A grounded theory of decision-making on male circumcision in the context of HIV

The aim of this research was to develop a substantive grounded theory that accounts for the factors involved in decision-making by South African men regarding a willingness to support the national utilisation of Medical Male Circumcision (MMC) as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy in South Africa. While a number of approaches to understanding the psychosocial conditions that would support this utilisation do show promise, no unified theoretical perspective seems to provide an inclusive account of the factors involved in decision-making regarding support or rejection of MMC as a significant contributor to HIV prophylaxis. Although data analysis is still underway, various factors are being identified from data gathered through semi-structured interviews with 25 adult men (18–55 years of age) from urban Alexandra Township, Johannesburg. These data clearly demonstrate the importance of understanding the contributions of local conditions that inform the tensions between the cultural values that prize powerful masculine identities, secured through traditional male circumcision (most generally performed by community leaders and traditional healers at initiation schools in rural parts of South Africa), and the appreciation for modern western medicine and its role in generating health benefits of the practice, if performed under clinical, surgical conditions by a medical doctor.