Adolescent Sexual Behavior and the HIV/AIDS Risk in the Czech Republic
2003
Although the number of HIV-infected persons registered in the
Czech Republic might appear very low, the authors caution
against false optimism. They point to the risky sexual behavior
of Czech youth, who, in spite of having solid knowledge about
HIV/AIDS prevention, do not consistently apply it to their
sexual practice. From the analysis of this paradox, based
primarily on data collected in the city of Brno in 1997, the
authors suggest replacing the so-far preferred rational choice
theory or the Health Belief Model, as models explaining human
behavior, with the more adequate theory of expected utility.
While the former theories assume that individuals will make
rational decisions and practice safer sex once they are better
informed about HIV infection and 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 behavior, the general context of an intimate
situation must be analyzed, 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 sexual partners.
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