Sexuality in Adolescent Haitians Living in Florida Psychosocial Influences

Vjolca Capri

Date of Award

2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Raghavan, Chemba

Keywords

Haitians, HIV, Sexuality

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

AIDS, a worldwide concern, is especially a risk for Haitian immigrants living in the United States. Due to cultural barriers, the threat of stigma, and alternative health beliefs, many Haitians avoid public health services that provide helpful information about HIV and AIDS. The present study investigated how both psychological and social influences influence Haitian adolescent sexuality in Florida during a time of AIDS danger. Participants (aged 13-18 yrs.) responded to a 37-item survey that assessed their knowledge pertaining to HIV transmission, their attitudes towards condoms, and their self-perceived vulnerability to contracting HIV. Results indicated that participants in urban neighborhoods perceived themselves as more vulnerable than those in rural neighborhoods. Males were also found to have earlier sexual debuts than females. This suggests that an individual's neighborhood and sex may have an impact on his or her developing sexuality in this sample. Further research should explore other social influences on sexual development in such an understudied population.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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