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. 2015 Jun;92(3):527-47.
doi: 10.1007/s11524-015-9941-8.

Partner Incarceration and African-American Women's Sexual Relationships and Risk: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study

Hannah L F Cooper  1 , Bethany Caruso, Terrika Barham, Venita Embry, Emily Dauria, Claire D Clark, Megan L Comfort
Affiliations

Partner Incarceration and African-American Women's Sexual Relationships and Risk: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study

Hannah L F Cooper et al. J Urban Health. 2015 Jun.

Abstract

Racialized mass incarceration is associated with racial/ethnic disparities in HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the US. The purpose of this longitudinal qualitative study was to learn about the processes through which partner incarceration affects African-American women's sexual risk. Four waves of in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted in 2010-2011 with 30 women in Atlanta, Georgia (US) who had recently incarcerated partners. Approximately half the sample misused substances at baseline. Transcripts were analyzed using grounded theory. For over half the sample (N = 19), partner incarceration resulted in destitution, and half of this group (N = 9) developed new partnerships to secure shelter or food; most misused substances. Other women (N = 9) initiated casual relationships to meet emotional or sexual needs. When considered with past research, these findings suggest that reducing incarceration rates among African-American men may reduce HIV/STIs among African-American women, particularly among substance-misusing women, as might rapidly linking women with recently incarcerated partners to housing and economic support and drug treatment.

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Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Conceptual model of the processes through which partner incarceration relates to trajectories of sexual risk among African-American women.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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