NCJ Number
167287
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 43 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1997) Pages: 169-185
Date Published
1997
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This research was based on an ecological approach to assessing the risk of HIV/AIDS in rural jails, focusing on the relationships between organisms and their environment, i.e., the virus and the movements, behaviors, and knowledge of people who live and work in jails.
Abstract
The authors studied 24 of the 29 jails in south and southcentral Indiana, including nine of the 12 small jails (0-50 beds) and 15 of the 17 medium-sized jails (51-250 beds). Two questionnaires, one for staff and one for inmates, were used. The inmate questionnaire included items on histories of sex and injecting drug behaviors, population movement, HIV/AIDS knowledge and beliefs, concerns about AIDS in jail and ideas about how to address these concerns, and the existence of AIDS education in jails. Staff members were asked to estimate the number of HIV/AIDS cases in their jails. In addition to the questionnaires, interviews with sheriffs and jail commanders provided the opportunity for broader discussion. The findings suggest that a rural location may not provide protection from increasing rates of HIV infection among inmate populations. Although the results of this study are limited, they provide a significant example of the data that should be collected and analyzed in the course of developing effective policies for addressing HIV/AIDS among jail inmates. This paper provides suggestions for jail administrators in developing a comprehensive policy for preventing HIV/AIDS while incarcerated and providing services for diagnosing and treating it. 2 tables, 7 notes, and 36 references