Homosexual activity, one means of transmitting the HIV virus, is limited for many inmates to the institutional setting and occurs overwhelmingly between consenting men. Incidents of interpersonal violence (including rape and fights involving lacerations, bites, and bleeding in two or more participants) present varying risks for HIV transmission. Intravenous drug users share syringes in prisons and jails because these items are scarce. This poses another risk for HIV transmission in correctional institutions. Tattooing is a widely practiced prison activity that is usually performed without fresh or sterile instruments, presenting still another risk for HIV infection. In prison, as in the community, education is the only means of overcoming the fear and hysteria produced by AIDS. In the United States and worldwide, some prison systems perform mandatory screening of all inmates for HIV antibody and then segregate seropositives to prevent viral transmission in the institution. However, the issuing of condoms and sterile syringes to inmates is not a generally accepted practice. 9 references.