The Context of HIV Risk Among Drug Users and Their Sexual Partners

misleading to talk of one group as, say, family oriented while another is
not. Such characteristics not only exist on a continuum, but their group
distributions overlap. General statements about cultural differences
between groups provide a useful framework for research and some
interventions but can only suggest what may be occurring at an individual
level. Rather than simply attempting to compare groups or cultures,
research on HIV risk context would benefit from the suggestion of
Betancourt and Lopez (1993) on cultural research in general:
Investigators specify what it is about the group that hypothetically
influences behavior and directly examine and measure that phenomenon
in a theoretical framework. Group identity in itself should be considered
inadequate for explaining group differences in behavioral and
psychological research (Zuckerman 1990).
Explicit hypothesis testing would also help obviate another pitfall of
cultural research identified in the discussion, that of confounding culturebased
explanations with the investigator’s own values in areas such as
rational choice, free will, morality, and biological influence. An example
of specific hypothesis testing would be in studies of adolescent risk,
where comparing adolescents with adults is not nearly as useful as
identifying and evaluating the impact of unique aspects of adolescent peer
group structures on how they evaluate and appraise potential outcomes.
As group compositions change and develop, effects on HIV risk appraisal
should be evidenced.
RESEARCH SHOULD LOOK FOR CONTEXT OF PROTECTIVE
BEHAVIOR, NOT FOCUS SOLELY ON NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR
Determinants of risk behavior are not necessarily converse determinants
of protective behavior. Research that specifically examines protective
contextual factors and determinants in individuals or groups that either
initially avoided risk behavior or reduced risk behavior is needed to guide
prevention planning.
Specific protective effects are likely to operate only at specific
developmental stages, and advantage must be taken of the opportunity to
study these. Studies of children in high-risk families before they reach
adolescence, or even school age, could be quite useful in determining
child-rearing contextual variables related to risk behaviors. In studies
when both negative and positive influences are sought, qualitative
methods can be especially useful in helping detect protective factors and
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