Psychosocial Characteristics and Social Networks of Suicidal Prisoners: Towards a Model of Suicidal Behaviour in Detention

Abstract

Prisoners are at increased risk of suicide. Investigation of both individual and environmental risk factors may assist in developing suicide prevention policies for prisoners and other high-risk populations. We conducted a matched case-control interview study with 60 male prisoners who had made near-lethal suicide attempts in prison (cases) and 60 male prisoners who had not (controls). We compared levels of depression, hopelessness, self-esteem, impulsivity, aggression, hostility, childhood abuse, life events (including events occurring in prison), social support, and social networks in univariate and multivariate models. A range of psychosocial factors was associated with near-lethal self-harm in prisoners. Compared with controls, cases reported higher levels of depression, hopelessness, impulsivity, and aggression, and lower levels of self-esteem and social support (all p values <0.001). Adverse life events and criminal history factors were also associated with near-lethal self-harm, especially having a prior prison spell and having been bullied in prison, both of which remained significant in multivariate analyses. The findings support a model of suicidal behaviour in prisoners that incorporates imported vulnerability factors, clinical factors, and prison experiences, and underscores their interaction. Strategies to reduce self-harm and suicide in prisoners should include attention to such factors.

The moderating effects of coping and self-esteem on the relationship between defeat, entrapment and suicidality in a sample of prisoners at high risk of suicide

“…This finding is in accord with previous literature sampling populations across countries, communities, and psychiatric settings [3,8,23,26,37]. Two further studies, found that low levels of self-esteem were associated with suicidality in male [41], and female prisoners [50]. In the current study, the relationship between low self-esteem and suicidality was driven by the hopelessness component of the suicidality measure, but not the hostility, suicidal ideation, or negative evaluation components.…”

“…In addition, aspects of the prison environment may intensify suicidality. For example, being incarcerated can lead to fear, a lack of agency, a lack of trust [29], and social isolation [41]. Occupying a single cell has been associated with suicide deaths in prisoners [16].…”

Doing your own time: Peer integration, aggression and mental health in Dutch male detainment facilities

“…Overall, these findings do not support control theory expectations: Detainees with weak peer bonds were not at increased risk of peer aggression. Our study thus adds to a small body of literature that finds social integration within correctional settings may not operate in the same way it does in the general population, and may actually contribute to adverse mental health outcomes (Lindquist, 2000; Rivlin, Hawton, Marzano, & Fazel, 2013). …”

Realizing the Potential of Mobile Mental Health: New Methods for New Data in Psychiatry

“…Social networks have been used in the past few years to study the relationship between social contagion and a range of outcomes such as obesity, smoking, and happiness [38]. Although isolating causal mechanisms in these types of observational studies is challenging [39], it has been demonstrated that some of the results on social contagion are robust to certain types of confounding [40]. Social networks can also improve understanding of mental illness in controlled prospective settings such as the likelihood of suicide in prisoners [39].…”