AIDS Education in New South Wales Prisons

Drawing on the results ofresearch evaluatingAIDS educationin NSWprisons, thisarticle attempts to answer some broader questions facing correctional administrators and AIDS educators in prison. In particular, weexamine the incidence ofHW in the NSWprisonpopulation, the extentof "high-risk " behaviour, the effectofAIDS educationand the notion thatprisonsare incubators for HW. We estimatedthat in early 1989 NSWprisonshad an incidenceof1.2 % HW infected, and that 43 % ofprisoners had engaged in "high-risk " behaviour either inside or outside gaol. The research suggests that the effectiveness ofAIDS educationprogrammes has beenunderminedbya confusionabout AIDS policy in prison, and that prisonsare not necessarily "incubators"for the virus at the present time. However, the article concludes by saying that clearAIDS education messages withcomplementaryAIDSpolicymust be implementedin NSWprisonsto ensurethat the incubatorhypothesis doesnot becomea reality in the future. An evaluation of the "AIDS Education Programme " in NSW prisons has been in progress since early 1987, continuing into late 1989. The evaluation has encompassed 10 separate research studies, investigating prisoners ' knowledge, attitudes and behaviour in relation to AIDS in prison. This article draws on th