My name is Miri Volchik, and I am a senior at The College of New Jersey with a double major in Psychology and Spanish. I plan to continue on to graduate school for a Masters degree in Teaching English as a Second Language.

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SUMMARY:

The alarming rate of increase of the spread of HI virus and AIDS within the prison system has caused various reactions among inmates, prison officials, and the government. Among these are apprehension, prejudice, violence, segregation, and mandatory testing for HIV antibodies.

As the world at large has not yet found an effective way to stop HIV/AIDS, individual prisons are also searching for methods to protect both inmates and prison staff from harming themselves and each other. AIDS needs to be tackled efficiently and immediately, especially in prisons, because risky drug-related and sexual behaviors, high population density, and unidentified AIDS cases have resulted in prisons reporting infection rates ranging from three to six times higher than that of the general population.

The majority of inmates who are HIV-positive are intravenous drug users who share needles with their friends. However, many women and juveniles are even more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS because of their risky sexual behaviors, especially prostitution. These groups are less likely to practice safer sex methods because of their expected submissiveness, lack of knowledge, or beliefs that they are not vulnerable to any sexually transmitted diseases. These two groups are the fastest-growing in HIV/AIDS cases.

The most important method of HIV/AIDS prevention in the prison is education with the goal to change inmates' behavior once they are released from prison. This is believed to be the most effective method because it is nearly impossible to prevent inmates from performing certain behaviors, even under the supervision of prison staff members.

Therefore, some prisons provide education programs about HIV/AIDS, including general information about transmission and prevention, instructions on proper needle cleaning, and instructions on how to put on a condom. Unfortunately, these education programs have not been standardized or evaluated for their efficacy until very recently. However, research continues in hopes of finding the most potent methods available.

FACTOIDS:

In one study, prisoners surveyed had an average of 52.2 sexual partners and 76% used condoms less than half the time.
Stevens, S.J. (1993). HIV prevention programs in a jail setting: Educational strategies.
The Prison Journal, 73, 379-390.

"More injection drug users can be found in prisons than in drug treatment programs, hospitals, and social services."
Hankins, C.A., Gendron, S., Handley, M.A., Richard, C., Lai Tung, M.T., &
O'Shaughnessy, M. (1994). HIV infection among women in prison: An assessment of risk factors using a nonnominal methodology. AmericanJournal of Public Health, 84, 1637-1640.

"HIV-risk reduction interventions are feasible in correctional settings and have the potential to alter AIDS knowledge, attitudes, and risk reduction skills."
St. Lawrence, J.S., Eldridge, G.D., Shelby, M.C., Little, C.E., Brasfield, T.L., &
O'Bannon, R.E. (1997). HIV risk reduction for incarcerated women: A comparison of brief interventions based on two theoretical models. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 504-509.

In 1994, over one-third of all state prison deaths were AIDS-related. With a rate of increase of 84%, AIDS is the fastest-rising cause of state inmate deaths.
Kane, S., & Dotson, C.J. (1997). HIV risk and injecting drug use: Implications for rural jails. Crime and Delinquency, 43, 169-185.

The rate of death because of AIDS is about three times higher in the prison population than in the total U.S. population ages 15-54 years.
Kane, S., & Dotson, C.J. (1997). HIV risk and injecting drug use: Implications for rural jails. Crime and Delinquency, 43, 169-185.

New York and Florida state prisons together house nearly half of all HIV-positive inmates in the United States.
Kane, S., & Dotson, C.J. (1997). HIV risk and injecting drug use: Implications for rural jails. Crime and Delinquency, 43, 169-185.

About one-third of juvenile corrections inmates report having had more than 10 sexual partners. Only 43% always use condoms and only 32% ask about their partners' sexual history.
Lanier, M.M., & McCarthy, B.R. (1989). AIDS awareness and the impact of AIDS education in juvenile corrections. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 16, 395-411.

AIDS education is vital. About 20% of prison staff and 8% of inmates are unsure about how HIV is transmitted. "Although 84% of inmates and 89% of staff reported that they believed AIDS education is an important issue for their jails, 91% of inmates reported never receiving any AIDS education while in jail."
Kane, S., & Dotson, C.J. (1997). HIV risk and injecting drug use: Implications for rural jails. Crime and Delinquency, 43, 169-185.
Stevens, S.J. (1993). HIV prevention programs in a jail setting: Educational strategies. The Prison Journal, 73, 379-390.

Many state and federal prisons segregate HIV-positive and/or full-blown AIDS prisoners from the rest of the prison population. As a result, segregated patients feel that they are kept in a prison within a prison. They also fear the potential violence and prejudice they may face from uninfected prisoners and staff members who have their own fears about the disease.
Belbot, B.A., & del Carmen, R.V. (1991). AIDS in prison: Legal issues. Crime and Delinquency, 37, 135-153.
Stevens, S.J. (1993). HIV prevention programs in a jail setting: Educational strategies. The Prison Journal, 73, 379-390.

It is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of AIDS education programs in prisons because inmates are not permitted to inject drugs or have sex, which limits their abilities to practice new, safer needle sharing and sexual behaviors. Once they are taught to properly clean needles or properly use condoms, they are not allowed to incorporate these abilities into their everyday lives.
Baxter, S. (1991). AIDS education in the jail setting. Crime and Delinquency, 37, 48-63.

REFERENCES:

Baxter, S. (1991). AIDS education in the jail setting. Crime and Delinquency, 37, 48-63.

Belbot, B.A., & del Carmen, R.V. (1991). AIDS in prison: Legal issues. Crime and Delinquency, 37, 135-153.

Bethel, E.R. (1995). AIDS: Readings on a Global Crisis. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Haas, K.C. (1993). Constitutional challenges to the compulsory HIV testing of prisoners and the mandatory segregation of HIV-positive prisoners. The Prison Journal, 73, 391-422.

Hankins, C.A., Gendron, S., Handley, M.A., Richard, C., Lai Tung, M.T., &
O'Shaughnessy, M. (1994). HIV infection among women in prison: An assessment of risk factors using a nonnominal methodology. American Journal of Public Health, 84, 1637-1640.

Hogan, N.L. (1997). The social construction of target populations and the transformation of prison-based AIDS policy: A descriptive case study. Journal of Homosexuality, 32, 77-114.

Kane, S., & Dotson, C.J. (1997). HIV risk and injecting drug use: Implications for rural jails. Crime and Delinquency, 43, 169-185.

Lanier, M.M., & McCarthy B.R. (1989). AIDS awareness and the impact of AIDS education in juvenile corrections. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 16, 395-411.

Magura, S., Rosenblum, A., & Joseph, H. (1991). AIDS risk among intravenous drug-using offenders. Crime and Delinquency, 37, 86-100.

Martin, R., Zimmerman, S.E., Long, B., & West, A. (1995). A content assessment and comparative analysis of prison-based AIDS education programs for inmates. The Prison Journal, 75, 5-47.

St. Lawrence, J.S., Eldridge, G.D., Shelby, M.C., Little, C.E., Brasfield, T.L., &
O'Bannon, R.E. (1997). HIV risk reduction for incarcerated women: A comparison of brief interventions based on two theoretical models. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 504-509.

Stevens, S.J. (1993). HIV prevention programs in a jail setting: Educational strategies. The Prison Journal, 73, 379-390.

Stine, G.J. (1998). AIDS Update 1999. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

MY SPIN:

To anyone who wants to live…

Everyone needs to be aware of HIV/AIDS. It does not discriminate between age, race, color, religion, sexual preference, habitat, or anything else. The only way to prevent it is abstinence and to avoid all intravenous drugs.

However, since millions of people in the world have sex every day, and just as many people use drugs every day, the next step would be to take any and all measures necessary to reduce the risk of contracting the HI virus. This means knowing what constitutes safer sex and practicing it. It also means learning how to clean injection drug needles and cleaning them consistently.

It is essential to know how the HI virus is transmitted and how AIDS develops in the human body. With this knowledge, the spread of AIDS could hopefully be reduced.

The worst thing you can think about AIDS education programs is that they are about everyone but you. When someone is speaking to you about AIDS, you have to listen because you are not an exception; you are part of a group called the human race, of which every single being is susceptible to contracting this horrible virus.

The next time you are practicing any risky behavior, think about this: "If I contract the HI virus from this single experience today, I will definitely pay for it with my life." Scaring people is not the best way to educate them, but obviously nothing else has worked so far. So be afraid! Worry about your health! And practice safer behavior! In the end, you have a better chance of dying when you are old and gray than now, fifty years before you have only begun to live.

You only have one chance at life, and it is not worth losing one life for one unsafe experience.