Regulating sexual bodies or addressing health needs? Men who have sex with men and partner notification

Partner notification is the process by which people who are thought to have been exposed to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are traced, informed about their exposure and invited to attend clinical services. It is the cornerstone of genitourinary medicine for the prevention and treatment of STIs. The central question of the article is whether partner notification (PN) represents the medical regulation of sexual bodies or is an appropriate medical response to health care needs. The question is first of all addressed through contrasting theoretical lenses: a Functionalist Parsonian perspective, a Post-structuralist, Foucauldian perspective and a critical theory Habermasian perspective. The question is then explored empirically by drawing on the perspectives of men who have sex with men (MSM) as drawn from a study of MSM's lay perspectives on partner notification in the context of a syphilis outbreak in Dublin. The findings show that the views of MSM in this study suggest that PN is an appropriate response to health care needs and, thus, the lay views most clearly resonate with a functionalist understanding of trust in the expert and moral status of public health. However, the difficulties MSM experience in complying with PN also suggests that the medical logic of PN needs to be counter-balanced with the social logic as derived from lay experiences of its practice in their lives. A critical theory approach holds potential for mediating between medicine's regulation of sexual health and individual health care needs.