LANGUAGE STRATEGIES IN THE ATTRIBUTION OF BLAME FOR HIV AND AIDS

This article examines the language strategies used in everyday explana tion by young heterosexual adults to attribute blame for the transmiss ion of HIV: Seventy-two-female and 60 male Australian university stude nts took part in the study. They were formed into groups of four, with each group taking part in discussions about HIV: AIDS, and related ma tters. Transcripts were examined for instances of blaming, and a codin g scheme for levels of attributed responsibility applied to those inst ances found. Language strategies of distancing self from HN and AIDS w ere then coded, including checks for who was blamed whether they were members of participants' ingroups or outgroups, and whether justificat ions were used. These findings are discussed in terms of positioning t he self vis-a-vis HIV and AIDS, as well as the ways in which negative stereotypes were used in attributing blame to members of outgroups.