Condom use and hip hop culture: the case of urban young men in New York City.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVES:
We explored how young men's perceptions of and participation in hip hop culture--urban social and artistic expressions, such as clothing style, breakdancing, graffiti, and rap music--and how contextual factors of the hip hop scene may be associated with their condom use, condom-use self-efficacy, and sense of community.

METHODS:
We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 95 African American and Latino men aged 15 to 25 years as part of a 4-year ethnographic study in New York City.

RESULTS:
Differences in young men's perceptions of and levels of affiliation with hip hop culture were not statistically associated with differences in their sense of community or condom-use self-efficacy. Frequency of participation in the hip hop nightclub scene was the strongest factor negatively associated with condom use.

CONCLUSIONS:
Popular discourses on young men's health risks often blame youths' cultures such as the hip hop culture for increased risk practices but do not critically examine how risk emerges in urban young men's lives and what aspects of youths' culture can be protective. Further research needs to focus on contextual factors of risk such as the role of hip hop nightlife on increased HIV risk.

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Author information

Author/s: Muñoz-Laboy, Miguel A (MA); Castellanos, Daniel H (DH); Haliburton, Chanel S (CS); del Aguila, Ernesto Vasquez (EV); Weinstein, Hannah J (HJ); Parker, Richard G (RG);

Affiliation: Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168th St, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10032, USA. mam172@columbia.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: American journal of public health (Am J Public Health), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jun; vol 98 (issue 6) : pp 1081-5

Dates: Created 2008/05/13; Completed 2008/06/16;

PMID: 18445799, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Condoms - utilization
Cross-Sectional Studies
Cultural Characteristics
Humans
Interviews as Topic

Male
Music
New York City - epidemiology
Regression Analysis
Risk Factors
Safe Sex
Sexual Behavior

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