NCJ Number
120054
Journal
Boston Globe Magazine Dated: (October 8, 1989) Pages: 18-20,49-54,63-65
Date Published
1989
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The Massachusetts Correctional Institute at Framingham is the first prison in the State to offer comprehensive services to the increasing number of inmates with HIV disease.
Abstract
MCI-Framingham, the only women's prison among 21 correctional facilities in Massachusetts, has the highest concentration of HIV-positive prisoners in the State. At group therapy meetings, AIDS-infected women discuss their drug addictions, families, and children. If, when, and how to disclose their illness to family members is a much-discussed dilemma. The group provides an opportunity for empathy about debilitating symptoms of the disease and the difficulty of getting these symptoms attended at Health Services. Lack of control over medical treatment has always been a frightening aspect of prison life for women at Framingham, yet more so with the increase of AIDS. The Women and AIDS Project, which monitors the care and treatment of HIV-positive women at Framingham, is the only community-run prison AIDS program of its kind in the country. The project conducts weekly AIDS education sessions focusing on modes of transmitting and methods of preventing the virus.