Decade of the Plague

Social workers, counselors, and health care professionals will be challenged by this thorough presentation of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). The contributing authors contend that in the immediate future, education, not medicine will be the single most important weapon in stemming the spread of STDs. Thus, the responsibility of educating society and providing service for people who are directly or indirectly affected by STDs lies with helping professions. The devastating social, medical, and psychological aspects of AIDS, herpes, and other STDs are discussed. Contributors focus on the issues involved with counseling individuals with STDs--and their partners, families, and friends--and make suggestions for the education and teaching of professionals and the general public about STDs.

Margaret R Rodway, Marianne Wright

- Introduction (Margaret Rodway and Marianne Wright) - Part I: Social, Psychological, and Medical Dimensions - Sexually Transmitted DiseasesAn Overview (Barbara Romanowski and Gillian Piper) - Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Psychosocial Parameters and Implications for Social Work Practice (Marianne Wright and Margaret Rodway) - Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and Minorities: Policy Perspectives (Leon Williams and June Hopps) - Part II: Practice Interventions - Counselling Issues in Disclosure of Sexually Transmitted Disease (Constance Lindemann) - Issues and Problems Confronting the Lovers, Families, and Communities Associated With Persons With AIDS (William Rowe, Gerald E. Plum, and Clarence Crossman) - Psychosocial Dimensions of Genital Herpes: A Case Study Approach (Carole Christensen and Tatiana Kitsikis) - Part III: Teaching - AIDS and Social Work: Sociopsychological Training Curriculum for Human Sexuality and Related Fields of Professional Practice (Steven P. Schinke, Robert F. Schilling, Marian S. Krauskopf, Gilbert J. Botvin, and Mario A. Orlandi) - Learning About the Psychosocial Impact of Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Teaching Strategies (John R. Moore) - AIDS: Prevention Is the Only Vaccine Available: An AIDS Prevention Educational Program (Michael Shernoff and Luis Palacios-Jimenez) - Part IV: Epilogue - The Approaching Epidemic (Allan Brandt) - Index