A Web Resource for
Students of Social Work on
HIV/AIDS
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Purpose Philosophy
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"The
mission of the social work profession
is rooted in a set of core values."
(NASW, Code of Ethics, Preamble)
Purpose:
The National Association of Social Workers grounds our profession
in a Code of Ethics,
which it is every Social Worker's responsibility to uphold. We are enjoined
in this Code to enhance all human well being, with particular attention
"to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable and oppressed."
Millions of the world's vulnerable and oppressed persons
are living with HIV/AIDS. Despite the optimism generated by recent
therapeutic advances, the epidemic of HIV is far from defeated. Consequently,
it is the responsibility of each and every social worker to prepare for
this challenge.
This page is an introduction for Social Workers to
the challenge of understanding and coping with the Human Immuno-Virus and
the associated Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome. Even though this is
a web-page, which in principle can be expanded and updated endlessly, the
material on this particular site must be seen as provisional and incomplete.
We hope that beginning workers will use the information as a base of knowledge
to build on.
Philosophy:
The epoch defining challenge of HIV/AIDS is that it is a braid of
tragedies. In its shadow, homophobia meets viral biology, depression meets
racism, greed meets ignorance. The disease in short is a Borromean
knot of biological, psychological and social tragedies. What is a Borromean
knot? Many of you will never have heard of such a thing. The graphic on
the side of the page shows one example of such a knot. Study
it carefully and you will note that, although the rings are interwoven
so that even though no two rings inter link, they cannot be pulled apart.
Yet removing any one allows the other two to drift apart easily.
As one would expect, because HIV/AIDS is a biological
phenomenon, within the following you will find explanations and links for
further explanation on the biology of the disease. However, since the days
of Hull House, social workers have been asked to keep multiple their levels
of engagement. In keeping with a model that embeds the psychological
in the social, the rest of this site links biological
explanations with psychological and social discussions.
To
put it simply, the premise of the site is that both the profession
and the disease share an underlying structure. This
web page is designed as a biopsychosocial answer to a biopsychosocial
question. In the following, the reader is always asked to keep open all
three levels of engagement, and to keep in mind the importance of each
in relation to the other.
Ah yes, "in relation to each other", that suggests another reminder.
The pandemic we face may feel overwhelming. Indeed, none of us alone is
likely to have much influence on its course. And the information to be
learned is admittedly complex. But where people work together they create
something that is more than the simple sum of their individual efforts.
The Borromean knot also represents this facet of collaborative work; over
and above the links of the knot, one can draw strength from their cooperation.
"The Other is missing...
If it should happen that
I go away,
tell yourselves that it
is in order
...to be Other at last.
Jacques Lacan
This Site is dedicated to the memory
of Amith Ben-David,
a teacher dearly missed.
With thanks also to Mark Horowitz
for support and patience.
Disclaimers:
-
There is nothing
original about this web page except its organization. I am a student of
social work. I am neither a biologist nor a graphic artist nor a full-time
HIV activist. The reader will therefor please note (and forgive) that almost
every word and image on this web-page has been borrowed or culled from
other people's work. Most of the materials are taken from sources that
are mostly interested in having the information get around. However, if
anyone has copyright issues with any of the materials used, please feel
free to contact me.
-
"Understanding"
HIV is a very relative term. Most importantly relative to when it was acquired.
It is the first days of spring, in 1998, that I am writing these words.
I hope that the "factual" information presented will be soon superseded
by better knowledge. Take this material as a snapshot of the moment, much
in need of fleshing out. Take it as a starting point on your road
to facing the challenge of HIV.
Contact
Social Link
Production
Send me your comments, questions, objections, improvements, corrections.
Getting around this page
Purpose Philosophy
Dedication Disclaimer
Contact
Getting around this site
Biology Page
Psychology Page Social
Page Dictionary
Bibliography Links
A Social Link Production (1998)