Preventing Suicide in Prisons, Part I
Recommendations from the International Association for Suicide Prevention Task Force on Suicide in Prisons
Norbert Konrad 1 , Marc S. Daigle 2 , Anasseril E. Daniel 3 , Greg E. Dear 4 , Patrick Frottier 5 , Lindsay M. Hayes 6 , Ad Kerkhof 7 , Alison Liebling 8 , and Marco Sarchiapone 9
1
Institute of Forensic Psychiatry Charité, Berlin, Germany,
2University of Québec at Trois-Rivières and Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide and Euthanasia (CRISE), Canada,
3University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO, USA,
4Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia,
5J.A.
Mittersteig, Vienna, Austria,
6National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, Mansfield, MA, USA,
7
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands,
8Cambridge Institute of Criminology, Cambridge, UK,
9
University of Molise, Campobasso, Italy
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.
Keywords: prison, suicide, prevention, inmate, suicide attempt
In 2000 the Department of Mental Health of the World Health Organization (WHO) published a guide named Pre- venting Suicide. A Resource for Prison Officers as part of the WHO worldwide initiative for the prevention of sui- cide. This paper presents an update of the WHO guide by the new Task Force on Suicide in Prisons, created by the International Association for Suicide Prevention.
Suicide is often the single most common cause of death in correctional settings. Jails, prisons, and penitentiaries are responsible for protecting the health and safety of their in- mate populations, and the failure to do so can be open to legal challenge. Further fueled by media interest, a suicide in a correctional facility can easily escalate into a political scandal. Moreover, suicidal behavior by custodial inmates means a stressful event for officers and for other prisoners.
Therefore, the provision of adequate suicide prevention and intervention services is both beneficial to the prisoners in custody, as well as to the institution in which the services are offered.
Correctional settings differ with respect to inmate pop-
ulations and local conditions: short-term detainees, pretrial offenders, sentenced prisoners, harsh sentencing practices, overcrowding (Huey & McNulty, 2005), possibility of purposeful activity (Leese, Thomas, & Snow, 2006), time spent locked up, sanitation, broad sociocultural conditions, prevalence of HIV/AIDS, levels of stress (Liebling, 2006), and access to basic health or mental health services. Each of these factors may influence suicide rates in different ways.
Inmates Are a High-Risk Group
As a group, inmates have higher suicide rates than their community counterparts (Snow, Paton, Oram, & Teers, 2002), and there is some evidence that rates are increasing despite sometimes decreasing numbers of prisoners (Fruehwald & Frottier, 2005). There is not just more sui- cidality within the institutions but more people who are
© 2007 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers Crisis 2007; Vol. 28(3):113–121