Explanatory Models of Inmate HIV Risk Behaviors: Does a Fatalistic Model Exist?

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.