Look After Yourself, or Look After One Another? An Analysis of Life Skills in Sport for Development and Peace HIV Prevention Curriculum

Abstract

HIV/AIDS education and prevention are often described as one way that SDP can contribute to international development, yet there has been little critical analysis of how discourses legitimize particular conceptions of HIV/AIDS and constructions of life skills. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to conduct a critical discourse analysis, guided by the concept of biopedagogies, of the Live Safe Play Safe (LSPS) manual that Right to Play (RTP) has used to train facilitators for its HIV/AIDS prevention program. The findings demonstrate that discourses of risk, individualism, and deficiency constructed life skills in a way that aligned with neoliberal approaches to health promotion and development; emphasizing risk management and individual responsibility, while glossing over the broader social and political factors influencing HIV transmission.