Community of Women Organize Themselves to Cope with the AIDS Crisis: A Case Study From Bedford Hills Correctional Facility

• NCJ Number: 126235
• Journal: Social Justice Volume: 17 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1990) Pages: 90-109
• Author(s): J Clark; K Boudin
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article describes the development of the AIDS Counseling and Education (ACE) program at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in response to the AIDS problem. It explains how AIDS affects women and prisoners, how AIDS organization can occur in a prison, and how it can reduce the stigma and fears about AIDS.

Abstract

It describes the women organizing for themselves and building trust as well as the constant struggle to overcome the perceived threat to the prison system of this prisoner initiative. Benefits of the program include the development of a community consciousness, reduction of fear about AIDS, and promotion of an ethic of caring together with an advocacy for improved medical conditions and human rights of PWA's and education of staff and inmates. However the isolation of this prison limits the full effectiveness of the program, in particular regarding AIDS prevention for male companions. The ACE can serve as a model for other communities, inside and outside the prison community, in that the prison can be a training ground for education, commitment, and experience on AIDS to encourage significant contributions upon return to the nonprison communities. 4 notes and 17 references