NCJ Number
139175
Date Published
1991
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The Welsh Health Promotion Authority conducted two surveys to determine the public's and a random sample prison population's knowledge and attitude toward human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS.
Abstract
Twenty-four percent of inmates believed they had a medium to high risk of becoming infected with the AIDS virus in contrast to 6 percent of the general public. Inmates appeared to have better knowledge of what HIV is: 74 percent accurately identified it as the AIDS virus, but only 27 percent of the general public knew this. Overall knowledge about the risks of becoming infected with the AIDS virus appeared to be relatively similar for both groups. Inmates indicated more sympathy than the general public for homosexuals and drug users who had become infected with the AIDS virus. Over half the general public and inmates surveyed thought testing for the AIDS virus should be conducted without the patients' consent, but 46 percent of the inmates and 19 percent of the general public would object to testing of their own blood without their consent. Those inmates who had seen some form of the "AIDS INSIDE AND OUT" package were better informed and had more constructive attitudes toward AIDS. 1 appendix