Assessing the impact of demographic, experiential, and attitudinal factors on support for the criminalization of HIV transmission

Abstract

Over the years criminal prosecutions regarding HIV transmission have increased in Canada. There is ongoing debate within the academic and legal community regarding whether reactive, criminal justice measures or preventative, harm reduction measures are best suited to address HIV transmission. Using an on-line survey and multiple logistical regression analyses on six vignettes on 316 undergraduate students from mostly 18-26 years of age, this research assessed student attitudes towards the criminal law as a response to HIV transmission against demographic, experiential and attitudinal predictors. The findings indicated that the majority of participants were in favour of the criminalization of HIV transmission. The policy implications that come from this study imply that there is a need to educate young people about HIV related issues and the harm criminal justice responses cause to HIV prevention efforts.