Sexual Networks’ role in high STI Rates among minority populations

Abstract

The stubbornly high and unequally distributed rates of sexually transmitted infections have confounded sociologists for decades. Why would STIs afflict minority populations at higher rates than majority populations? There was no biological rationale. Only knowledge of causation could hope to mitigate the discrepancy and provide pathways to prevention and cure. Late in the twentieth century, spurred by the AIDS crisis, the scrutiny of sexual behavior met up with the social determinants of health, resulting in the concepts of sexual networks and concurrency. This paper explores how these ideas have helped us understand, explain, and intervene in the unacceptably high and disproportionately distributed STI epidemic.