An examination of consensual sex in a men’s jail

• Date: 12 March 2018
• Published date: 12 March 2018
• Pages: 56-62
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-08-2016-0047
• Author: Charles Herbert Lea III,Theodore K. Gideonse,Nina T. Harawa
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Prisoner health,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice

An examination of consensual sex in a

men’s jail

Charles Herbert Lea III, Theodore K. Gideonse and Nina T. Harawa

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to use secondary data from qualitative interviews that examined the

sexual behaviors, HIV attitudes, and condom use of 17 gay, bisexual, and transgender women housed in a

protective custody unit in the Los Angeles County Jail (Harawa et al., 2010), to develop a better

understanding of the consensual sexual behaviors of male prisoners.

Design/methodology/approach –Study eligibility included: report anal or oral sex with another male in the

prior six months; speak and understand English; and incarcerated in the unit for at least two weeks. Data

analysis consisted of an inductive, qualitative approach.

Findings –Findings illuminate participants’experiences concerning how the correctional facility shaped their

sexual choices and behaviors, and the HIV-risk reduction strategies they employed.

Originality/value –This study contributes to the prison-sex literature, and is timely, given current federal and

local HIV/AIDS priorities. Recommendations that address male prisoners’sexual and health needs and risks

are posed.

Keywords Criminal justice system, Offender health, HIV/AIDS, Qualitative research, Sexual health,

Harm reduction

Paper type Research paper

Background

People of color disproportionately bear the burden of both HIV/AIDS and mass incarceration in

the USA (Carson, 2015; Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016a). Black men are

especially affected, as one in three will spend time behind bars in his lifetime (The Sentencing

Project, 2013). Men in jail and prison settings also accounted for 91 percent of all state and

federal inmates who were living with HIV/AIDS (20,093) in 2010 (Center for Disease Control and

Prevention, 2015). The concentration of HIV in correctional settings for men thus raises concerns

about the health of incarcerated men of color. This also poses a public health issue for

disadvantaged communities, as they are plagued with high rates of incarceration and people

returning from correctional facilities (Morenoff and Harding, 2014).

Jail and prison conditions and prisoners’risk behaviors, including overcrowding, injection drug

use, tattooing, sexual violence, and unprotected sex are identified as factors that may contribute

to HIV transmission in correctional settings (AVERT, 2016). Among these factors, sex and

tattooing are identified as high-risk, intraprison behaviors that influence HIV transmission (Krebs,

2002). Researchers therefore often associate high levels of HIV in correctional facilities for men

with sexual victimization (Howard League for Penal Reform, 2014; Kunzel, 2008; Human Rights

Watch, 2001; Robertson, 2003; Stop Prisoner Rape, 2005). Yet, it is unknown how many men in

jail and prison settings acquire HIV from a particular risk factor.

Although limited, literature confirms that consensual sex between people in correctional settings

for men does occur (Tewksbury, 1989; Saum et al., 1995, Hensley et al., 2001; Hensley, 2002;

Howard League for Penal Reform, 2013, 2014). For instance, Hensley et al. (2001)

mixed method study that examined the consensual sex activities of men found that 36

percent of the sample (n¼142) reported receiving consensual oral sex from another inmate.

Received 30 August 2016

Revised 23 January 2017

30 March 2017

Accepted 31 March 2017

Charles Herbert Lea III is based

at the School of Social Work,

University of Washington,

Seattle, Washington, USA.

Theodore K. Gideonse is based

at the Program in Public Health,

University of California Irvine,

Irvine, California, USA.

Nina T. Harawa is based at the

Department of Psychiatry and

Human Behavior, Charles Drew

University of Medicine and

Science, Los Angeles,

California, USA.

PAG E 56

j

INTERNATIONALJOURNAL OF PRISONER HEALTH

j

VOL. 14 NO. 1 2018, pp. 56-62, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1744-9200 DOI 10.1108/IJPH-08-2016-0047