A neighborhood divided : community resistance to an AIDS care facility / Jane Balin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Balin, Jane.

Series:

Anthropology of contemporary issues

The anthropology of contemporary issues

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

AIDS (Disease)--Patients--Hospice care--Social aspects.

AIDS (Disease).

Nursing homes--Location--Social aspects.

Nursing homes.

Social aspects.

AIDS (Disease)--Patients.

Hospice care.

Physical Description:

ix, 165 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca : Cornell University Press, [1999]

Summary:

When a nursing facility for AIDS patients is planned for a city neighborhood, residents might be expected to respond, "Not in my backyard." But, as Jane Balin recounts in A Neighborhood Divided, when that community is known for its racial and ethnic diversity and liberal attitudes, public reaction becomes less predictable and in many ways more important to comprehend.An ethnographer who spent two years talking with inhabitants of a progressive neighborhood facing this prospect, Jane Balin demonstrates that the controversy divided residents in surprising ways. She discovered that those most strongly opposed to the facility lived furthest away, that families with young children were evenly represented in the two camps, and that African Americans followed a Jewish community leader in opposing the home while dismissing their own minister's support of it. By viewing each side sympathetically and allowing participants to express their true feelings about AIDS, the author invites readers to recognize their own anxieties over this sensitive issue. Balin's insightful work stresses the importance of uncovering the ideologies and fears of middle-class Americans in order to understand the range of responses that AIDS has provoked in our society. Its ethnographic approach expands the parameters of NIMBY research, offering a clearer picture of the multi-faceted anxieties that drive responses to AIDS at both the local and national levels.

Contents:

1. The Neighborhood and the Sociologist 1

2. West Highland: From a Colonial Village to an Urban Middle-Class Neighborhood 12

3. AIDS Moves into the Neighborhood 25

4. Taking Sides 59

5. Status Group Conflicts, Symbols, and Politics 76

6. The Sounds of Silence 99

7. AIDS and Community: Some Policy Proposals and Conclusions 143.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0801436060

0801485797

OCLC:

39545570