Social and economic factors in an integrated behavioral and societal approach to communications in HIV/AIDS

Health communication scholars have tried to understand how individuals process information and have identified the factors that contribute to appropriate behavior change. Some of these theorists have, implicitly or explicitly, assumed that if individuals were provided with the "right" information they would adopt the recommended behavior. Some others have endorsed the need to provide behavioral skills along with information so that individuals are able to carry out the desired behavior. Both approaches, however, are concerned with individual behavior change. Sociodemographic variables like class, gender, and race have seldom figured in sociopsychological analyses in the AIDS context. Limited attention has been paid to the manner in which political, economic, and social variables have constrained or enabled individual behavior related to AIDS. In this article, the various sociopsychological theories/models that inform AIDS prevention are delineated; the sociopsychological approaches in the context of class, race, and gender issues are critiqued; and an analytical framework that integrates behavioral and societal level variables to guide policy interventions is provided.