[Deprivation versus importation: a model explaining the increase of suicide rates in custody]

High suicide rates in jail, lock-up or prison settings have given rise to a debate about whether suicides result chiefly from the type of people confined, or from the types of places they are confined in, the types of confinement. This is summarily framed by the terms of an associated debate in criminology, between importation and deprivation theory. This paper describes the importation versus deprivation theory, concerning the circumstances in Austrian prisons and jails. The article reports on all completed suicides over the period from 1947 to 1999 (n = 410). The increase of suicide rates in Austrian jails and prisons is significant over the last fifty years. While the rate was stable between 1947 and 1975, we have a significantly increasing rate since 1975. In 1975 there was an important legislational reform of the criminal law in Austria. The implications of this reform are discussed in the light of the importation/deprivation theory.