NCJ Number
174377
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 78 Issue: 2 Dated: June 1998 Pages: 133-151
Date Published
1998
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined the current correctional AIDS policies of mandatory testing, segregation, and notification, with attention to inmates' attitudes toward these policies and the impact of race/ethnicity and age on fear of AIDS in prison and support for prison AIDS policies.
Abstract
Data were obtained from a survey administered over a 6-week period to 775 men just released from incarceration under the Texas Department of Corrections-Institutional Division. A total of 775 usable surveys were completed. As a whole, the respondents expressed overwhelming support for correctional AIDS policies. More than 95 percent of all respondents supported inmate testing for AIDS. Support for separating HIV-positive inmates from other inmates was almost as high, with more than 88 percent of the respondents showing agreement with such a policy. Almost 80 percent of the respondents supported inmates' right to know who has AIDS. Although support for notification was strong, it was somewhat less than for either segregation or testing. Slightly less than half the respondents believed that the chances of contracting AIDS in prison were low. Young and black inmates were less concerned about AIDS in correctional facilities. An abundance of research shows that among the public, fear of AIDS is highest among white, older Americans, the group least likely to contract AIDS. The same is apparently true in the sample of ex-inmates; this suggests that young, black offenders and inmates are the most likely to engage in behaviors that put them at risk for AIDS. Inmate education about AIDS is essential to remedy differential misunderstanding about AIDS and its transmission on the part of younger and older inmates as well as minority and nonminority inmates. 6 tables, 2 notes, and 47 references