Constructing commonsense: Young people's health beliefs and AIDS

There is growing interest amongst social researchers in enquiry related to lay beliefs about HIV infection and AIDS. Research of this kind is important not only theoretically, in that it may help us to understand more clearly the interface between professional and lay beliefs about health and illness, but also practically, in that it may lead to more effective policy interventions. This paper reports on findings from a series of in-depth interviews carried out with young people participating in local authority and voluntary sector youth provision and in youth training schemes. It identifies lay beliefs about the nature, causes and origins of AIDS amongst young people in lesbian and gay youth groups, and contrasts these with the beliefs of young people in undifferentiated forms of youth provision.