AIDS and the Social Sciences : Common Threads

Though more than 150,000 AIDS-related deaths have been reported worldwide and between 5 and 10 million people are now infected with its precursor, HIV-1, the deadly and relatively new AIDS virus is still a mystery. AIDS and the Social Sciences: Common Threads, an enlightening examination of the AIDS epidemic from the viewpoints of various social sciences, provides us with clues to that mystery. The essays' original research and firsthand accounts from social scientists offer an excellent overview of the research agendas and directions for a disease that is an increasing presence in our society.

Sociologists, geographers, anthropologists, psychologists, social workers, and people in government agencies converge in this book to discuss the social, political, economic, legal, moral, and ethical issues related to AIDS. Their methods of approaching the study of AIDS range from a case study approach to survey research to participant observation.

Among the topics examined in this distinctive collection are the geographic origins of AIDS, the psychosocial aspects of AIDS, the impact of AIDS on women and children, and the federal funding patterns of AIDS-related research. One chapter traces the diffusion of the pandemic in major urban areas, smaller cities, and finally rural America. Another documents the devastating impact the disease has had on central and East Africa, some areas of which have as many as one in four adults who are HIV-infected.

AIDS and the Social Sciences could serve as a primary or supplemental text for college courses and is an important resource for anyone interested in social science or public health.

Richard Ulack is chair of the Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky.

William F. Skinner is associate professor of sociology at the University of Kentucky.