Examining Attitudes
The AIDS crisis has 'gone off the boil', the media coverage that it once had has diminished, at least in Australia, yet the subject of AIDS provides us with a good working example of tackling such crises.
AIDS may have lost it's media impact, nonetheless education to stop the spread of the disease is still a priority and the community's attitude toward AIDS is perhaps indicative of the community's attitude to a variety of social issues.
The Two Areas Of Infection
There are always two areas of infection to be treated, one is the individual in the middle of crisis and the other is the community's attitude toward those individuals so affected.
Our job is not just to help people adapt to their new critical circumstances, developing a community perspective with emphasis on social change is also needed. It is this balanced approach taking into consideration both the individual's internal unrest and the broader social (external) context that provides for both the short and long term needs.
We have seen with reference to the 10 laws of Attitude Development (below) that new information is needed to change an attitude. If we remember that fear is fed by igno rance, we understand that each crisis needs to be met by acquiring the basic informa tion about the subject with which we are concerned. With AIDS as our example we are in need of accessing the latest information available. For those of you with access to a computer good sources of this information may be found on the net at: www.cdcnac.org.
As with all crisis interventions helpers will want to develop a strategy that reduces stress, helps victims take control and lowers the frequency of the 'anxiety' attacks associated with any of the stated social crises. Perhaps the greatest challenge associated with AIDS and so many of these 'untouchables' is helping the individual come to terms with loss. For the AIDS patient it is loss of one's health, sexuality, daily functioning, identity, and ultimately their life.
For many the life crisis that they face means overwhelming emotions; anger at the injustice of the situation, anxiety at the uncertainty of the future and grief and trauma at the immediacy of their loss. One of greatest needs for those in crisis is support, none of us is meant to journey alone, this is where we can all play our part. Does your community have a support group for its 'untouchables' ? A group experience among other things teaches that people are not alone in their plight. Community involvement is essential for the success of any intervention plan, it is a grave mistake to think that we alone must bear the burden of those in need and also that we alone are the only source of help.
Stigma
Considering the subject of AIDS is useful to us in identifying the stigma attached to so many of these social crises. It is one thing to have a loved one dying of AIDS, it is quite another to deal with the fear attached to the rejection experienced from family and friends, which comes as a second wave of torment to the survivors.
Public opinion teaches that the AIDS family is dysfunctional, abusive or has a history of mental illness and that the victim is automatically a homosexual or an intravenous drug user.
Clearly current trends now question such outdated information. AIDS, as well as Suicide, Drug Abuse, Hepatitis C no longer fall into the exclusive domain of any single socially recognised subculture. AIDS is not restricted to the gay male population, estimates put the worldwide number of female AIDS cases at equal to men by the year 2000!
How Are Attitudes Developed?
The Ten Laws of Attitude Development:
- Attitudes are reinforced through repetition of information.
- The strength of an attitude is also related to the frequency of repeated information.
- There needs to be different information on which we base or build new attitudes.
- The strength of that new information is an important factor.
- The most powerful attitudes are those with associations. That is the incoming information is linked either to the senses or an emotion. (supported or unsupported)
- Attitudes are not always at a conscious level.
- Attitudes can be reinforced by other attitudes that endorse each other.
- Attitudes can be recently acquired or acquired a long time ago.
- Attitudes can be fully established or not fully realised.
