The process of partner notification (or contact tracing) is regarded as the cornerstone in the prevention and control of sexually transmitted infections, yet almost nothing is known of the lay experience of partner notification. This article draws on a mixed methods study designed to explore lay perspectives among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the Greater Dublin Area in relation to partner notification for syphilis. Specifically, this article tests two related hypotheses with regard to gay men's help-seeking behaviour: first that MSM might contest a hegemonic masculine model of help-seeking behaviour and second that MSM have difficulties engaging with partner notification because of the difficulties of tracing anonymous sexual contacts. The findings suggest that the health-seeking behaviours of MSM in this study disrupt binary dualisms of hegemonic masculine and hegemonic feminine patterns of health-seeking behaviours and also contradict some health professional stereotypes of gay relationships.
Addis, M.E. and Mahalik, J.R. (2003) `Men, Masculinity and the Contexts of Help-Seeking' , American Psychologist58(1): 5-14.
2.
Bell, G., Ward, H., Day, S., Ghani, A.C., Goan, U., Claydon, E. and Kinghorn, G.R. (1998) `Partner Notification for Gonorrhoea: A Comparative Study with a Provincial and a Metropolitan UK Clinic', Sexually Transmitted Infections74(6): 409-14.
3.
Bird, S. (1996) `Welcome to the Men's Club: Homosociability and the Maintenance of Hegemonic Masculinity', Gender and Society10(2): 120-32.
4.
Brittan, A. (1989) Masculinity and Power. Oxford : Blackwell.
5.
Butler, S. and Woods, M. (1992) `Drugs, HIV and Ireland: Responses to Women in Dublin', in N. Dorn, S. Henderson and N. South (eds) AIDS: Women, Drugs and Social Care, pp. 43-58. London : Falmer Press.
6.
Carballo-Dieguez, A., Remien, R.H., Benson, D.A., Dolezal, C., Decena, C.U. and Blank, S. (2002) `Intention to Notify Sexual Partners about Potential HIV Exposure among New York City STD Clinics' Clients', Sexually Transmitted Diseases29(8): 465-71.
7.
Carrigan, T., Connell, B. and Lee, J. (1985) `Towards a New Sociology of Masculinity', Theory and Society14(5): 551-604.
8.
Carroll, D., Foley, B., Hickson, F., O'Connor, J., Quinlan, M., Sheehan, B., Watters, R. and Weatherburn, P. (2002) Vital Statistics Ireland: Findings from the All-Ireland Gay Men's Sex Survey 2000. Dublin: Gay Health Network.
9.
Clarke J. (2001) `Distressed Women take Partner Notification Seriously' , British Medical Journal323(7306): 236.
10.
Coleman, C. and Lohan, M. (2007) `Do Lay Perspectives on Partner Notification Challenge Sexual Health Practice?', Journal of Advanced Nursing58)(1): 35-43.
11.
Collins, A. (2001) A History of Sex and Morals in Ireland. Cork: Mercier Press.
12.
Connell, R.W. (1987) Gender and Power. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
13.
Connell, R.W. (1992) `A Very Straight Gay: Masculinity Homosexual Experience and the Dynamics of Gender', American Sociological Review57(6): 735-51.
Connell, R.W. and Messerschmidt, J.W. (2005) `Hegemonic Masculinity Rethinking the Concept', Gender and Society19(6): 829-59.
16.
Courtenay, W.H. (2000) `Constructions of Masculinity and their Influence on Men's Well-Being: A Theory of Gender and Health', Social Science and Medicine50(10): 1385-401.
17.
Crawford, R. (2000) `The Ritual of Health Promotion', in S. Williams, J. Gabe and M. Calnan (eds) Health Medicine and Society: Key Theories, Future Agendas, pp. 219-35. London : Routledge.
18.
Dominelli, L. and Gollins, T. (1997) `Men, Power and Caring Relationships', The Sociological Review45(2): 396-415.
19.
European Partner Notification Study Group ( 2001) `Recently Diagnosed Sexually HIV Infected Patients: Seroconversion Interval, Partner Notification Period and a High Yield of HIV Diagnoses among Partners', Quarterly Journal of Medicine94: 379-90.
20.
Faldon, C. (2004) `Partner Notification: An Introduction', in G. Bell, C. Faldon, S. Jarret, K. Lee, D. Thirlby and H. Wilson (eds) The Manual for Sexual Health Advisers: Society of Sexual Health Advisers, pp. 16-22. London : Society of Sexual Health Advisers (SSHA).
21.
Fenton, K.A., Chippendale, S. and Cowan, F.M. (1998) Partner Notification Techniques', Dermatological Clinics16(4): 669-72.
22.
Foucault, M. (1973) The Birth of the Clinic. London : Tavistock.
23.
Golden, M., Hopkins, S., Morris, M., Holmes, K. and Handsfield, H. (2003) `Support among Persons Infected with HIV for Routine Health Department Contact for HIV Partner Notification', Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome32(2): 196-202.
24.
Gorbach, P., Sevgi, A., Celum, C., Stoner, B., Whittington, W., Galea, J., Coronado, N., Connor, S. and Holmes, K. (2000) `To Notify or Not to Notify: STD Patients' Perspectives of Partner Notification in Seattle', Sexually Transmitted Diseases27(4): 193-200.
25.
Gramsci, A. (1971) The Prison Notebooks [Selections from] (1929-35) . London: Lawrence and Wishart .
26.
Helgeson, V. (1995) `Masculinity, Men's Roles and Coronary Heart Disease' , in D. Sabo and D. Gordon (eds) Men's Health and Illness: Gender, Power and the Body, pp. 68-105. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
27.
Hogben, M., Paffel, J., Broussard, D., Wolf, W., Kenney, K., Rubin, S., George, D. and Samoff, E. (2005) `Syphilis Partner Notification with Men who Have Sex with Men: A Review and Commentary', Sexually Transmitted Diseases32(10 suppl.): 43-7.
28.
Howie, F., Young, H. and McMillan, A. (2004) `The Diversity of the Opa Gene in Gonococcal Isolates from Men who Have Sex with Men', Sexually Transmitted Infections80(4): 286-8.
29.
Jayaraman, G.C., Read, R.R. and Singh, A. (2003) `Characteristics of Individuals with Male-to-Male and Heterosexually Acquired Infectious Syphilis during an Outbreak in Calgary , Alberta, Canada', Sexually Transmitted Diseases30(4): 315-19.
30.
Jones, L., Wykoff, R.F., Hollis, S.L., Longshore, S.T., Gamble, W.B. Jr and Gunn, R.A. (1990) `Partner Acceptance of Health Department Notification of HIV Exposure in South Carolina', Journal of the American Medical Association264: 1284-6.
31.
Lichtenstein, B. and Schwebke, J.R. (2005) `Partner Notification Methods for African American Men being Treated for Trichomoniasis: A Consideration of Main Men, Second Hitters, and Third Players', Medical Anthropology Quarterly19(4): 383-401.
32.
Lohan, M. and Coleman, C. (2005) `Explaining the Absence of the Lay Voice in Sexual Health through Sociological Theories of Healthcare', Social Theory and Health3(2): 83-104.
33.
Maman, S., Mbwambo, J., Hogan, N.M., Kilinzo, G.P. and Sweat, M. (2001) `Women's Barriers to HIV-1 Testing and Disclosure: Challenges for HIV-1 Voluntary Counseling and Testing', AIDS Care13(5): 595-603.
34.
Mathews, C., Coetzee, N., Zwarenstein, M., Lombard, C., Guttmacher, S., Oxman, A. and Schmid, G. (2002) `A Systematic Review of Strategies for Partner Notification for Sexually Transmitted Diseases, including HIV/AIDS', International Journal of STD and AIDS13(5): 285-300.
35.
Moynihan, C. (1998) `Theories in Health Care and Research: Theories of Masculinity', British Medical Journal317: 1072-5.
36.
Munday, P.E., McDonald, W., Murray-Skykes, P.M. and Harris, J.R. (1983) `Contact Tracing in Hepatitis B Infection', British Journal of Venereal Diseases59(5): 314-16.
37.
O'Brien, R., Hunt, K. and Hart, G. (2005) ` "It's Caveman Stuff, But That is to a Certain Extent How Guys Still Operate": Men's Accounts of Masculinity and Help-Seeking' , Social Science and Medicine61(3): 503-16.
38.
Oliffe, J. (2006) `Embodied Masculinity and Androgen Deprivation Therapy', Sociology of Health and Illness28(4): 410-32.
39.
Pryce, A. (2000) `Frequent Observation: Sexualities, Self-Surveillance, Confession, and the Construction of the Active Patient', Nursing Inquiry7(2): 103-11.
40.
Pryce, A. (2004) ` "Only Odd People Wore Suede Shoes": Careers and Sexual Identities of Men Attending a Sexual Health Clinic', Nursing Inquiry11(4): 258-70.
41.
Robertson, S. (2003) `Men Managing Health', Men's Health Journal2(4): 111-13.
42.
Robertson, S. (2006a) ` "Not Living Life in too Much of an Excess": Lay Men Understanding Health and Well-Being', Health10(2): 175-89.
43.
Robertson, S. (2006b) ` "I've Been Like a Coiled Spring This Last Week": Embodied Masculinity and Health', Sociology of Health and Illness28(4): 433-56.
44.
Rogstad, K.E., Clementson, C. and Ahmed-Jushuf, D. (1999) `Partner Notification for Gonorrhoea in Homosexual and Heterosexual Men', International Journal of STD and AIDS10: 536-8.
45.
Stanistreet, D., Bambra, C. and Scott-Samuel, A. (2005) `Is Patriarchy the Source of Men's Higher Mortality?', Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health59: 873-6.
46.
Tomnay, J.E., Pitts, M.K. and Fairley, C.K. (2004) `Partner Notification: Preferences of Melbourne Clients and the Estimated Proportion of Sexual Partners they Can Contact' , International Journal of STD and AIDS15(6): 415-18.
47.
Tydén, T. and Ramstedt, K. (2000) `A Survey of Patients with Chlamydia Trachomatis Infection: Sexual Behaviour and Perceptions about Partner Notification', International Journal of STD and AIDS11(2): 92-5.
48.
Van Duynhoven, Y., Schop, W.A., van der Meijden, W.I. and van de Laar, M. (1998) `Patient Referral Outcome in Gonorrhoea and Chlamydial Infections', Sexually Transmitted Infections74(5): 323-30.
49.
Watson, J. (2000) Male Bodies: Health Culture and Identity. Buckingham: Open University Press.
50.
Weatherburn, P., Stephens, M., Reid, D., Hickson, F., Henderson, L. and Brown, D. (2000) Vital Statistics: Findings from the National Gay Men's Sex Survey 1999. London: Sigma Research.
51.
White, A. (2001) `How Men Respond to Illness', Men's Health Journal1(1): 18-19.
52.
White, A. and Johnson, M. (2000) `Men Making Sense of their Chest Pain: Niggles, Doubts and Denials', Journal of Clinical Nursing9(4): 534-41.
53.
Whittington, W.L., Collis, T., Dithmer-Schrek, D., Handsfield, H.H., Shalit, P., Wood, R., Holmes, K.K. and Celum, C.L. (2002) `Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Discordant Partnerships among Men who Have Sex with Men', Clinical Infectious Diseases35: 1010-17.
54.
Williams, S. J., Birke L. and Bendelow, G. A. (eds) (2003) Debating Biology: Sociological Reflections on Health, Medicine and Society. London: Routledge .
