title: Risk perception, risk taking and risk management among intravenous drug users: implications for AIDS prevention.
abstract: The risks associated with AIDS transmission among intravenous drug users overlap with a constellation of other risk events common in the use of IV drugs. This paper explores the subcultural definition, meaning and use of risk from the experience of the active user. In assessing the extent and nature of risk among IV drug users, street-based ethnographic research was conducted over a sixteen month period and a survey was administered to sixty-six individuals in two drug treatment facilities. Risk-taking, risk perception and strategies for minimizing risks associated with maintaining a drug habit are analyzed in the context of how IV drug users are responding to the risks associated with HIV transmission. The research indicates that risk needs to be viewed within the context of the subculture to effect strategies to reduce HIV-related risk behavior.
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts, Ricards International Inc., Washington, DC 20009.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Connors
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005007:Ethnology; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009042:Motivation; D016485:Needle Sharing / Q000523:psychology; D010379:Peer Group; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires