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From sickness to badness: the criminalization of HIV in Michigan

Trevor Hoppe1

  • 1University of Michigan, Department of Sociology, 500 South State Street, Room 3001, LSA Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; University of Michigan, Department of Women's Studies, 204 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

Social Science & Medicine (1982)
|February 25, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Criminal laws targeting HIV disclosure are not based on public health. Instead, the criminalization of sickness reflects moral judgments about HIV, leading to punishment rather than medical guidance.

Area of Science:

  • Sociology of health
  • Criminology
  • Public health law

Background:

  • Sociological studies often examine medicalization, where medicine regulates social issues.
  • Less explored is how medical issues become governed by criminal law, termed the "criminalization of sickness."

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the
  • criminalization of sickness
  • by analyzing HIV disclosure laws and their enforcement.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of 58 felony HIV nondisclosure convictions in Michigan (1992-2010).
  • Examination of the enforcement of state HIV disclosure statutes.

Main Results:

  • HIV disclosure laws are not driven by medical or public health concerns.
  • Enforcement reflects moralizing narratives that frame HIV as a "moral infection."

Conclusions:

  • The criminalization of sickness, specifically HIV, is rooted in moral condemnation, not public health.
  • Legal interdiction and punishment are prioritized over medical or public health considerations in HIV nondisclosure cases.
Keywords:
CriminalizationHIV/AIDSMedicalizationPublic healthSocial controlSociology of lawUSA

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