The Role of Media in Preventing High-Risk Sexual Behaviors in Society: A qualitative study

Document Type : researcher

Author
Assistant Professor, Institute for Educational Studies, Organization for Educational Research and Planning (OERP), Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/scm.2025.216317
Abstract
high-risk sexual behaviors have various consequences and are influenced by various components. For this reason, it has attracted the attention of experts in various fields. The purpose of this research is to investigate the role of the media in preventing risky sexual behaviors in the society. The method of this qualitative research is qualitative content analysis, the statistical population includes all the professors and experts in the media field, the purposeful sampling method and the snowball technique, the sample size was determined based on the principle of theoretical saturation. After interviewing 16 people, the number of samples was theoretically sufficient. The tool for collecting information is a semi-structured interview and the data analysis method is thematic analysis. According to the results of the present research, according to the participants, the role of the media in preventing high-risk sexual behaviors in the society was classified into 10 basic categories, which in order of priority are: 1. Educational, 2. Informative. and awareness-raising, 3. Socialization, 4. Highlighting, 5. Sensitization of public opinion regarding the issue of prevention, 6. Surveillance and care, 7. Culture and norm-making, 8. Programming, 9. Deterrence. and demotivation (control) and 10. Framing high-risk sexual behaviors and producing meaning. In general, according to the theoretical considerations and the findings of the current research, the media has an influential role in society, especially from the perspective of preventing social harms such as high-risk sexual behaviors. Therefore, their capacities can be used to prevent high-risk sexual behaviors in the society.
Keywords
Subjects

 
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Volume 14, Issue 54
Spring 2025
Pages 371-333

  • Receive Date 13 May 2023
  • Revise Date 17 December 2023
  • Accept Date 03 February 2024