Preventing Suicide in Prisons, Part I

Abstract

In 2000 the Department of Mental Health of the World Health Organization (WHO) published a guide named Preventing Suicide. A Resource for Prison Officers as part of the WHO worldwide initiative for the prevention of suicide. In 2007 there are new epidemiological data on prison suicide, a more detailed discussion of risk factors accounting for the generally higher rate of suicide in correctional settings in comparison to the general population, and several strategies for developing screening instruments. As a first step, this paper presents an update of the WHO guide by the Task Force on Suicide in Prisons, created by the International Association for Suicide Prevention. A second paper, by the same Task Force, will present some international comparisons of suicide prevention services in correctional facilities.

Criminal social identity and suicide ideation among Pakistani young prisoners

“…Although the reason why substance abuse and suicide ideation were not significantly related is not clear, it may be that the high prevalence of problematic substance use among prisoners may mean that it is not a useful predictor of suicide ideation in this population. Also inconsistent with previous research, greater age was also unrelated to suicide ideation; however, this was not entirely unexpected given the limited age range of the present sample, and research indicating that those who attempt suicide in prison are generally between the ages of 30-35 years (Konrad, Daigle, & Daniel et al, 2007).…”

“…This is also not entirely unexpected given that offenders who attempt suicide have been found to do so after spending a considerably longer time in custody than they had been in the present research (often 4 or 5 years; Konrad et al, 2007).…”

“…Additionally, in light of prior research (Frottier, Fruehwald, & Ritter et al, 2002;Humber, Piper, Appleby, & Shaw, 2011;Konrad et al, 2007), it is predicted that substance dependence, greater age and period of confinement will be positively associated with suicide ideation. These hypotheses are tested within a sample of Pakistani juvenile offenders using data incorporated in a single structural model.…”

The predictive validity of the Depression Hopelessness Suicide screening form for self-harm among prisoners

“…While clinical interventions would be desirable to develop risk management plans for inmates reporting the items in models 2 through 7, this may not always be feasible. Interventions by adequately trained correctional officers and other nonmental health staff may be appropriate in this case (Daigle, 2007;Konrad et al, 2007).…”

“…Higher rates of self-harm have been reported among women, and individuals in pre-trial jails (Hawton et al, 2013). While preventing self-harm is complex given that there are multiple factors that interact to cause self-harm (Dear, 2008), there is a general consensus that screening at intake for risk of self-harm is a central component of a self-harm prevention strategy (Daigle, 2007;Federal-Provincial-Territorial Heads of Corrections Working Group in Mental Health, 2012;Konrad et al, 2007). There are often insufficient clinical resources to offer assessments for all inmates.…”