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Incarceration and Sexual Risk: Examining the Relationship Between Men’s Involvement in the Criminal Justice System and Risky Sexual Behavior

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Abstract

In this study, we used data from Add Health Waves II and III to compare men who had been incarcerated to those who had not, and examined whether incarceration was associated with increased numbers of sexual partners and increased odds of concurrent partnerships. We used multivariate regression and propensity-score matching to compare sexual behavior of Wave III male respondents who had been incarcerated with those who had not, and compared sexual behavior at Wave II to identify differences in sexual behavior prior to incarceration. Incarceration was associated with an increased rate of lifetime sexual partnership, but this was attenuated by substance use. Criminal justice involvement was associated with increased odds of having partners who report concurrent partnerships, but no further increase was seen with incarceration. There were no significant sexual behavior differences prior to incarceration. These results suggest that the criminal justice system and substance use may interact to shape sexual behavior.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the University of Michigan Medical Scientist Training Program (NIGMS T32GM07863); a Point Foundation Scholarship; the University of Michigan School of Public Health Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, and a King Parks Chavez Future Faculty Fellowship. The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. This research uses data from Add Health, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by a grant P01 HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Persons interested in obtaining Data Files from Add Health should contact Add Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carolina Population Center, 123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516 2524 (addhealth@unc.edu). No direct support was received from grant P01 HD31921 for this analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2029, USA

    Andrea K. Knittel & Rachel C. Snow

  2. University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Andrea K. Knittel

  3. Department of Sociology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Jeffrey Morenoff

  4. Center for Medicine, Health and Society, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Derek M. Griffith

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  1. Andrea K. Knittel
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  2. Rachel C. Snow
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  3. Derek M. Griffith
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  4. Jeffrey Morenoff
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Correspondence to Andrea K. Knittel.

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Knittel, A.K., Snow, R.C., Griffith, D.M. et al. Incarceration and Sexual Risk: Examining the Relationship Between Men’s Involvement in the Criminal Justice System and Risky Sexual Behavior. AIDS Behav 17, 2703–2714 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0421-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0421-4

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