Prevention of Suicidal Behavior in Prisons

Area of Science:

• Forensic Psychiatry
• Criminology
• Public Health

Background:

• Incarcerated populations exhibit elevated suicide rates globally.
• Understanding near-lethal suicide attempts is crucial for effective prison suicide prevention.
• Research on self-harm in prisons informs risk and protective factor identification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review research on near-lethal suicide attempts within prison settings.
• To analyze implications for suicide prevention policies and practices in correctional facilities.
• To contextualize findings within broader research on self-harm in custody and the general population.

Main Methods:

• Conducted comprehensive searches of bibliographic indexes for studies on near-lethal and severe self-harm in prisoners.
• Supplemented searches with targeted investigations from 2000-2014.
• Descriptively extracted data on identified risk factors; meta-analysis was precluded by sample and methodological heterogeneity.

Main Results:

• Eight studies identified associations between near-lethal attempts and specific risk factors in prisoners.
• Key factors included psychiatric morbidity, comorbidity, trauma, social isolation, and bullying.
• Prisoners' personal accounts corroborated these findings, highlighting contributing elements to their attempts.

Conclusions:

• Prisoner suicide attempts are linked to modifiable clinical, psychosocial, and environmental factors.
• Recommendations are proposed to enhance the detection, management, and prevention of suicide risk.
• Addressing identified factors can improve overall suicide prevention efforts within correctional systems.