to make necessary behavioural choices to reduce HIV risk. We believe that when a safe and fun environment is created, these youth will not only participate in the activities, but will also seek information and assistance when required.…”