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Peer education, gender and the development of critical consciousness: participatory HIV prevention by South African youth

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  • Campbell, Catherine
  • MacPhail, Catherine

Abstract

Despite the growing popularity of participatory peer education as an HIV-prevention strategy worldwide, our understandings of the processes underlying its impact on sexual norms are still in their infancy. Starting from the assumption that gender inequalities play a key role in driving the epidemic amongst young people, we outline a framework for conceptualizing the processes underlying successful peer education. We draw on the inter-locking concepts of social identity, empowerment (with particular emphasis on Freire's account of critical consciousness) and social capital. Thereafter we provide a critical case study of a school-based peer education programme in a South African township school, drawing on a longitudinal case study of the programme, and interviews and focus groups with young people in the township. Our research highlights a number of features of the programme itself, as well as the broader context within which it was implemented, which are likely to undermine the development of the critical thinking and empowerment which we argue are key preconditions for programme success. In relation to the programme itself, these include peer educators' preference for didactic methods and biomedical frameworks, unequal gender dynamics amongst the peer educators, the highly regulated and teacher-driven nature of the school environment and negative learner attitudes to the programme. In relation to the broader context of the programme, we point to factors such as limited opportunities for communication about sex outside of the peer educational setting, poor adult role models of sexual relationships, poverty and unemployment, low levels of social capital and poor community facilities. We discuss the implications of our findings for the design of peer educational activities, and point to a number of broader social and community development initiatives that would maximize the likelihood of programme success.

Suggested Citation

  • Campbell, Catherine & MacPhail, Catherine, 2002. "Peer education, gender and the development of critical consciousness: participatory HIV prevention by South African youth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 331-345, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:55:y:2002:i:2:p:331-345
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Salla Sariola, 2009. "Performing Global HIV Prevention," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 4(1), pages 65-81, April.
    2. Margaret Cunha, 2007. "South African Politics, Inequalities, and HIV/AIDS," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 23(1-2), pages 207-219, January.
    3. Ghose, Toorjo & Swendeman, Dallas & George, Sheba & Chowdhury, Debasish, 2008. "Mobilizing collective identity to reduce HIV risk among sex workers in Sonagachi, India: The boundaries, consciousness, negotiation framework," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 311-320, July.
    4. repec:ehl:lserod:33114 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Pronyk, Paul M. & Harpham, Trudy & Morison, Linda A. & Hargreaves, James R. & Kim, Julia C. & Phetla, Godfrey & Watts, Charlotte H. & Porter, John D., 2008. "Is social capital associated with HIV risk in rural South Africa?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(9), pages 1999-2010, May.
    6. Cousins, L., 2009. "Modelling cross-gender and sexual relations," ISS Working Papers - General Series 18728, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    7. Paola Belingheri & Filippo Chiarello & Andrea Fronzetti Colladon & Paola Rovelli, 2021. "Twenty years of gender equality research: A scoping review based on a new semantic indicatorr," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-27, September.
    8. Liberati, Elisa G. & Tarrant, Carolyn & Willars, Janet & Draycott, Tim & Winter, Cathy & Chew, Sarah & Dixon-Woods, Mary, 2019. "How to be a very safe maternity unit: An ethnographic study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 64-72.
    9. Sheona Shackleton & Marty Luckert, 2015. "Changing Livelihoods and Landscapes in the Rural Eastern Cape, South Africa: Past Influences and Future Trajectories," Land, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-30, November.
    10. Simon, Christian & Mosavel, Maghboeba & van Stade, Debbie, 2007. "Ethical challenges in the design and conduct of locally relevant international health research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(9), pages 1960-1969, May.
    11. Bott, Sarah & Morrison, Andrew & Ellsberg, Mary, 2005. "Preventing and responding to gender-based violence in middle and low-income countries : a global review and analysis," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3618, The World Bank.
    12. Tony Barnett, 2008. "Hoping or Discounting the Future: A New Perspective on the Transmission of HIV/AIDS," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2008-08, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. N.W.S. Mahayanti & P. Widodo & N. H.P.S., Putro & I.J.C., Tuerah, 2024. "Personalizing Students’ Digital Action Plans through Critical-Heutagogy Model for the Development of Critical Conscientization in Critical Reading," World Journal of English Language, Sciedu Press, vol. 14(4), pages 478-478, July.
    14. Austrian, Karen & Muthengi, Eunice, 2014. "Can economic assets increase girls' risk of sexual harassment? Evaluation results from a social, health and economic asset-building intervention for vulnerable adolescent girls in Uganda," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P2), pages 168-175.
    15. Klein, Linda A. & Ritchie, Jan E. & Nathan, Sally & Wutzke, Sonia, 2014. "An explanatory model of peer education within a complex medicines information exchange setting," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 101-109.
    16. Campbell, Catherine & Andersen, Louise & Mutsikiwa, Alice & Pufall, Erica & Skovdal, Morten & Madanhire, Claudius & Nyamukapa, Connie & Gregson, Simon, 2015. "Factors shaping the HIV-competence of two primary schools in rural Zimbabwe," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 226-236.
    17. Stern, Erin & Alemann, Clara & Delgado, Gustavo Adolfo Flores & Vásquez, Alexia Escobar, 2023. "Lessons learned from implementing the parenting Program P in Bolivia to prevent family violence," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).

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