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Med risk för aids: en studie om skapandet av kategorier i svensk dagspress 1985

Rydstern Ekblom, Märta LU (2013) GNVK01 20122
Department of Gender Studies
Abstract
This thesis aims to examine how the newspaper Dagens Nyheter portrayed the risk groups of HIV/AIDS. There was a constant categorization of these risk groups in Swedish news reports. The material used for this thesis are newspaper articles from January to June in 1985. The time-frame chosen is motivated because it was a crucial time in Swedish society, only three years after the first case of HIV/AIDS was discovered and before modifying drugs were developed. This study focuses on issues with categorization and it explores if and how categorization of these risk groups created a distinction between "us" and "them" in relation to the disease. Through the use of discourse analysis and theories regarding fear and moral the thesis explores the... (More)
This thesis aims to examine how the newspaper Dagens Nyheter portrayed the risk groups of HIV/AIDS. There was a constant categorization of these risk groups in Swedish news reports. The material used for this thesis are newspaper articles from January to June in 1985. The time-frame chosen is motivated because it was a crucial time in Swedish society, only three years after the first case of HIV/AIDS was discovered and before modifying drugs were developed. This study focuses on issues with categorization and it explores if and how categorization of these risk groups created a distinction between "us" and "them" in relation to the disease. Through the use of discourse analysis and theories regarding fear and moral the thesis explores the idea that there is a line drawn between the risk groups and society as a whole, as well as within the risk groups. Homosexual men belonged to a group where the negative categorization was shaped by moral values of the society and they were seen as outsiders of the normative. On the other side of the division were sex workers and drug users, and they were seen as a threat to society because of society's conception of their lack of knowledge when it came to how the disease was inflicted. The risk groups highlighted in Dagens Nyheter in 1985 are still suffering from stigmatization, therefore the discourse regarding HIV/AIDS and the categorization of risk groups is still an important issue today that needs to be adressed by our society. (Less)
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author
Rydstern Ekblom, Märta LU
supervisor
organization
course
GNVK01 20122
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
kategorisering, riskgrupper, fear, categorization, HIV/AIDS, risk groups, rädsla, moral
language
Swedish
id
3810700
date added to LUP
2013-09-20 09:57:50
date last changed
2013-09-20 09:57:50
@misc{3810700,
  abstract     = {{This thesis aims to examine how the newspaper Dagens Nyheter portrayed the risk groups of HIV/AIDS. There was a constant categorization of these risk groups in Swedish news reports. The material used for this thesis are newspaper articles from January to June in 1985. The time-frame chosen is motivated because it was a crucial time in Swedish society, only three years after the first case of HIV/AIDS was discovered and before modifying drugs were developed. This study focuses on issues with categorization and it explores if and how categorization of these risk groups created a distinction between "us" and "them" in relation to the disease. Through the use of discourse analysis and theories regarding fear and moral the thesis explores the idea that there is a line drawn between the risk groups and society as a whole, as well as within the risk groups. Homosexual men belonged to a group where the negative categorization was shaped by moral values of the society and they were seen as outsiders of the normative. On the other side of the division were sex workers and drug users, and they were seen as a threat to society because of society's conception of their lack of knowledge when it came to how the disease was inflicted. The risk groups highlighted in Dagens Nyheter in 1985 are still suffering from stigmatization, therefore the discourse regarding HIV/AIDS and the categorization of risk groups is still an important issue today that needs to be adressed by our society.}},
  author       = {{Rydstern Ekblom, Märta}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Med risk för aids: en studie om skapandet av kategorier i svensk dagspress 1985}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}