Table 2 Partner Influences
From: Partner influences on young women’s risky drug and sexual behavior
Subtheme | n | Sample Quote |
|---|---|---|
Theme: Partner Influence on Drug Use | ||
Fitting in | 5 | “Like say if I was with someone that was using drugs um, and if they used them around me I would want to feel cool or whatever. Um, and just kind of like fit in with his crowd.” |
Pressure | 9 | “…they make it seem cool or make it seem right, make it to where that’s what they’re supposed to be doing. It’s pressuring.” |
A common experience | 6 | “…my sister had done it here and there, you know, she’d once in a while but she never really did it all the time. And she started dating her, and uh, whenever she uses something, it doesn’t matter if it’s pot, alcohol, what she has to use it when she uses it cuz they say that, she says she don’t want her to be high and her not cuz then they might not communicate the same way.” |
Improve or maintain the relationship | 4 | “I didn’t want them to break up with me. You know I, I oh well if I do this with him, he won’t break up with me.” |
Proximity or access | 5 | “Because they’re around each other and they wanna do what each other are doing.” |
Theme: Talking About Safe Sex | ||
Awkward or uncomfortable | 10 | “It’s not gonna be like some made out scene like how they say in Sex Ed, because really, in all reality, it’s not. You don’t think, hey we’re gonna have sex in two hours let’s talk about this for an hour and then cuddle for 15 min and then you know, do all this other stuff for you know another 45, and then we could have sex.” |
Nervous, scared, or unsure | 3 | “Neither partner is really actually has developed a close relationship with each other and they’re not actually comfortable enough with each other to talk about things that could be awkward or embarrassing and serious.” |
Theme: Practicing Safe Sex | ||
Not thinking about consequences | 10 | “…they don’t have a condom but they wanna do it now, so they just do it…” |
Don’t like condoms/birth control | 7 | “Because it feels better [without a condom]. Or they just don’t wanna wear that. Or they’re allergic… The way that it hurts their area or whatever” |
Alcohol or drugs | 6 | I didn’t really take the time to get to know any of em. So it was like extremely uncomfortable. I was always on drugs. You know or alcohol or something. So I didn’t, I really never connected to em. So it made it extremely awkward to talk to anybody. |
Partner is dishonest | 3 | “…and then after we slept together my aunt found out and told me that he had herpes and I didn’t even know because he didn’t tell me. And I got really upset…” |
Male pressures female | 4 | “I was raped one time. Well, a couple of times, but this one stands out the most because I was young. It was with a boyfriend and I had told him no and he forced it on me anyway and he was a lot stronger than I was. And there was no fighting him off.” |
Unrealistic expectations | 5 | “Just because he says he cares about you before doesn’t mean that he still will afterwards. I’ve seen that way too many times…He’ll just leave or that’s all you will do afterwards, when you refuse to, he breaks it off with you. That happened to a very good friend of mine.” |
Putting on a condom is awkward | 1 | “I think sex in itself is a pretty awkward when you’re doing it with somebody you don’t really know, and so to have to put on a condom or to put in a female condom or to do something like that in the middle of sex its already awkward just makes it 10 times more awkward. And then you kinda just don’t want to do it anymore. Or it’s just like you’re embarrassed.” |