Rosengard, Cynthia, Jennifer G. Clarke, Kristen Dasilva, Megan Hebert, Jennifer Rose, and Michael D. Stein. "Correlates of Partner-Specific Condom Use Intentions Among Incarcerated Women in Rhode Island." Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 37.01 (2005): 32-38. Jstor.org. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
"Correlates of Partner-Specific Condom Use Intentions Among Incarcerated Women in Rhode Island” by Rosengard, Cynthia, Jennifer G. Clarke, Kristen Dasilva, Megan Hebert, Jennifer Rose, and Michael D. Stein is an analysis of incarcerated women’s sexual life. It focuses on the use of or intention to use condoms between “main” partners and “casual” partners. It was found that there is a correlation between how the women classify their partners and the likelihood they’ll use a condom. This study is meant to prove the cost effectiveness of and need for programs that encourage condom use in prisons.
The introduction provides ample statistics that help support the need for informational programs.They begin by pointing out the money it costs to treat the inmates with STIs and care for pregnant women in the system. According the the article, 6-10% of inmates become pregnant and around 1,400 U.S. incarcerated women gave birth in 1998. Further, women inmates have a higher risk of STIs and the danger of getting HIV is 3 to 5 times higher in jails. Since most incarcerated women have shown risky sexual behavior, in the form of unprotected sex, many times, it seems only logical that something needs to change.
Next, the authors describe the reasoning behind the study. It uses the theory that, like women outside prison, inmates have several partners that vary in commitment, familiarity, and duration. Using this, they tested how these variables come into play when the women decide whether or not to use condoms. The eligibility of the women were clearly and specifically written out to the point that even women who could not be screened right away were waited for to ensure that the highest amount of women were used in the study. The women were interviewed for four different categories: partner specific condom use, behavioral characteristics, psychological characteristics, and demographic characteristics. All four categories were explained further to break down what was being studied in each one. In the end of this section, there is an example sheet that shows the data compiled for one of the women. Overall, it was a highly specific set of properties that added to the credibility of the study.
Finally, the results were a bit surprising. Over 50% of the women reported having a STI. Even more surprising is the fact that 74% of the participants reported being pregnant while in jail. On the other hand, women were less likely to use a condom with main partners as they were with casual partners as expected. Even though they are more likely to use condoms with casual partners, most were inconsistent with using them regardless of the partner classification. To prove that an educational program would help, the study also included questions about the participants’ main partners. The majority of the women thought that the partners were not partaking in risky behavior or having multiple partners. In the conclusion, the authors press the matter by pointing out that when the women are released they will take whatever behaviors they had in prison to their communities. Because of this, it becomes very important to educate the women before they are released.
This article shows the importance of improving women’s health in prisons. Much like my last article, “Drug Abuse and Incarcerated Women: A Research Review” by Dorothy J. Henderson, the articles use a problem-solution format to try and improve women’s health within the prison system. However, Henderson’s piece is more oriented towards keeping women out of prisons, whether it be repeat offending or the first offense. Therefore, she delves into why women are incarcerated in the first place. These authors are focused on stopping unwanted pregnancies and ridding the spread of STIs once the women are already incarcerated by educating them. By fixing the problem in prisons, the communities that the women are released to also have a lower risk for the spread STIs. The benefits are universal for everyone.
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