When `Silence = Death', Keep Talking: Trust, Control and the Discursive Construction of Identity in the Canadian HIV/AIDS Treatment Domain

Abstract

When we trust someone, it is because we believe there is something about his or her behaviour that makes it predictable. From a control perspective, it means that their behaviour is subject to some type of control mechanism. Building on this connection, we argue that trust and control are closely related and, in fact, that different forms of trust are associated with different types of control. We present a model explaining the control mechanisms associated with three different forms of trust commonly proposed in the literature. Based on a three-year study of the Canadian HIV/AIDS treatment domain, we then explore in more detail the dynamics of identification-based trust and normative control. Our findings reveal the discursive foundations of generating identification-based trust