Qualitative Health Research

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bletzer, K. V.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bletzer, K. V.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 17, No. 2, 162-175 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1049732306297885
© 2007 SAGE Publications

Identity and Resilience Among Persons With HIV: A Rural African American Experience

Keith V. Bletzer

Arizona State University, Tempe

In this article, the author contrasts the disruption model proposed by Becker (1997) against the life trajectories of two persons who used and sold drugs; considers the impact of engagement and discontinuation of substance use on their respective lives; and examines the process of life reorganization they put into motion after testing positive for HIV. Their departure from the world of drugs removed each from an unwanted lifestyle, facilitated the process of building resilience against the social adversity they faced in relation to their seropositivity, assisted them with securing care and services through institutional mechanisms, and generated a forum for new ideas on family continuity versus the ideal of individualism that grounds mainstream society. A process of identity reaffirmation further deepened their understanding of themselves as African Americans in the southern United States.

Key Words: HIV and AIDS • African Americans • life narrative • substance use and recovery • resilience and identity • rural society • southern United States


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?