TITLE:
Explanatory Models of Inmate HIV Risk Behaviors: Does a Fatalistic Model Exist?
AUTHORS:
Joseph A. Balogun, Titilayo C. Abiona Abiona, Ivonne K. Anguh
KEYWORDS:
HIV, Risk Behaviors, Explanatory Models, Inmates
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of AIDS,
Vol.5 No.2,
May
26,
2015
ABSTRACT: The deprivation, importation, situational,
and administrative control models have been used to explain inmate violence.
More recently, HIV risk behaviors of inmates have been explained with the
deprivation and importation models. The goal of this study is to assess the
utility of these models in describing inmate HIV risk behaviors and to identify
additional models that may exist. Forty seven ex-offenders released from prison
within three months of the study were recruited from a community based
organization. They participated in focus group discussions that explored the
contexts surrounding inmate engagement in HIV risk behaviors in prison. Data
were analyzed using NVivo 7 and results were organized into themes. Inmates
engaged in sex in exchange for money and for affection. Inmates who were drug
users before incarceration were more likely to abuse drugs in prison. Security
measures, if effective, deterred the entrance of illegal substance into prison,
but when security is lax, inmates take the opportunity to engage in sex, and
illegal substances are brought into prison. Our results reveal that
deprivation, importation, situational, and administrative control factors are
associated with HIV risk behaviors among inmates and they can be used in
explaining these behaviors. The association of risk behaviors with long or life
sentences suggests that fatalism may play a role in risk behaviors among
inmates. Fatalism is a factor which requires future examination.