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Journal of Urban Health
Published in: Journal of Urban Health 3/2015

01-06-2015

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

Authors: Hannah LF Cooper, Bethany Caruso, Terrika Barham, Venita Embry, Emily Dauria, Claire D. Clark, Megan L. Comfort

Published in: Journal of Urban Health | Issue 3/2015

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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.
Footnotes
1
All names are pseudonyms to protect participants.
 
2
As seen in Table 1, T3 women’s household income seems to increase between the month preceding arrest and the month preceding baseline. This may be because some were living with family at the time, and included family members’ incomes in their calculations.
 
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Metadata
Title
Partner Incarceration and African-American Women’s Sexual Relationships and Risk: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study
Authors
Hannah LF Cooper
Bethany Caruso
Terrika Barham
Venita Embry
Emily Dauria
Claire D. Clark
Megan L. Comfort
Publication date
01-06-2015
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Journal of Urban Health / Issue 3/2015
Print ISSN: 1099-3460
Electronic ISSN: 1468-2869
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-015-9941-8

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