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Chapter 8 Partner Concurrency and Relationship Dynamics

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Poverty in the United States

Abstract

Although marriage rates have declined slightly over the past decade, the desire to be married among men and women still remains. Subsequently, desire for marriage is higher among women compared to men, and the likelihood of both genders being married by the age of 30 had decreased. The benefits of marriage or coupling include access to higher levels of wealth and more resources, financial stability, and an elevated standard of living. These benefits are far greater for women; subsequently, gender norms and the dynamics of power yield decision-making control within heterosexual relationships to men. Sexual concurrency is defined as the overlapping of sexual partners and can occur within the dynamics of all relationships, regardless of race. This chapter explores the variables used to define sexual concurrency, the manifestation of sexual concurrency in African-American relationships, and a subsequent relationship between sexual concurrency and HIV transmission among African-American women. The chapter also provides examples of these interconnecting variables among women living in poverty among the participants of the HPTN 064 study.

“You’d do better just staying with what you’re dealing with and just going on with your life.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Studies, Texas Woman’s University, Denton, TX, USA

    Kimberly A. Parker

  2. Department of Behavioral Science and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Laura Riley

  3. ICAP, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Stephanie Lykes

  4. Atlanta, GA, USA

    Jessie R. M. Legros

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  1. Kimberly A. Parker
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  2. Laura Riley
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  3. Stephanie Lykes
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  4. Jessie R. M. Legros
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Correspondence to Kimberly A. Parker .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Ann O'Leary

  2. Department of Medicine Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Paula M. Frew

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Parker, K.A., Riley, L., Lykes, S., Legros, J.R.M. (2017). Chapter 8 Partner Concurrency and Relationship Dynamics. In: O'Leary, A., Frew, P. (eds) Poverty in the United States. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43833-7_8

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