“Brother to Brother” is a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research study designed to test the efficacy of theory-based, culturally and contextually competent, and gender-specific behavioral interventions to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV among African American young men between the ages of 18 to 25. The design of the study is a cluster randomized controlled trial. The barbershops will be randomly assigned to one of two brief structurally similar small-group interventions led by a male barber facilitator: a 3-hour HIV/STD Risk-Reduction Intervention or a 3-hour violence prevention intervention that will serve as the control condition. 48 barbershops will be selected from across the city of Philadelphia located in zip codes that reflect the highest incidence of AIDS. The primary outcome measures are self-reported frequency of sexual intercourse, unprotected sexual intercourse, and condom use.  This study will provide an urgently needed intervention to reduce the risk of HIV and other STIs in one of the highest risk populations in the United States.