4.3 Aids prevention among latino teens: the role of family

This manuscript has been peer-reviewed, accepted, and endorsed by the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) as a significant contribution to the scholarship and practice of education administration. In addition to publication in the Connexions Content Commons, this module is published in the International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, Volume 5, Number 1 (January – March 2010). Formatted and edited in Connexions by Julia Stanka, Texas A&M University.

Aids prevention among latino teens: the role of family acculturation

Juan Luis Recio Adrados

The full version of this monograph contains a pretty exhaustive review of the theories and research findings on HIV/AIDS prevention programs geared both to the mainstream population and in a specific way to Latino teens. It starts with an epidemiological and etiological overview of the social and health problem of AIDS among Latino teens that exceeds five percentage points (19%) their representation in U.S. population (14%). It also deals with the related problem of Latino teen pregnancy.

I hypothesize that the acculturation process the Latino families go through will affect their functioning and, in a specific way, the performance of their socialization tasks. Acculturation will, however, be assessed from the assumption that it can be both differentiated and pro-active, namely embracing either external and/or internal family systems, and not only incorporating mainstream culture’s values and patterns of behavior, but also fostering the values and customs of their countries of origin.

My goal is to build up a new model that focuses on the role of the Latino family while drawing on other relevant partial models so as to be able to spell out a set of testable hypotheses. This theoretical framework is intended to serve as groundwork for grant proposal writing for family-and school-based program implementation and evaluation aimed at reducing the severity of the problem. To that aim I will trace down, first, the theories underlying those preventive intervention programs that have been shown to be effective in dealing with teen’s sexual risk behavior and will also assess the determinant factors of their empirical outcomes. Second, I will adopt as a ground resource that program that best embodies the core variables of our etiological model while leaving out or modifying those aspects that do not so closely fit our model. In the selection of that best fitting program, I will be guided by a set of testable hypotheses that are derived from the various comprehensive reviews Douglas Kirby (1994) has conducted on this area of concern.