se and crime resulted in a war on drugs, mandatory sentencing policies for many criminal offenses throughout the United States, and increases in jail and prison populations (190 percent increase from 1980 to 1993). High rates of arrest and incarceration are found among heroin, cocaine, and other drug abusers; it has been reported that two thirds of those found in state and federal penitentiaries have histories of substance abuse. These substance abusers, particularly injection drug users and those exchanging sex for drugs, demonstrate HIV risk behaviors; many are already infected with HIV or show symptoms of AIDS. Due to the concentration of substance abusers in the criminal justice settings, rates of HIV infections in inmates, availability of sexual contacts, and risk after release to the free community, needs to control the spread of HIV, reduce HIV risk, and treat this population are considered (pp. 421-426).
Prison Populations, Latinos & Blacks
The majority of prison population is made up of minorities, IV drug users, and the poor; distinctions between male and female inmates are noted. A 1991 study showed that out of 10,994 male and female entrants to 10 correctional systems in the United States, HIV sero-prevalence rates ranged from 2.1 percent to 7.6 percent for men and 2.7 percent to 14.7 percent for women. Other studies show wider ranges of seropositivity rates, depending on location. In a women's jail in Orange County, California, 2.5 percent was found. For male entrants to the Maryland prison system, 7.9 percent were found. In the New York State correctional system, 18.8 percent was found (women); 18.5 percent was found for New York City inmates (Collins, Baumgartner, & Henry, p. 45; & Indiardi, p. 422).
The majority of prisoners as a group are young men. In 1981, the median age of inmates in prisons in the New York State correctional system was 27.8 years and 96 percent were male. Backgrounds of illici...