The authors examined the substance abuse and high-risk behavior histories of a group of 80 newly incarcerated women in Texas prisons with histories of varying degrees of mental impairment. In addition, the study analyzed the risk-taking behavior of a subset of 29 of these women who reported histories of prostitution. The survey instrument consisted of six major areas: the prevalence of licit and illicit substance use, criminal history, physical and mental health, high-risk sexual behaviors, prior physical and sexual abuse, and demographics. The findings show that the majority of the 80 female inmates had histories of sustained use of alcohol and illicit drugs, recognized a current need for substance abuse and/or psychiatric treatment, and had recent histories of numerous high-risk behaviors for the transmission of AIDS. Yet their self-perception of chances of contracting HIV was low. The study's primary recommendation is that there be HIV/AIDS education programs in jail settings. Recommendations for such education are that it be delivered in multiple sessions over time, that it incorporate active learning techniques, that it teach skills to discriminate between risk levels of a wide range of situations, that it teach the hows and whys of HIV/AIDS risk situations/behaviors, and that it focus on topics appropriate for the needs of the target population. 6 tables and 23 references