Published in the MICA Communications Review (Vol 1, No 1, pp. 21-28), this article challenges the reliance of behaviour change communication (BCC) interventions for HIV prevention, care, and support on individuals ("the tree") as the locus of change. Arvind Singhal's claim here is that attending to the "forest" of which individuals are a part - that is, locally-situated knowledge, including its cultural elements - can be an effective strategy in designing and implementing HIV/AIDS communication campaigns.

Singhal begins by describing the limitations of individual-directed BCC strategies, arguing that interventions drawing on these approaches have been "mixed at best, and generally dismal". He cites, and challenges, 4 mistaken assumptions on which these strategies are built: that all individuals are capable of controlling their context, that all persons are on an "even playing field", that all individuals make decisions of their own free will, and that all individuals make preventive health decisions rationally. Furthermore, he argues, such strategies are often anti-sex, anti-pleasure, and fear-inducing - centring around the individual as positioned against and threatened by the promiscuous and deviant behaviour of "others" (the high-risk group). The problem here relates, again, to the failure to see people as part of a "forest": as social creatures whose commitment to social constructions of "love" involves risk-taking, trusting, and giving may also put them at risk of HIV infection. In this case, context or "culture", broadly understood, can play a problematic role by contributing to HIV/AIDS, yet communication practitioners do not see this or address it; instead they tend to focus only on the individual (the "tree"), says Singhal.

For Singhal, attention to the social and cultural construction of sexuality is key to effective communication-centred programming, as illustrated by 2 research studies from Brazil and Kenya that he alludes to in his introductory remarks. Reflecting on this research, he lays out 4 core principles:

1. View culture as an ally - Several socio-cultural and spiritual dimensions of both Sengalese society and the Nguni people of Southern Africa have strengthened these communities' response to HIV/AIDS; for example, non-penetrative sex practices such as ukusoma could be drawn upon in BCC interventions. Singhal also points to the potential positive power of cultural practices such as familismo (family ties) in Latino culture and strong family bonds in India.
2. Reconstruct cultural rites - When anthropological research in the Nyanza Province in Western Kenya showed that the "widow-cleansing practice" with the late husband's relative to avoid a curse called chira often leads to HIV infection, discussions with community elders were conducted. Possibilities for replacing the rite with alternative ones emerged; such alternatives have also been developed in addressing female genital mutiliation (FGM) in Kenya ("Circumcision with Words").
3. Employ culturally resonant narratives - Rather than emphasising scientific/rational appeals, Singhal stresses the power of traditional oral communication channels, such as proverbs, adages, riddles, folklore, and storytelling. He highlights a diarrhoea prevention campaign in northern Nigeria to explain the importance of context-based explanations that match prevention messages with local magico-religious myths.
4. Create a culturally-based paedogogy of HIV prevention - Here, Singhal discusses several HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in Brazil which are inspired by the participatory approaches of the late educator Paulo Freire. He details in some depth an initiative carried out by Vera Paiva at the University of São Paulo which was based on "a deep understanding of the socio-cultural dimension of risk". The effort to create a new generation of "sexual subjects" (rather than passive objects of desire and the sexual scripts of others) drew on such approaches as face-to-face group interaction with girls and boys that incorporated creative techniques including role-playing, teamwork, psychodrama, games and art to make condoms erotic, and the molding of flour and salt paste to shape reproductive body parts. In this case "the pedagogy of prevention was based on an 'eroticization' of prevention'."

Singhal concludes that, while communication practitioners need to be mindful about the dangers of manipulating or subverting culture, community- and dialogue-based approaches can make important contributions to HIV/AIDS initiatives in a way that biomedical, individual-oriented strategies often cannot.