At present, HIV rates within the population of men who have sex with men continue to rise despite increased resources being dedicated to stopping this trend. Previous research has indicated that drug use, particularly within the context of gay circuit parties (GCP), may be a central factor in this rise in HIV rates. Further research has revealed that one reason for this phenomenon is that much of the research that has been undertaken to-date ignores the role of desire. In fact, an in-depth review of previously undertaken research that aimed to understand men's motivations for sexual practices revealed a strong, uncritical reliance, on the assumption that individuals are inherently driven to act in healthy ways. In response, this research project undertook an ethnographic study of GCPs, and engaged in direct observation, surveying, and interviewing guided by a poststructuralist perspective. The goal was to challenge mainstream assumptions about health, drug use, unprotected sex, and GCP party attendance. To accomplish this, a theoretical framework was developed drawing primarily on the work of Deleuze and Guattari, and supported by the theoretical work by Bataille, Foucault, Grosz, and Lupton. After this groundwork was laid, two days worth of direct GCP attendance was undertaken, followed by the administration of 209 auto-administered surveys, and the completion of 17, hour-long, formal interviews. The major findings of this study are (1) that desire is not necessarily a reaction to previous negative situations as is posited by psychoanalysis, and drawn upon by mainstream sexual health researchers, and (2) that drug use and GCP attendance do not cause individuals to engage in unsafe sexual practices, but rather, that individuals use drugs and attend GCPs with the pre-established goal of engaging in unsafe practices. In this way, drugs and GCPs become mechanisms that are used to allow individuals to indulge in their desires, not causes of what they desire. Therefore, the findings of this research indicate that GCPs should be capitalized on as important sites of health promotion work for nurses, and that this work should not be based on the conjecture that drug use or unsafe sex is irrational or deviant, but rather, that its use follows the dictates of desire.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/29800 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | O'Byrne, Patrick |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 327 p. |
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