At-risk behaviors with regard to HIV and addiction among women in prison

The bulk of studies pertaining to addiction among delinquents have been con ducted on male subjects. However, the few studies examining female inmates show that a significant proportion of them present an addictive disorder. F urthermore, the HIV infection rate is higher among these women than among i ncarcerated men. This study attempts to verify if women presenting a combin ation of criminal and addictive behaviors are at a higher risk of developin g an earlier and a more severe delinquency than other delinquent women. Ano ther goal is to determine whether women showing this comorbidity present a higher incidence of HIV-related risk behaviors. The study was conducted on a sample of 210 women from the Montreal detention center. It shows that add icted inmates present earlier onsets of both drug use and criminal behavior s compared to other female inmates. Addicted women also exhibit significant ly more HIV-related risky behaviors, both in their drug use and in their se xual practices.