Ethics and deconstruction of prejudice: disease and pollution in the social imaginary about HIV/Aids

Abstract

This article presents the outcomes of a survey in which 15 HIV/Aids carriers were heard and who received psychosocial support after discovering serum positive. The technique used for data interpretation was speech analysis through which the findings are: i) there was not recording of prejudice for been infected with the virus; ii) they felt as polluted and polluting agents; iii) if this record was abstracted by the carriers themselves or it derived from external reading pervaded by it; and iv) if this record was differentiated in women and men’s perception. Discussion focused in gender issues, in socialization processes, governing moralities and moral struggles, included in the sickness process and analyzed in light of bioethical theoretical referential of intervention. The study allowed to conclude that prejudice regarding the disease still persists, highlighting the difficulty for these patients to achieve a dignified life

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