While doctors and biologists search for a cure for Human Immunodeficiency Virus [HIV], psychologists and social scientists are seeking ways to slow the spread of the disease through education and outreach programs. Don Operario, a recent recipient of a doctorate in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, works with the Center for AIDS Prevention to influence the behavior of those at risk for HIV.

Operario delivered a lecture yesterday, titled, “Social Oppression and the Context for HIV Vulnerability: New Challenges for AIDS Prevention” in Tobin Hall, in which he described the correlation between discrimination and high-risk sexual behaviors.

“My basic argument is that social factors have as much to do with the epidemic as biological ones,” Operario said.

He began his lecture by describing the current state of the AIDS epidemic. He said that while advances in treatment may have led to the perception that the disease is no longer a threat, AIDS continues to decimate certain populations.

“[Deaths from AIDS] are the equivalent of twenty fully loaded 747 jets crashing everyday,” Operario said. “And some data shows an increase in HIV infections since 1996.”

Infection rates are particularly high, Operario said, among racial and sexual minorities.

“In the past, we tried to stress the point that AIDS is the consequence of behavior, so that we could de-stigmatize certain populations,” he said. “But we’ve seen that AIDS is very much connected to who you are.”

Research has shown that gay men, blacks and Latinos, and youth are especially prone to HIV. Operario cited two studies – one focusing on gay Latino men, and another focusing on the transgendered – which sought to explain why these groups may be engaging in high-risk behaviors.

“Infection is more common among those who have felt oppression,” Operario said. He pointed out that those who had suffered hardships such as abuse, discrimination and poverty were most likely to engage in unprotected anal sex.

He quoted a participant in one of the studies, a gay Latino man, who said, “You grow up being told that being gay, you’re going to be punished for it. It’s somewhere in the back of your head, that you’re going to be punished no matter what.”

It was this sort of mindset, Operario said, that may lead to high-risk sexual activity.

In response to these findings, the Center for AIDS Prevention has begun funding support groups and individual prevention management among minority communities.

“HIV prevention shouldn’t just focus on condom use, but on homophobia and racism,” Operario said.