Sexuální chování adolescentů a riziko HIV

Although the number of HIV-infected persons registered in the Czech Republic might seem very low, the authors caution against false optimism and point out the risky sexual behaviour of Czech youth, who in spite of having solid knowledge about HIV/AIDS do not apply it consistently in their sexual practice. Upon the analysis of this paradox, based primarily on the data collected in Brno in 1997, the authors suggest replacing the so-far preferred rational choice theory or the health belief model, as models explaining human behaviour, with a more adequate theory of expected utility. While the former theories assume that individuals will make rational decisions and practise safer sex once they are well informed about HIV infection and are aware of the ways to protect themselves, the latter one allows for the existence of ‘rationality of intimacy’, which differs from the scientific ‘rationality of the health system’. The theory maintains that within the realm of intimate relationships it might appear rational to practice unsafe sex if this is compensated by other benefits. In order to be able to reconcile the two rationalities and understand unsafe sexual behaviour, the general context of an intimate situation must be analysed, including the social norms and values involved, the emotional load, individual intentions and goals of the partners, and also the complex mechanisms of interaction and ‘power’ negotiation between the male and the female. Sociologický casopis, 1999, Vol. 35 (No. 2: 161-179)