This study examined the relationship between drug treatment, perceptions of risk, and HIV risk behaviors among a sample of female offenders. Women who had participated in prior drug treatment were mnore likely to have engaged in both drug and sexual HIV risk behaviors. These findings emphasize that current HIV drug counseling, education, and prevention programs aimed at women offenders may not effectively change the risky behaviors of those populations. Increasing numbers of female offenders entering prison with histories of high–risk activities suggest that correctional health care administrators rethink current means to assess, manage, and deliver treatment programs to female inmates.
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