Does Overcrowding in Prisons Exacerbate the Risk of Suicide among Women Prisoners?

Abstract

This article reveals the main contributory factors to suicide among female prisoners and shows that overcrowding is a factor exacerbating the risk of suicide. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten female prisoners in one closed prison in 2007. They focused on incidents of self-harm and attempted suicide revealing the negative impact of the prison experience and, in particular, the effect of overcrowding. There are few studies looking at the link between overcrowding and suicide. This study highlights the need to explore this link especially at a time when overcrowding and suicide in prisons are high.

Privacy in penal space: Women’s imprisonment in Russia

“…Firstly, the tension between the employment rights of prison personnel to work with prisoners regardless of their gender, and the privacy rights of prisoners not to be physically examined by an officer of the opposite sex; a tension which has been instrumental in limiting the implementation of complete cross-gender or gender-neutral employment policies (Jurado 1998, Miller 1999, Ingram 2000. Secondly, in relation to prison overcrowding, single-cell or small unit accommodation is seen as a way to reduce the noise, constant activity and violations of personal space which can increase the likelihood of disorder and violence (Schaeffer et al 1988, Grant & Memmott 2007, Sharkey 2010).…”

British Columbia Provincial Corrections’ Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Correctional Policy and Practice

“…Increased custodial counts will not only challenge the Service's ability to continue utilizing their current response to COVID-19 (BC Corrections, 2020a), but also, such increases could potentially result in a return to pre-COVID numbers of inmate-oninmate, inmate-on-staff, and use of force incidents. Extant literature identifies a plethora of negative effects for incarcerated populations living in, and personnel working within, overcrowded institutions, such as increasing tension and conflict between prisoners and between prisoners and staff, impeding rehabilitative, recreational, vocational, and educational programming, and contributing to an increase in illness, such as the spread of infectious and communicable diseases (Simpson et al, 2019), self-harm, and suicide among prisoners (Haney, 2006; Office of the Auditor General of BC, 2015; Pitts et al, 2014;Sharkey, 2010).…”

Investigação psicológica em contexto prisional português: uma revisão sistemática da literatura e desafios futuros para a investigação

“…Desse modo, o estudo nesta população de temas como o balanço e conflito trabalho-família (Lambert, Hogan, & Barton, 2002;Tavares, Caetano, & Silva, 2007;Triplett, Mullings, & Scarborough, 1999), os riscos psicossociais (Ghaddar, Ronda, Nolasco, Álvares, & Mateo, 2011;Ghaddar, Ronda, & Nolasco, 2011) e as condições físicas do estabelecimento prisional (Bierie, 2012) ganham uma importância acrescida, considerando os níveis de burnout identificados em investigação anterior (Gonçalo et al, 2010;Mendes et al, 2014) e o risco de suicídio destes profissionais (Stack & Tsoudis, 1997). Outras temáticas como a sobrelotação (Lawrence & Andrews, 2004;Martin, Lichtenstein, Jenkot, & Forde, 2012;Sharkey, 2010) e a qualidade de vida em contexto prisional (Crewe, Liebling, & Hulley, 2011;Liebling, 2008) carecem ainda de investigação em contexto português. Também a sexualidade humana em geral, e a saúde sexual em particular, se apresentam como importantes tópicos a explorar futuramente.…”