Treatment is Prevention

The past 15 years have seen the waning of both cultural analysis and activism dedicated to HIV/AIDS prevention, especially in relation to the enduring epidemic in the United States. However, current mutations in the American HIV prevention landscape, driven by the biomedical promise of a ‘Test and Treat’ strategy, are producing potentially destructive outcomes for vulnerable and dispossessed communities, a situation that demands renewed investment from cultural critics. The aim of this article is to mobilize a specific strand of biopolitical theory (Foucault, Agamben, Esposito) to examine recent federally orchestrated prevention measures dedicated to a scale-up and integration of HIV testing, treatment and ‘linkage to care’, in order to move beyond their reductive approach to the preservation of life and advance a more capacious, politically engaged prevention model rooted in communal rather than individual forms of immunity. Based on my ethnographic fieldwork in Baltimore, MD, I attend to ways in which local HIV prevention initiatives are courting the city's precarious Ballroom community – a kinship system of black queer youth structured around competitive dance and performance – in an attempt to materialize their ‘target population’ for testing purposes. Previously neglected by governmental and medical institutions, members of the Ballroom community now find themselves addressed as responsible sexual citizens who are expected to protect their bodies by getting tested and, if tested positive, start treatment. Yet, this emphasis on the medical rights and responsibilities of HIV positive youth threatens to abandon large groups of youth who have managed to stay uninfected. I conclude by locating this problem in the incongruity between the biological life protected by current ‘Test and Treat’ strategies and the forms of life that allow the Ballroom community to persevere under often dire circumstances, constituting an indigenous resource for an alternative take on HIV prevention     

Gay SM in pornography and reality

A picture of SM interactions as depicted by pornographical issues of SM between 1974 and 1983 is presented by means of a correlational study of pornography. Actual SM scenarios are then compared with the depiction in magazines. The changes that have occurred over more than a decade reflected changes in the nature of violence and sexuality.     

Age structure,education, and the transmission of technical change

This paper presents a model of optimal economic growth with exogenous technical change that is embodied in people. That is, newly invented techniques can be used only if the production unit engages labour that has been trained to produce according to this new technique. The model illustrates the negative impact of slower population growth on the rate of technology adaptation. When the growth rate of population is high, the introduction of technological innovations into the production process is primarily achieved through the constant influx of recently educated young people. When the relative share of this influx is reduced, increased education becomes necessary in order to prevent the gap between technology in theory and technology in practice from becoming too large.I would like to thank an anonymous referee for helpful comments     

Migration and fertility in Ticino

Summary Migration in the Swiss canton of Ticino is one example of the wide variety of demographic systems that existed in pre-industrial Europe. The continuous movement of men was a consequence of economic, social and geographic conditions which restricted the demand for labour. Seasonal migration and overseas migration were both sex and age selective. They resulted in an imbalance of the sex ratio and a remarkably low female nuptiality. They also reduced fertility within marriage by separating husbands and wives during their childbearing years. The effect of long, medium and short-term migration on fertility can be isolated from census and vital registration sources.     

A model for group counseling with male pedophiles

Group treatment programs for pedophiles are often designed for populations of convicted men in closed institutions with limited application to other populations. Treatment is usually focused on reducing the "deviant" sexual arousal and/or acquiring heterosocial skills and eventually establishing the ability to engage in adult heterosexual relationships. A six-week, highly structured program is presented to five men in a non-residential setting. In addition to individual psychotherapy, group counseling is offered. Male pedophiles are trained to talk effectively about common problems surrounding man-boy relationships. Counseling is based on the notion that the emotional, erotic and sexual attraction to boys per se does not need to be legitimized or modified. The attraction, however, can be a source of psychological and social problems that can be handled by using a social support system. Social support for pedophile problems can be obtained from and in interaction with other pedophiles.     

Summer holiday camps for gay and lesbian young adults: an evaluation of their impact on social support and mental well-being

This study evaluates the effects of participating in a summer holiday camp for Flemish (Belgium) gay and lesbian young adults (N 197). Analysis showed to what extent participation affects the constitution and quality of friendships, the availability of confidant and appraisal support and reported levels of hopelessness, self-esteem, and depression. The study is based on panel data with a six-months interval. At follow-up, respondents reported a higher proportion of gays and lesbians in their friendship network, more satisfaction with these friendships, higher levels of confidant and appraisal support, less hopelessness, higher self-esteem, and lower levels of depression.     

The need for marriage contracts: An experimental study

A spouse who invests in relationship specific human capital enlarges the size of a couples total surplus. Such investments typically also weaken the outside opportunities of the specializing spouse and thereby her bargaining position. Realizing this, underinvestment in relationship specific human capital may result. This reduces the couples potential surplus. Private or public marriage contracts can stipulate conditions to solve this holdup underinvestment problem. This paper reports about an experiment that addresses the practical relevance of this problem. We find that although underinvestment in home production occurs, it is less frequent than game theory predicts. That is: players are prepared to specialize in home production when backwards induction predicts them not to do so. Furthermore, we find that the non-investing spouses are less opportunistic towards their partners when the large surplus has been created by the spouse than when the size of the surplus is determined exogenously.We gratefully acknowledge valuable comments from Theo Offerman, Randolph Sloof, from seminar participants in Amesterdam and Mannheim and from an anonymous referee. An earlier version of this paper circulated under the title Bargaining with endogenous pie sizes and disagreement points. Oosterbeek and Sonnemans are from the University of Amsterdam and the Tinbergen Institute. Van Velzen works for the Dutch Ministery of Finance. Oosterbeek is also affiliated with NWO program Scholar, and Sonnemans with CREED. Responsible editors: Alessandro Cigno.     

Do stepping-stone jobs exist? Early career paths in the medical profession

In the Netherlands, students who want to become a medical specialist have to enrol in a training program which is in limited supply. During the search for a position as trainee (or “junior medical specialist”), they may accept a temporary job as a medical assistant. We use a micro data set to investigate whether such work experience increases the probability of becoming junior medical specialist. To deal with selectivity, we simultaneously model the transitions from unemployment to trainee, from unemployment to medical assistant, from medical assistant to trainee and from medical assistant to unemployment. We find that a job as medical assistant helps to become a medical specialist. Received: 27 July 2000/Accepted: 31 January 2001 All correspondence to Gerard J. van den Berg. Responsible editor: John F. Ermisch.