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Updated: Aug 25, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
Medical profiling: narratives of privilege, prejudice, and HIV stigma
1Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, Tarrytown, New York, USA.
Abstract:
In this article, the author uses selected narrative analysis methods to deconstruct stories presented in separate interviews by a married couple who believe that their HIV-infected adult daughter has been victimized by medical profiling. In their accounts, they construct their belief that their daughter's gender, race, education, appearance, and socioeconomic status contributed to her not receiving an accurate diagnosis despite repeated medical examinations. Their similar accounts paint a picture of parents frantically seeking a diagnosis as symptoms worsen without explanation. They perceive that their daughter, not fitting the profiling ideas about who is at risk for HIV, missed her chance for early intervention. The author examines in detail how these parents separately tell similar stories, probably representing the explanation they have jointly constructed to explain what they see as a failure of medicine.
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