Carole Campbell examines the position of women in the AIDS epidemic (women living with HIV, and the growing number of women caring for HIV-infected family members) in a sociocultural context. The early male profile of the AIDS epidemic has given rise to education and prevention programs based upon the needs of males. Campbell draws a clear connection between women's risk of AIDS, gender roles (particularly adolescent gender role socialization), and male sexual behavior, demonstrating that no efforts to contain the spread of the disease to females can succeed without also targeting the male behavior that puts women at risk. This study concludes that compared with men, HIV-infected women face unequal access to care and unequal quality of care. Campbell makes a compelling case that social institutions such as health care and the media have created barriers for women by failing to take into account the differences between men and women in terms of social roles, status, and power. Informed by the moving personal accounts of eleven HIV-infected men and women, this book offers a rare, broad picture of the sociocultural causes and the impact on American society of AIDS among women.

"This is an excellent and up-to-date overview....a comprehensive guide to the state of contemporary research." CJS Online

"Carole Campbell has produced an important synthesis of the scholarship on women dealing with HIV/AIDS in the United States." Gender & Society

"Regardless of our position, Carole Campbell's illumination of the ways in which HIV/AIDS has attacked this institution will be of interest to all." Journal of Comparative Family Studies

"Informed by the personal accounts of 11 HIV-infected men and women, this book offers a broad picture of the sociocultural cause of AIDS among women and the impact of the disease on US society." Choice

"Women, Families, & HIV/AIDS: A Sociological Perspective on the Epidemic in America is a helpful tool and guide to understanding the larger dimensions of the disease for layman and specialist alike." A & U

"Campbell cogently demostrates that gender is intertwined with every aspect of AIDS, and the forces that shape women's lives must be acknowledged if we are to better understand, prevent, and treat the disease. The review of empirical studies pertaining to women and HIV/AIDS is current, thorough, well-indexed, and a compelling reason to purchase the book. Women, Families, and HIV/AIDS is a valuable reference work for faculty, graduate students, and other researchers in a wide variety of fields, ranging from the social and behavioral sciences to health care provision and public health..." Family & Community Health

"Campbell has produced a moving work, drawing on extensive research: it certainly should be read by those in government who are meant to be formulating policies to combat HIV/AIDS and poverty." Journal of Health Psychology

"This very interesting book is the product of Carole Campbell's 12 year long research in the field of HIV/AIDS and women. The combination of epidemiological and biological data, personal interviews, sociological theories and analysis make it an easy book to read, although she discusses an uneasy subject: the gender and power issues in HIV/AIDS...It helps to understand the true complexity of the epidemic and the need for a refocusing of prevention, care and research, and health policy. Carole Campbell's book is therefore a timely and welcome addition our understanding of the socio-economic intricacies of HIV/AIDS. This is a book that should be read by students, health care professionals and policy makers." Social Science & Medicine

"This well-written, highly readable book will be useful to AIDS educators, researchers, students of sociology, social workers, and policy makers. It also would be a useful addition to the standard AIDS texts used by health care providers. The book fills an important void, bringing together all of the various sociocultural aspects of HIV/AIDS, especially with respect to women and families." Robyn R.M. Gershon, Johns Hopkins University

"Carole Campbell, in her book Women, Families, and HIV/AIDS, complies an impressive collection of literature to describe the different ways that women in the United States are infected and affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Campbell combines an exhaustive review of the literature with data from her own research among HIV-infected women and men to create a sociological profile of the epidemic....the book provides readers who may be unfamiliar with the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States a solid overview of the situation. The sheer volume of work reviewed by Campbell is impressive." Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law