| The AIDS pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on the health and welfare of individuals. Globally, most countries have enacted significant HIV/AIDS legislation aimed at preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS through major policy creation, change, or funding. These policies have varied greatly in their construction, ranging from quarantines of infected individuals in Cuba to delayed or limited policy enactment in countries such as the United States and China. Surprisingly, for two decades, few studies have examined the nature and extent of HIV/AIDS policy development within and across countries, particularly with regard to how societal attitudes, specifically heterosexism, racism, sexism, and classism impact policy decisions (e.g. "isms").; The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative policy analysis of the intersection of "isms" and HIV/AIDS policy. One of the few theoretical models existing for policy analysis is Schneider and Ingram's (1993) social constructionist theory of policy development. Schneider and Ingram (1993) posit that the nature (benefits or burdens) of policy development is dependent on the social construction of the political constituents (affected individuals), which fall into four categories: advantaged, contenders, dependents, and deviants. The author of this study employed this theory as a framework for conducting an analysis of AIDS policy development in two countries: the United States and Mexico. Schneider and Ingram's theory guided the inquiry. Grounded theory was employed to the utility theory on an international level. The researcher conducted qualitative interviews with 12 key informants in Mexico and the United States and studied archival data to complete the policy analysis. Content analysis and macrotextual analysis were used to analyze the data.; The results of this study include identification of common themes of AIDS policy development in Mexico and the United States. Findings supported the notion that heterosexism, sexism, classism, and racism, to various degrees, played a role in HIV/AIDS policy development in Mexico and the United States. Further, the findings suggest the need for an additional category, mobile constituents, to be added to Schneider and Ingram's theory. The study has implications for social work policy, practice, research, and education. |
