A Developmental Analysis of Prisoners' Conceptions of Aids

Abstract

Prisoners' reasoning about the causes and transmission of AIDS was examined. At a medium security prison in Texas 109 prisoners were administered the Concepts of AIDS Protocol, an AIDS information test, and a measure assessing acceptance of prisoners with AIDS. The majority of subjects evidenced a middle developmental level of understanding AIDS. Subjects' developmental level of understanding AIDS was moderately correlated with their reported level of education, their acceptance of prisoners with AIDS, and their scores on the AIDS information test. Implications are discussed for the development of more effective AIDS educational programs for prisoners.