Managing and controlling HIV/AIDS talk among Ghanaians living with HIV/AIDS

Abstract

This study explored the meanings people attribute to talking about living with HIV/AIDS. Framed by interpersonal and health communication scholarship based on disclosure and the meanings of talk about illness, people living with HIV/AIDS are asked to describe how and why they discussed their health condition with others. Interviews (focus group and one-on-one) were conducted with 120 people living with HIV/AIDS. A grounded theory analysis of the interviews revealed how communication about HIV/AIDS may be particularly meaningful because it is something people feel they can control during what is already a highly stressful and turbulent time. However, attempts to manage communication are challenged by constraints imposed by others, such as unfavourable and unpredictable reactions to disclosure, which ultimately place limits on how people living with HIV/AIDS control information about them.     

Democracy promotion: the relationship of political parties and civil society

Organizations involved in the growing field of democracy promotion need to find effective ways to aid both political parties and civil organizations and, where necessary, to foster close collaboration between them. But they also must respect their autonomy and help them realize their own democratic objectives. It is important to recognize the differences between the two sectors: civil society should not be subordinate to parties, and it would be a mistake to wrap the party sector into an undifferentiated concept of civil society. Strategies to assist democracy should, then, distinguish between four main political contexts: authoritarian; emerging democracy; post-dictatorial situations where government is not committed to democracy; and war-torn or post-conflict countries.     

Public support for democracy in hong kong

Hong Kong witnessed a large-scale public rally and extensive support for democracy in mid-2003. This article explains the support by means of variables extracted from cultural, instrumental and sociological approaches. Drawn from the cultural approach, ‘post-materialistic activism’ and low levels of ‘respect for authority’ are found to be most powerful in explaining mass support, among all explanatory variables. Since culture seldom changes overnight, popular support for democracy may be sustained in the short and medium term. The calculation of the economic consequences for democracy, a variable drawn from the instrumental approach, has no effect on mass support. Thus, any attempt to suppress popular demand for democracy by offering economic sweeteners alone may prove futile. The most important instrumental factor among the public is ‘their confidence in political parties’. Whether pan-democratic parties can elevate such confidence becomes pivotal to boosting and sustaining this support. The lack of relatively stronger support among the younger and more educated stratum of people in Hong Kong does not bode well for prospects of increased mass support in the future. Finally, the article offers a small footnote on the implications for the ‘Asian values’ debate.     

USAID,Population Control,and NGO-Led Democratization in Egypt: The Fate of the ICPD Programme of Action

Critics of US democracy-promotion strategies of the last 20 years ask: what kind of democracy is promoted by US public agencies and associated nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), how is it promoted, and for what purpose(s)? This paper draws on interviews with NGO, USAID, and UN representatives, gathered in Egypt in 2001, to describe the fate of Egyptian women's advocacy NGOs seeking to implement the pro-democracy platform of action of the 1994 UN International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). It offers some support for critics' contentions both that external (here USAID) pro-democracy interventions may actually obstruct democratization, and that the instrumental nature of US democracy promotion may mean that such activities are quickly eliminated or downgraded when they conflict with more primary US policy goals.     

增强领导干部忧患意识的四个维度

党的十八大报告指出,面对人民的信任和重托,面对新的历史条件和考验,全党必须增强忧患意识,谦虚谨慎,戒骄戒躁,始终保持清醒头脑。作为党的领导干部更要有强烈的忧患意识,常怀忧党之心,恪尽兴党之责。     

多角度解析警民冲突的原因——以群体性事件为例

当前国家提倡构建和谐社会,公安机关强调建设和谐警民关系。从公安机关角度看,警民冲突是影响和谐的突出表现。因此,文章从警民冲突的特点、原因及解决措施进行分析总结梳理,以求找到缓解警民关系的有效办法。     

格式条款的法价值机理与规制新思路——兼评新《消费者权益保护法》第26条

格式条款因其有助于交易的迅捷而被广泛应用于各种消费领域,但其亦日益沦为经营者侵害消费者利益的工具,并愈演愈烈。因此,此次《消费者权益保护法》着重从防范格式条款滥用的角度对其进行修缮。但是,如果深入剖析格式条款制度所蕴涵的效率与公平法价值及两者间的运行机理,则会发现此次防范和规制格式条款的修改思路依然是旧有规整思路,难以取得法律修改的预期效果。合理而正确的规整思路应当是,区分不同消费领域对公平与效率价值的强弱需求,然后在遵循不同法价值机理的基础上配置相称的规制手段。     

刑法视野下的法律拟制新探——价值协调与机制缺失

法律拟制大致经历了从诉讼拟制到实体拟制、从司法拟制到立法拟制、从技术拟制到规范拟制的发展进程,它是工具价值与规范价值相融合的产物,从本质上讲,它是一种有意识的＂立法类推＂。刑法拟制本身并没有是否违反罪刑法定原则的问题,只有法律拟制的工具价值是否受到规范价值的制约并与之协调的问题,对于我国刑法中拟制条款的质疑与检讨就是看其设置是否符合刑法的目的。法律拟制除了规范价值的内在制约外,还需要合宪性审查机制的外在制约。     

边境地区群体性事件中警察自我防范技术研究

我国边境地区群体性事件具有自身的特征,针对这些特征,由生物、电子和物理三类技术构成的防范技术体系,适用于警察在应对和处置边境群体性事件过程中对人、物和环境的自我防范,在技术体系的具体应用过程中要重视＂理念体系＂的作用,在技术培养训练过程中要明确影响警察自我防范技术水平层次提高的因素类型,着力提高应对和处置边境地区群体性事件中警察自我防范技术和水平。     

论尊重人权与普世价值的关系

人权的本质特征是人之为人的本质要素,即自由和平等。随着社会经济的发展和人类文明程度的提高,人权要素的内容会不断丰富。人权是以主体的人为其立足之本的。作为主体的个人为实现更多更高层次的利益诉求,结成各种不同组织体、甚至国家,赋予这些组织体享有和行使某些人权,是个体人权活动的延伸和能力的提高。"普世价值"是以特定历史时期特定的人群共同的利益需求为指向的,其目的是在更大范围内实现人的自由、平等和全面发展。本文通过三种人权主体形式及相互关系的分析,对尊重人权与普世价值的关系进行了论证。各种人权组织形式设置的目的是为个人人权服务的,民族国家是人权组织的高级形式,它应当由本民族来决定和行使,我们反对西方借人权干涉他国内政。