Yale University

Beyond faith-based organizations: using comparative institutional ethnography to understand religious responses to HIV and AIDS in Brazil.

TitleBeyond faith-based organizations: using comparative institutional ethnography to understand religious responses to HIV and AIDS in Brazil.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2011
AuthorsMuñoz-Laboy, Miguel A., Laura Murray, Natalie Wittlin, Jonathan Garcia, Veriano Terto, and Richard G. Parker
JournalAmerican journal of public health
Volume101
Issue6
Pagination972-8
Date Published2011 Jun
ISSN1541-0048
KeywordsAnthropology, Cultural, Brazil, Catholicism, Health Services Accessibility, HIV Infections, Humans, Organizations, Nonprofit, Protestantism, Qualitative Research, Religion, Stereotyping
AbstractReligious institutions, which contribute to understanding of and mobilization in response to illness, play a major role in structuring social, political, and cultural responses to HIV and AIDS. We used institutional ethnography to explore how religious traditions--Catholic, Evangelical, and Afro-Brazilian--in Brazil have influenced HIV prevention, treatment, and care at the local and national levels over time. We present a typology of Brazil's division of labor and uncover overlapping foci grounded in religious ideology and tradition: care of people living with HIV among Catholics and Afro-Brazilians, abstinence education among Catholics and Evangelicals, prevention within marginalized communities among Evangelicals and Afro-Brazilians, and access to treatment among all traditions. We conclude that institutional ethnography, which allows for multilevel and interlevel analysis, is a useful methodology.
DOI10.2105/AJPH.2010.300081
Alternate JournalAm J Public Health

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