Preincarceration Risky Behaviors Among Women Inmates: Opportunities for Prevention

• NCJ Number: 170258
• Journal: Prison Journal Volume: 77 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1997) Pages: 281-294
• Author(s): N U Cotton-Oldenburg; S L Martin; B K Jordan; L S Sadowski; L Kupper
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 14 pages
• Grant Number(s): DA06387
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Eight hundred five female felons admitted consecutively to the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women between July 1991 and November 1992 were interviewed to determine the relationships between risky sex and drug behaviors before incarceration and HIV status at incarceration.

Abstract

Seven hundred of the participants gave permission for access to their prison medical records and had complete information on relevant variables. Results revealed that 4 percent of the female inmates were HIV-positive. More than 80 percent of the women inconsistently used condoms during sexual intercourse. More than 15 percent injected drugs, had a drug-injecting sex partner, and exchanged sex for money or drugs. The exchange of sex for money or drugs was associated with being HIV-positive. Findings suggested that prison-based HIV prevention programs should emphasize sexual and drug risk-reduction strategies as a means to reduce the heterosexual HIV risks that female inmates will experience after they are release from prison. Tables and 42 references (Author abstract modified)