Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Toward a Critical Criminology of HIV Criminalization

  • Published:
Critical Criminology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (hereinafter, “PLHIV”) face barriers at each stage of the criminal justice process, including prosecution for non-disclosure of HIV status. Justice institutions reinforce the stigma of HIV, which has perverse consequences for HIV prevention and treatment services. This article takes a critical criminological approach to “HIV criminalization,” using the frames of queer criminology and epidemiological criminology to analyze both the punishment of “deviant” sex and the public health consequences of HIV stigma. Finally, this article offers a comprehensive consideration of the criminal justice barriers that PLHIV face in light of current criminological research, providing both mainstream and critical criminologists new insights into the social construction of deviance, legitimacy of institutions, definition of victims, and purposes of punishment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. These are certainly not the only two critical frames possible. Rural criminology, for instance, could analyze how HIV criminalization impacts rural PLHIV without access to treatment or health services (see Donnermeyer and DeKeseredy 2013). Feminist criminology has an opportunity to place HIV criminalization laws in the context of the trend to increase punishments for sexual assault crimes (Phillips and Chagnon 2020).

  2. One important exception is Waldman’s chapter (2014) in Handbook of LGBT Communities, Crime, and Justice edited by Peterson and Panfil. This chapter is concerned primarily with legal proceedings and prosecutions under HIV-specific criminal laws.

  3. Both Ball (2016) and Frederick (2014) suggest that the stigma and “deviant” label around risky sexual behaviors may come from other members of the LGBTQ community, not just the heterosexual majority—what they refer to as “homonormativity.”

  4. This question is difficult to answer precisely because of the discretionary and opaque nature of prosecutorial decisions. Nearly 95% of cases end with guilty pleas, and prosecutors rarely divulge their plea-bargaining decisions (Pfaff 2017: 132–133). Nonetheless, an increasing number of AIDS activists and decriminalization advocates have begun efforts to reach out to prosecutors, with a goal of improving prosecutorial decision-making. The Center for HIV Law and Policy sponsored a prosecutor’s roundtable on HIV criminalization (Reimer 2013).

References

  • Akers, T., & Lanier, M. (2009). ‘Epidemiological criminology’: Coming full circle. American Journal of Public Health, 99(3), 397-402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akers, T., Potter, R., Hill, C. (2013). Epidemiological criminology: A public health approach to crime and violence. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alarid, L. F., & Marquart, J. W. (2009). Officer perceptions of risk of contracting HIV/AIDS in prison: A two-state comparison. Prison Journal, 89(4), 440–459. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885509349571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, M. (2012). The new Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: The New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, G., Hsieh, A., & Holness, T. (2012). Criminal court proceedings. In American Bar Association AIDS Coordinating Committee (Ed.), HIV and AIDS benchbook, 2nd edition (pp. 106–141). Chicago, IL: American Bar Association.

  • Armenta, A. (2017). Protect, serve, and deport: The rise of policing as immigration enforcement. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Arriola, K. (2006). Debunking the myth of the safe haven: Toward a better understanding of intraprison HIV transmission. Criminology & Public Policy, 5(1), 137-147. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9133.2006.00108.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball, M. (2016). Criminology and queer theory: dangerous bedfellows? New York: Palgrave.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Basas, C. (2012). The sentence of HIV. Kentucky Law Journal, 101(3), 543-608.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckwith, C., Zaller, N., & Rich, J. (2006). Addressing the HIV epidemic through quality correctional healthcare. Criminology & Public Policy, 5(1), 149-155. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9133.2006.00117.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Behrendt, C., Vlahov, D., Clark, J., Kendig, N. (1992). HIV infections and AIDS among U.S. prison inmates. Journal of Crime and Justice, 15(1), 173–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/0735648X.1992.9721458

  • Blumberg, M. (1990). The transmission of HIV: Exploring some misconceptions related to criminal justice. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 4(4), 288–305. https://doi.org/10.1177/088740349000400401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosworth, M. (2011). Penal moderation in the United States: Yes we can. Criminology and Public Policy, 10(2), 335-344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broadhead, R. (1974). A theoretical critique of the societal reaction approach to deviance. Pacific Sociological Review, 17(3), 287-312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buist, C., & Lenning, E. (2016). Queer criminology. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burris, S., & Wagenaar, A. (2012). Integrating diverse theories for public health law research. Public Health Law Research Program (PHLR), Temple University Beasley School of Law. Retrieved on January 17, 2021, from http://ssrn.com/abstract=2118690.

  • Cameron, E. (2009). Criminalization of HIV transmission: poor public health policy. HIV/AIDS Policy and Law Review, 14(2), 1/63–75.

  • Centers for Disease Control. (2019). HIV and STD criminal laws. Retrieved on January 17, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/policies/law/states/exposure.html.

  • Christie, N. (2017). Crime control as industry. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cockerill, R., Wahlert, L. (2015). AIDS panic in the twenty-first century: the tenuous legal status of HIV-positive persons in America. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 12(3), 377-381. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-015-9653-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox, B. (2016). Turning the tide: the future of HIV criminalization after Rhoades v. State and legislative reform in Iowa. Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy, 11(1), 28–53.

  • Crofts, N., & Patterson, D. (2016). Police must join the fast track to end AIDS by 2030. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 19(3), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.7448/IAS.19.4.21153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dang, B.N., Giordano, T.P. & Kim, J.H. (2012). Sociocultural and structural barriers to care among undocumented Latino immigrants with HIV infection. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 14(1), 124–131 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-011-9542-x.

  • Davis, N. (1972). Labeling theory in deviance research: a critique and reconsideration. Sociological Quarterly, 13(4), 447-474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dej, E., & Kilty, J. M. (2012). Criminalization creep: brief discussion of the criminalization of HIV/AIDS non-disclosure in Canada. Canadian Journal of Law & Society, 27(1), 55-66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donnermeyer, J., & DeKeseredy, W. (2013). Rural criminology. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dow, M. (2008). Unchecked power against undesirables: Haitians, Mariel Cubans, and Guantanamo. In Brotherton, D., & Kretsedemas, P. (Eds.), Keeping out the other: A critical introduction to immigration enforcement today (pp. 29–43). New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer, A., Ball, M., & Crofts, T. (eds). (2016). Queering criminologies. In Queering Criminology (pp. 1–11). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

  • Eisinger, R., Dieffenbach, C., & Fauci, A. (2019). HIV viral load and transmittability of HIV infection: undetectable equals untransmittable. Journal of the American Medical Association, 321(5), 451-452. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.21167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fife, B., & Wright, E. (2000) The dimensiality of stigma: a comparison of its impact on the self of persons with HIV/AIDS and cancer. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 41(1), 50–67. 

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flath, N., Tobin, K., King, K., Lee, A., & Latkin, C. (2017). Enduring consequences from the war on drugs: how policing practices impact HIV risk among people who inject drugs in Baltimore City. Substance Use & Misuse, 52(8), 1003–1010. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2016.1268630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flavin, J. (1998). Police and HIV/AIDS: the risk, the reality, the response. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 23(1), 33–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02887283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flavin, J. (2000). (Mis)representing risk: Headline accounts of HIV-related assaults. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 25(1), 119-136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frederick, B. (2014). “Delinquent boys”: Toward a new understanding of “deviant” and transgressive behavior in gay men. Critical Criminology: An International Journal 22(1), 139–149. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-013-9230-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • French, M., & Smith, G. (2013) ‘Health’ surveillance: new modes of monitoring bodies, populations, and polities. Critical Public Health, 23(4), 383–392. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2013.838210.

  • Fritsch, K., Heynen, R., Ross, A., van der Meulen, E. (2016). Disability and sex work: developing affinities through decriminalization. Disability & Society, 31(1), 84-99. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2016.1139488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frye, V., Yanos, P. (2013). Applying criminology theory to understand health outcomes. In Waltermaurer, E., & Akers, T. (Eds.), Epidemiological criminology: Theory to practice (pp. 24-35). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gagnon, M. (2012). Toward a critical response to HIV criminalization: remarks on advocacy and social justice. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 23(1), 11-15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galletly, C., Lazzarini, Z., Sanders, C., & Pinkerton, S. (2014). Criminal HIV exposure laws: Moving forward. AIDS and Behavior, 18(6), 1011–1013. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-014-0731-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garland, D. (2001). Introduction: the meaning of mass imprisonment. In Garland, D. (Ed.), Mass imprisonment: social causes and consequences (pp. 1–3). London: SAGE.

  • Glassner, B., & Corzine, J. (1978). Can labeling theory be saved? Symbolic Interaction, 1(2), 74-89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goyer, K. (2002). Prison health is public health: HIV/AIDS and the case for prison reform. South Africa Crime Quarterly, 2(November), 23–26. https://journals.assaf.org.za/sacq/issue/view/194.

  • Grace, D. (2015). Criminalizing HIV transmission using model law: troubling best practice standardizations in the global HIV/AIDS response. Critical Public Health, 25(4), 441-454. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2015.1049121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greene, S., Ion, A., Kwaramba, G., Lazarus, L., & Loutfy, M. (2017). Surviving surveillance: How pregnant women and mothers living with HIV respond to medical and social surveillance. Qualitative Health Research, 27(14), 2088-2099. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732317725219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, E., Lurigio, A., & Johnson, B. (1991). HIV policy for probation departments. Crime & Delinquency, 37(1), 36-47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grov, C. (2004) “make me your death slave”: men who have sex with men and use the internet to intentionally spread HIV, Deviant Behavior, 25(4), 329-349. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639620490427683

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guta, A., & Murray, S. (2019). On the possibility of being governed otherwise: exploring Foucault’s legacy for critical social science studies in the field of HIV/AIDS. In Mykhalovskiy, E., & Namaste, V. (Eds.), Thinking differently about HIV/AIDS: Contributions from critical social science (pp. 39–71). Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

  • Haas, K. (1993). Constitutional challenges to the compulsory HIV testing of prisoners and the mandatory segregation of HIV-positive prisoners. Prison Journal, 73(3), 391–422. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032855593073003011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, D., Davila, M., Marquart, J., & Mullings, J.L. (2013). Fear is a disease: the impact of fear and exposure to infectious disease on correctional officer job stress and satisfaction. American Journal of Criminal Justice 38(2), 323–340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-012-9175-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasenbush, A., Wilson, B., Miyashita, A., & Sharp, M. (2017). HIV criminalization and sex work in California. Los Angeles, CA: Williams Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heilpern, H., & Egger, S. (1992) HIV policies and practices in prisons. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 4(1), 37-46. https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.1992.12036550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herdt, G. (2001). Stigma and the ethnographic study of HIV: problems and prospects. AIDS and Behavior, 5(2), 141-149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe, T. (2014). From sickness to badness: The criminalization of HIV in Michigan. Social Science & Medicine, 101(January), 139-147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe, T. (2016). Punishing sex: sex offenders and the missing punitive turn in sexuality studies. Law and Social Inquiry, 41(3), 573-594.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe, T. (2018). Punishing disease: HIV and the criminalization of sickness. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard, M. (2017). Unusually cruel: prisons, punishment, and the real American exceptionalism. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iroh, P., Mayo, H., & Nijhawan, A. (2015). The HIV care cascade before, during, and after incarceration: A systematic review and data synthesis. American Journal of Public Health, 105(7), e5-e16. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302635.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James, S. (2010a). With Ban on H.I.V. Immigrants Now History, Relief and Revision. The New York Times, March 19: A. Published online as “With Ban on H.I.V. Immigrants Now History, Relief and Revision” on March 19, 2010, at https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/us/19sfmetro.html.

  • James, R. (2010b). Who gets prosecuted? A review of HIV transmission and exposure cases in Austria, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland. Poster presented at the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010), Vienna, Austria.

  • Jennings, W., Farrall, S., Gray, E., & Hay, C. (2017). Penal populism and the public thermostat: Crime, public punitiveness, and public policy. Governance, 30(3), 463–481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jürgens, R., Cohen, J., Cameron, E., Burris, S., Clayton, M., Elliott, E., Pearshouse, R., Gathumbi, A., & Cupido, D. (2009). Ten reasons to oppose the criminalization of HIV exposure or transmission. Reproductive Health Matters, 17(34), 163-172. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0968-8080(09)34462-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang, E., Rapkin, B.D., Springer, C., & Kim, J. H. (2003). The “demon plague” and access to care among Asian undocumented immigrants living with HIV disease in New York City. Journal of Immigrant Health 5(2), 49–58. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022999507903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kapiriri, L., Tharao, W., Muchenje, M., Masinde, K., & Ongoiba, F. (2016). ‘They should understand why’: The knowledge, attitudes and impact of HIV criminalisation law on a sample of HIV+ women living in Ontario. Global Public Health, 11(10), 1231-1245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kazatchkine, C., Bernard, E., & Eba, P. (2015). Ending overly broad HIV criminalization: Canadian scientists and clinicians stand for justice. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 18(1), 1-2. https://doi.org/10.7448/IAS.18.1.20126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kilty, J., Bogosavljevic, K. (2019). Emotional storytelling: Sensational media and the creation of the HIV sexual predator. Crime Media Culture, 15(2), 279-299. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741659018773813.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkup, K. (2014). Releasing stigma: Police, journalists and crimes of HIV non-disclosure. Ottawa Law Review, 46(1), 127-160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, A. (2009) Criminal law, public health, and governance of HIV exposure and transmission, The International Journal of Human Rights, 13(2-3), 251-278. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642980902758143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krebs, C. (2006). Inmate factors associated with HIV transmission in prison. Criminology & Public Policy, 5(1), 113–135. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9133.2006.00101.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lancaster, R. (2017). The new pariahs: sex, crime, and punishment in America. In Halperin, D., & Hoppe, T. (Eds.), The war on sex (pp. 65-125). Durham, NC: Duke University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanier, M. (2010). Epidemiological criminology (EpiCrim): definition and application. Journal of Philosophical and Theoretical Criminology, 2(1), 63-103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanier, M., Zaitzow, B., & Farrell, C. (2015). Epidemiological criminology: contextualization of HIV/AIDS health care for female inmates. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 21(2), 152–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larcher, A., & Symington, A. (2010). Criminal and victims? The impact of the criminalization of HIV nondisclosure on African, Caribbean, and Black communities in Ontario. Toronto, ON: African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazzarini, Z., Galletly, C., Mykhalovskiy, E., Harsono, D., O’Keefe, E., Singer, M., & Levine, R. (2013). Criminalization of HIV transmission and exposure: research and policy agenda. American Journal of Public Health, 103(8), 1350–1353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehman, J., Carr, M., Nichol, A., Ruisanchez, A., Knight, D., Langford, A., Gray, S., & Mermin, J. (2014). Prevalence and public health implications of state laws that criminalize potential HIV exposure in the United States. AIDS and Behavior, 18(6), 997–1006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemelle, A. J. (2003). Linking the structure of African American criminalization to the spread of HIV/AIDS. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 19(3), 270–292. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986203254526.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemert, E. (1972). Human deviance, social problems, and social control. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine, J. (2017). Sympathy for the devil: why progressives haven’t helped the sex offender, why they should, and how they can. In Halperin, D., & Hoppe, T. (Eds.), The war on sex (pp. 126-173). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Link, B. G., Struening, E., Cullen, F. T., Shrout, P., & Dohrenwend, B. P. (1989). A modified labeling theory approach to mental disorders: An empirical assessment. American Sociological Review, 54(3), 400-423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long, B. (1999). Is the segregation of HIV-positive inmates ethical?: No. Prison Journal, 79(1), 108–115. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885599079001009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loutfy, M., Tyndall, M., Baril, J. G., Montaner, J. S., Kaul, R., & Hankins, C. (2014). Canadian consensus statement on HIV and its transmission in the context of criminal law. Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology, 25(3), 135–140. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/498459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loyd, J., & Mountz, A. (2018). Boats, borders, and base: race, the Cold War, and the rise of migration detention in the United States. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lum, C., Koper, C. (2015). Evidence-based policing. In Dunham, R., & Alpert, G. (Eds.), Critical issues in policing: Contemporary readings, 7th edition (pp. 260–274). Long Grove, IL: Waveland.

  • Martin, T. (2014). Judging HIV criminalization: Failures of judges and commentators to engage with public health knowledge and HIV-positive perspectives. UC Irvine Law Review, 4(1), 493-522.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, S., O’Connell, D., Inciardi, J., & Beard, R. (2003). HIV/AIDS among probationers: an assessment of risk and results from a brief intervention. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 35(4), 435-443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, A. (2019). “Lock this whore up”: legal violence and flows of information precipitating personal violence against people criminalised for HIV-related crimes in Canada. European Journal of Risk Regulation, 10(1), 132-147. https://doi.org/10.1017/err.2019.20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, A., Guta, A., & Gagnon, M. (2019). The rise of molecular HIV surveillance: implications on consent and criminalization. Critical Public Health, 30(4), 487-493. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2019.1582755.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKay, F., Thomas, S., Holland, K., Blood, R., & Kneebone, S. (2011) “AIDS assassins”: Australian media's portrayal of HIV-positive refugees who deliberately infect others. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 9(1), 20-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2011.547824.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mingus, W., & Burchfield, K. (2012) From prison to integration: applying modified labeling theory to sex offenders. Criminal Justice Studies, 25(1), 97-109. https://doi.org/10.1080/1478601X.2012.657906.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell-Brody, M., & Ritchie, A. (2010). Hate violence against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities in the United States in 2009. New York: National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mogul, J., Ritchie, A., Whitlock, K. (2011). Queer (in)justice: The criminalization of LGBT people in the United States. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morse, D. L. (1990). The epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in the New York State correctional system. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 4(4), 319–329. https://doi.org/10.1177/088740349000400403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mykhalovskiy, E. (2011). The problem of “significant risk”: Exploring the public health impact of criminalizing HIV non-disclosure. Social Science & Medicine, 73(5), 668-675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.06.051.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mykhalovskiy, E. (2015). The public health implications of HIV criminalization: Past, current, and future research directions. Critical Public Health, 25(4), 373-385. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2015.1052731.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mykhalovskiy, E., Sanders, C., Hastings, C., & Bisaillon, L. (2020). Explicitly racialised and extraordinarily over-represented: Black immigrant men in 25 years of news reports on HIV non-disclosure criminal cases in Canada. Culture, Health & Sexuality. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2020.1733095.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Byrne, P., Willmore, J., Bryan, A., Friedman, D., Hendriks, A., Horvath, C., Massenat, D., Bouchard, C., Remis, R., & Etches, V. (2013). Nondisclosure prosecutions and population health outcomes: examining HIV testing, HIV diagnoses, and the attitudes of men who have sex with men following nondisclosure prosecution media releases in Ottawa, Canada. BMC Public Health, 13, 94. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-94.

  • O’Toole, E. (1995). HIV-specific crime legislation: targeting an epidemic for criminal prosecution. Journal of Law and Health, 10(1), 183-208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oser, C., Leukefeld, C., Cosentino-Boehm, A., & Havens, J. (2006a). Rural HIV: Brief interventions for felony probationers. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 31(1), 125-143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oser, C., Leukefeld, C., Staton Tindall, M., Havens, J., Webster, J., Smiley-McDonald, H., & Cosentino, A. (2006b). Male and female rural probationers: HIV risk behaviors and knowledge. AIDS Care, 18(4), 339-344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Page, K. R., Grieb, S. D., Nieves-Lugo, K., Yamanis, T., Taylor, H., Martinez, O., Yamasaki, Y., Limaye, R., Davis, W., Beyrer, C., & Zea, M. C. (2018). Enhanced immigration enforcement in the USA and the transnational continuity of HIV care for Latin American immigrants in deportation proceedings. The Lancet 5(10)[July 8], e597–e604. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-3018(18)30074-2

  • Payne, J. (2018). Criminal HIV transmission statutes and covert online investigations: due process analysis. Columbia Human Rights Law Review, 49(3), 324-372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perone, A. (2013). From punitive to proactive: an alternative approach for responding to HIV criminalization that departs from penalizing marginalized communities. Hastings Women’s Law Journal, 24(2), 363-406.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfaff, J. (2017). Locked in: The true causes of mass incarceration and how to achieve real reform. New York: Basic Books.

  • Phillips, N., & Chagnon, N. (2020). “Six months is a joke”: Carceral feminism and penal populism in the wake of the Stanford sexual assault case. Feminist Criminology, 15(1), 47-69. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085118789782.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickett, J. T. (2016). Reintegrative populism: public opinion and the criminology of downsizing. Criminology and Public Policy, 15(1), 131-136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Potter, R., & Akers, T. (2010). Improving the health of minority communities through probation-public health collaborations: an application of the epidemiological criminology framework. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 49(8), 695-609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reimer, N. (2013). A lamentable example of over-criminalization: HIV criminalization. The Champion, 37(December), 7. Retrieved on January 17, 2021, from https://www.hivlawandpolicy.org/sites/default/files/A%20LAMENTABLE%20EXAMPLE%20OF%20OVERCRIMINALIZATION%20HIV%20CRIMINALIZATION.pdf.

  • Reiter, K.A. (2018). Mass incarceration. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, S. D., Mann, L., Simán, F. M., Song, E., Alonzo, J., Downs, M., Lawlor, E., Martinez, O., Sun, C. J., O’Brien, M. C., Reboussin, B. A., & Hall, M. A. (2015). The impact of local immigration enforcement policies on the health of immigrant Hispanics/Latinos in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 105(2), 329–337. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinette, P. (1999). Is the segregation of HIV-positive inmates ethical?: Yes. Prison Journal, 79(1), 101–108. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885599079001008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothenberg, K., & Paskey, S. (1995). The risk of domestic violence and women with HIV infection: implications for partner notification, public policy, and the law. American Journal of Public Health, 85(11), 1569-1576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sherman, L. (2013). The rise of evidence-based policing: targeting, testing, and tracking. Crime and Justice, 42(1), 377-451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Small, W., Wood, E., Betteridge, G., Montaner, J., & Kerr, T. (2009). The impact of incarceration upon adherence to HIV treatment among HIV-positive injection drug users: a qualitative study. AIDS Care 21(6), 708-710.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speakman, E. (2019). ‘It takes two to tango’: HIV non-disclosure and the neutralization of victimhood. International Review of Victimology, 25(1), 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269758018798063.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sprague, L., & Strub, S. (2012). The Sero Project: national criminalization survey—preliminary results. The Sero Project, July 25. Retrieved on March 4, 2021, from https://toolkit.hivjusticeworldwide.org/resource/the-sero-project-national-criminalization-survey-preliminary-results-2.

  • Stephenson, B., Wolh, D., Golin, C., Tien, H., Stewart, P., & Kaplan, A. (2005). Effect of release from prison and re-incarceration on the viral loads of HIV-infected individuals. Public Health Reports, 120, 84–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoever, J. (2009). Stories absent from the courtroom: responding to domestic violence in the context of HIV and AIDS. North Carolina Law Review, 87(4), 1157-1229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sykes, B., & Vachon, P. (2013). Understanding health disparities in an age of mass imprisonment. In Akers, T., & Waltermaurer, E. (Eds.), Epidemiological criminology: Theory to practice (pp. 13-23). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sykes, B., Hoppe, T., & Maziarka, K. (2016). Cruel intentions? HIV prevalence and criminalization during an age of mass incarceration, U.S. 1999 to 2012. Medicine, 95(16), e3352. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000003352.

  • Taylor, C. (2018). Anti-carceral feminism and sexual assault—A defense: A critique of the critique of the critique of carceral feminism. Social Philosophy Today, 34, 29-49. https://doi.org/10.5840/socphiltoday201862656.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tibbetts, S. (2019). Criminological theory: The essentials. Third edition. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Timmermans, S., & Gabe, J. (2002). Introduction: connecting criminology and sociology of health and illness. Sociology of Health and Illness, 24(5), 501-516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomso, G. (2017). HIV monsters: gay men, criminal law, and the new political economy of HIV. In Halperin, D., & Hoppe, T. (Eds.), The war on sex (pp. 353–377). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ugwudike, P. (2015). An introduction to critical criminology. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Velez, C. (2013). The continued marginalization of people living with HIV/AIDS in U.S. immigration law. CUNY Law Review, 16(2), 221–242.

  • Venters, H., McNeely, J., & Keller, A. (2009). HIV screening and care for immigration detainees. Health and Human Rights, 11(2), 89–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Viens, A., Coggon, J., & Kessel A. (2013). Criminal law, philosophy, and public health practice. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Vlahov, D. (1990). HIV-1 infection in the correctional setting. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 4(4), 306–318. https://doi.org/10.1177/088740349000400402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vorenberg, J. (1976). Narrowing the discretion of criminal justice officials. Duke Law Journal, 1976(4)[September], 651–697.

  • Waegel, W. B. (1984). How police justify the use of deadly force. Social Problems, 32(2), 144–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waldman, A. (2014). Presumptive criminals: U.S. criminal law and HIV-related aggravated assaults. In Peterson, D., & Panfil, V. (Eds.), Handbook of LGBT communities, crime, and justice (pp. 363-386). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, J., Kreinert, J. (2013). The social interaction between crime, incarceration, sexual risk behavior, and community-level epidemiology. In Akers, T., & Waltermaurer, E. (Eds.), Epidemiological criminology: theory to practice (pp. 36-44). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weait, M. (2007). Intimacy and responsibility: The criminalisation of HIV transmission. Abingdon, Oxon. UK: Routledge-Cavendish.

  • Williams, D. (2013). Epidemiological criminology and penitentiary deviate sexual offense behaviors. In Akers, T., & Waltermaurer, E. (Eds.), Epidemiological criminology: theory to practice (pp. 176-182). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, C. (2013). The impact of the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure on the health and human rights of “black” communities. Health Tomorrow, 1, 109–143. https://ht.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/ht/article/view/37275/33847.

  • Wodak, A. (1992). Controlling HIV infection behind bars: questions, strategies and obstacles. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 4(1), 28–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.1992.12036549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, E., Kerr, T., Small, W., Jones, J., Schechter, M., & Tyndall, M. (2003). The impact of a police presence on access to needle exchange programs. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, 34(1), 116–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woods, J. (2014). Queer contestations and the future of a critical “queer” criminology. Critical Criminology: An International Journal, 22(1), 5-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-013-9222-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Worth, H., Patton, C., & McGehee, M. (2005). Legislating the pandemic: a global survey of HIV/AIDS in criminal law. Sexuality Research & Social Policy, 2(2), 15-22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yearwood, D. (1992). Law enforcement and AIDS: knowledge, attitudes, and fears in the workplace. American Journal of Police, 11(2), 65–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, L. (1997). Informal reactions and delinquency. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 24(1), 129–150. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854897024001008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Taija Miller, my research assistant, who performed a useful literature review on HIV criminalization. Special thanks also to the organizers of the conference “Centering the Margins: Addressing the Implementation of Critical Criminology” at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, MI, in April 2019, where I presented a version of this paper, as well as to the editor of this special issue and the reviewers of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    Andrew Novak

Authors
  1. Andrew Novak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew Novak.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Novak, A. Toward a Critical Criminology of HIV Criminalization. Crit Crim 29, 57–73 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-021-09557-1

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-021-09557-1

Search

Navigation