Childhood Sexual Abuse and HIV Risk in San Salvador Essay (Critical Writing)

Introduction

It is hard to deny that women of contemporary society undergo much more stress than any other century’s ladies. Moreover, today we observe crucial circumstances of women experiencing dreadful treatment at the workplace, home, and within social conditions overall. It is important to understand the outcomes of such attitudes towards young girls. (Ullman, 2003). Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is sometimes a direct reason for later HIV risk. This paper will focus on the article called Childhood Sexual Abuse and HIV Risk among Crack-Using Commercial Sex Workers in San Salvador, El Salvador. Further on the paper will reveal its significance from a social worker’s perspective. This article has made a significant impact on the studies of the HIV/AIDS field and most likely this work will give enough information to social authorities to level up social workers’ knowledge and education level on the topic. Hopefully, the article can prevent cases of CSA to stop further devastating outcomes since the work summarizes the reasons, such as living in poverty, absence of education, etc. It means that the HIV risks can be prevented via sociological, political, and economical developments and improvements.

Connection to Prior Research/Underlying Etiological Theories

The problem discussed within the article is HIV/AIDS. The entire study was initiated by another research that has been made previously. To be more exact, the opinions of HIV/AIDS infected women were gathered through questioning and polls. (The article has its investigation based on interviews of forty women). So, ‘Since the beginning of 2002, 1.2 million women have died from AIDS’, ‘… in 2002, two million (47.6 percent) adults newly infected with HIV and 19.2 million (50 percent) of adults living with HIV/AIDS’ – this is the crucial data gathered before starting the research on the connection of CSA with drug addiction as the future outcome (Gomez-Dickson, 2006, p. 547). It was mentioned that crack cocaine use was associated with HIV risks, which pushed researchers to look for reasons for drug abuse. Therefore, these were the etiological theories underlying the currently discussed article.

Advancing the Understanding of Article

After reading this article the understanding of drug use and HIV/AIDS connections became clearer. Now it is perfectly visible that once the poor living conditions make people go out in the streets and acquire sex jobs nothing good is going to happen; moreover, many women were taking drugs to undergo unwanted sexual relations to earn money. First of all, a person gets infected with HIV/AIDS through heterosexual intercourse (Shedlin, 2000). And to understand why a person goes out in the streets in search of drugs and sex work, the article offers interviews with women. Being hopeless they experience psychological problems because of being abused during their childhood, which makes them think that the overall life is meaningless and there is no opportunity to get out of this because they have no education, no money, and no prospects.

The usefulness of the findings for solving or reducing the problem

The article is one of those wonderful sources that help social workers understand people under rehabilitation better. It is essential to understand that women going through rehabilitation procedures need to be medically approached. However, sometimes the psychological treatment is much more effective. Once you understand why women were merely forced to take drugs, you get to sympathize and experience their problems more profoundly. Furthermore, not only it is a mere sympathy and mutual understanding that helps women recover, as a psychologist the social worker will find ways to show that life is filled up with opportunities and slight failures are not anymore the reason for breakdowns. Doing this, the social worker needs to know that the women saw ‘reliance on drug use as a method of coping with the sexual abuse experience’ (Molnar, 2001).

Critique of the Design and Methodology

The overall research was based on the theoretical framework that included a larger social context. It was a very good approach that made it possible to talk to many different women interviewed at different places. The main characteristic that the methodology of the research makes clear is the social context in which interviewed women lived. The research organizers took crack users from treatment centers and shelters. Moreover, there was an eligibility estimate: women recruited were 18 years old and more and they had to have consumed crack within the last 60 days. Since the entire research was carried out to find reasons and solutions to stop HIV/AIDS infection process in society, the ‘fresh’ crackers made it extremely relevant and similar to the situation the social workers face.

Limitations of the Research

Unfortunately, there were some limitations of the research methodology. First of all, it is impossible to question all the HIV women across San Salvador, hence this makes the research a bit imprecise. The organizers could not fix all the depth of psychological problems of every woman. Moreover, it is not necessarily guarantee that all women were telling truth.

The Persuasiveness of the Reading

Still, the women interviewed presented a peculiar layer of the society that made it possible to understand the clear connection of the CSA to HIV/AIDS and drug addictions (Parillo, 2001). The reading was persuasive enough because it offered many criteria for rating a woman as stigmatized. Moreover, the research was carried out as profoundly as possible taking into consideration the cultural analysis of Latino women, for example. I got to know that Latino sexual behavior upbringing states that women cannot get satisfaction unlike men – this is their prerogative. I was persuaded that women who have problems with drug addiction now have been abused during their childhood for sure. At least a larger part of them was. The article states that the location and, hence, living conditions play a great role in all further complications.

Conclusion

The article Childhood Sexual Abuse and HIV Risk among Crack-Using Commercial Sex Workers in San Salvador, El Salvador gives a precise understanding that CSA is a result of crack use in most of the cases, although the actual mediations are not yet discovered entirely. The social workers have been provided with substantial information on why and what forces women to take drugs and experience re-victimization. Moreover, the results of this research have significantly impacted current HIV research/inventions. Women’s harsh living conditions and exposure to sexual abuse make them lead miserable lives and have no way out of this. The article has been a real breakthrough in the field of HIV/AIDS studies. The most efficient result is the realization by social workers of the psychological context to adhere to. Comprehending the locations of living and socio-cultural background made it possible to have tolerable attitudes and place oneself next to the person whose life turned out to depend upon social conditions.

Reference List

1. Gomez–Dickson, J. (2006). Childhood Sexual Abuse and HIV Risk among Crack-Using Commercial Sex Workers in San Salvador, El Salvador: A Qualitative Analysis. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 20(4), 545-74.
2. Molnar, B. E., Stephen, I. B., and Ronald C. K. (2001). Child Sexual Abuse and Subsequent Psychopathology: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey. American Journal of Public Health, 91(5), 753-760.
3. Parillo, K., Freeman C. R., Daryn C., & Young, P. (2001). Association between Early Sexual Abuse and Adult HIV-Risky Sexual Behaviors among Community-Recruited Women. Child Abuse and Neglect, 25(3), 335-346.
4. Shedlin, M. A. F., & Bautista L. (2000). Risk Factors for HIV among Housewives in San Salvador. AIDS and Anthropology Bulletin, 12(1), 1.
5. Ullman, S. E. (2003). Social Reactions to Child Sexual Abuse Disclosures: A Critical Review. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 1 (1), 89-121.