NCJ Number
184703
Editor(s)
Kathy Boudin
Date Published
1998
Length
410 pages
Annotation
This book describes the history and operation of the AIDS Counseling and Education (ACE) Program begun by a group of inmates at the women's prison at Bedford Hills, New York.
Abstract
ACE was begun by inmates who recognized the significant impact that AIDS and the HIV virus had been having on the New York State female inmate population, with 20 percent of the women entering the New York State prison system having tested positive for the HIV virus. A group of inmates at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison for women, started ACE out of the belief that inmates would be the most effective in educating, counseling, and building a community of support for inmates with HIV/AIDS. The stated goals of ACE are to save lives through preventing the spread of HIV; to create more humane conditions for those who are HIV-positive; to give support and education to women with fears, questions, and needs related to HIV/AIDS; and to act as a bridge to community groups to help women who are HIV-positive to re-enter the outside community. After reviewing events associated with the inauguration of ACE, the book profiles the ACE curriculum. It consists of nine workshops that focus on the social consequences of having HIV/AIDS; the nature of HIV/AIDS; social and medical issues in treatment; transmission and risk reduction; testing; the distinctive involvement of women in the HIV/AIDS epidemic; and what is involved in living with AIDS. Appended teaching plans and other supplementary information and a glossary