title: Involving immigrant religious organizations in HIV/AIDS prevention: The role of bonding and bridging social capital.
abstract: Immigrant religious organizations in the United States are uniquely positioned to address critical issues beyond religion because of their moral, social and cultural prominence in community life. Increasingly, religious organizations have taken on a leadership role around health issues such as decreasing HIV/AIDS stigma and misinformation. However, there are barriers for some religious leaders and organizations in adopting new health programs, especially if the issue is seen as controversial. Our study examines how social network structures among religious members influence organizational acceptance of new information or controversial ideas, like HIV/AIDS. Using social network analysis methods on data from 2841 contacts in 20 immigrant Chinese Buddhist temples and Christian churches in New York City, we tested whether an immigrant religious organization's likelihood of being involved in HIV/AIDS activities was associated with the presence of bonding or bridging social capital. These two forms of social capital have been found to mediate the levels of exposure and openness to new ideas. We found HIV/AIDS-involved religious organizations were more likely to have lower levels of bonding social capital as indicated by members having fewer ties and fewer demographic attributes in common. We also found HIV/AIDS-involved religious organizations were more likely to have higher levels of bridging social capital as indicated by members having significantly more ties to people outside of their organization. Our study highlights the importance of looking beyond religion type and leadership attributes to social network structures among members in order to better explain organization-level receptiveness to HIV/AIDS involvement.
authors.affiliation: Sociology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, 211 Savery Hall, Box 353340, Seattle, WA 98195, United States. Electronic address: mleung8@uw.edu.
authors.forename: ManChui R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: Urban Affairs and Planning, Hunter College, City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, W1611, New York, NY 10065, United States. Electronic address: john.chin@hunter.cuny.edu.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Health Promotion Research Center, University of Washington, 1107 NE 45th St., Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98105, United States. Electronic address: mirunapp@uw.edu.
authors.forename: Miruna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petrescu-Prahova
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002016:Buddhism / Q000523:psychology; D002835:Christianity / Q000523:psychology; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D033303:Protestantism / Q000523:psychology; D012067:Religion; D065834:Religious Personnel; D066270:Social Capital; D014481:United States
keywords: Asians; Chinese; HIV/AIDS; Immigrants organizations; Religion; Social capital; Social network analysis; United States