Kinchart-sociograms as a method for describing the social networks of drug-using women.

The overall increase in the rate of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among women in the United States has been attributed to increases in rates of infection in east coast, inner-city African-American and Latino communities where there are heavy concentrations of injection drug use and high levels of inner-city poverty (Landesman 1989; Chu et al. 1990). In New York City, almost 80 percent of pediatric cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are children of mothers who use drugs or are the sexual partners of men who use drugs (New York City Department of Health 1990).