Communication Difficulties in the AIDS Ward

Abstract

Cultural theory claims that there are only five basic ways of life, or worldviews, and that communication difficulties stem from different beliefs about right and wrong. According to cultural theory, communication difficulties experienced between groups can be explained by understanding the participants' views of morality, appropriate behavior, and just consequences for bad acts. Interactions among correctional transport officers, clinic nurses, and inmates with AIDS were examined in a community hospital in the northeastern United States. Based on comments culled from 500 hours of observation, each group was placed in a cultural theory category. The majority of correctional officers were placed in the hierarchy category, nurses were egalitarian, and inmates were fatalists. Cultural theory may explain why the participants believe as they do and appears to merit further study in this and other areas in which security and health care personnel clash.

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