Relationships and HIV Risk Among Incarcerated Women

• NCJ Number: 217991
• Journal: Prison Journal Volume: 87 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2007 Pages: 143-165
• Author(s): Michele Staton-Tindall; Carl Leukefeld; Jennifer Palmer; Carrie Oser; Ali Kaplan; Jennifer Krietemeyer; Christine Saum; Hilary L. Surratt
• Date Published: March 2007
• Length: 23 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institutes of Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study used focus groups to identify themes related to women prisoners’ risky sex and drug use behaviors in the context of their relationships, specifically the risk of HIV.

Abstract

Seven themes emerged from the focus groups analysis. The first theme was that unprotected sex was associated with drug and alcohol use. The second focus group theme related to manipulative strategies that women use to get what they want in relationships. Manipulation was related to a woman’s use of her body and "sex appeal." Other focus group themes were associated with partner trust in long-term relationships and a perception of partner safety. Focus group respondents identified invincibility as a major theme. Invincibility is the idea that a woman does not perceive that she is at risk for getting HIV or she is somehow protected. Themes that indicated that relationships shape a woman’s thoughts and feelings about herself were also identified. These focus group themes support the idea that HIV interventions for women should be developed to target the context of relationships and relationship thinking patterns to maintain safe sexual behaviors. The findings also suggest that there are inconsistencies between the ways a woman describes her behaviors in the context of relationships and her view of what is considered risky sex. The findings have implications for the development of an HIV intervention as part of the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS) cooperative that targets incarcerated women’s thinking patterns about relationships as related to HIV risk behavior. HIV risk is a public health concern, particularly for women prisoners who are reentering the community. The primary objective of the project was to examine if increased recognition of risky relationship myths would enable a woman to change her thinking patterns and make healthier decisions that decreased her risk for HIV. As part of the CJ-DATS cooperative agreement funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, data were collected from 36 female participants participating in 4 focus groups. Figure, references