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  • Title: No joking matter: formal and informal sources of information about AIDS in Zimbabwe.
    Author: Pitts M, Jackson H.
    Journal: AIDS Educ Prev; 1993; 5(3):212-9. PubMed ID: 8217473.
    Abstract:
    One hundred and forty-two social work students in Harare, Zimbabwe, were questioned concerning their sources and memory of information concerning the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS. Newspapers were cited most frequently as the major source of information. Family and friends were not reported to be major sources of information. An analysis of the kinds of items most frequently recalled showed that articles concerning personal portrayals were the most powerful vehicles for AIDS information. Metaphors and similes for AIDS produced by the students mirrored those commonly reported elsewhere. Jokes were studied as indicators of informal opinions, and these showed negative views of American involvement in AIDS issues. Social work students in Harare, Zimbabwe, responded to a questionnaire in June 1990 (94 students) and April 1991 (47) to convey where they obtained information about AIDS, what kind of information they remembered best, and what their informal views of the disease were as revealed by which, if any, jokes they wished to tell about AIDS and by their figurative language. The 142 students listed newspapers and magazines as the major source of their information. Family was at the bottom of the major source list and friends at the top of the minor source list. The newspaper articles they could recall most particularly were personal accounts of HIV-infected people detailing the effect the disease had on their lives. When asked for metaphors and similes for AIDS, the analogies were the disempowering nature of plague/war/disease. This is in concert with metaphors used by the media worldwide. When asked for jokes, the most frequently related was that AIDS is an acronym for "American Idea for Discouraging Sex." This reply was interpreted to reflect latent resentment for the reports in the US press that AIDS has an African origin. Jokes also assigned AIDS an urban-rural transmission route (which is considered to be incorrect) and described condom use in unflattering terms. These results point to the importance of the media in conveying information and influencing attitudes and beliefs about AIDS.
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