Abstract
Suicide in prisons is a serious international public health problem. Suicide remains one of the most common causes of death in detention centers in many countries with suicide rates that are much higher than those of the general population. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the possible root causes and risk factors associated with prison suicide. Most epidemiological studies suggest that suicide commonly results from the cumulative effect of numerous biopsychosocial factors.
Some of the risk factors are already present in the prisoners prior to their imprisonment and are then “imported” into prison, making the prisoners a particularly vulnerable population. The presence of a psychiatric disorder is one of the most common. Moreover, there are other highly stressful factors that are specifically related to detention. An additional factor is the fact that prisons are often left out of community mental health programs.
To cope with this serious public health problem, there are several prevention strategies reported in literature that need to be examined. These include: training of prison staff, prisoners’ screening and observation, communication between staff members, creation of a positive prison environment, adequate connections with mental health services, and debriefing in case of suicide occurrence.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
World Health Organization. Preventing suicide in jails and prisons. 2007.
Favril L, Indig D, Gear C, Wilhelm K. Mental disorders and risk of suicide attempt in prisoners. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2020;55(9):1145–1155.
Fazel S, Grann M, Kling B, Hawton K. Prison suicide in 12 countries: an ecological study of 861 suicides during 2003–2007. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2011;46(3):191–5.
Fazel S, Benning R, Danesh J. Suicides in male prisoners in England and Wales, 1978–2003. Lancet. 2005;366:1301–2.
Fazel S, Benning R. Suicides in female prisoners in England and Wales, 1978–2004. Br J Psychiatry. 2009;194:183–4.
Fazel S, Ramesh T, Hawton K. Suicide in prisons: an international study of prevalence and contributory factors. Lancet Psychiatry. 2017;4(12):946–52.
Turecki G, Brent DA. Suicide and suicidal behaviour. Lancet. 2016;387(10024):1227–39.
Franklin JC, Ribeiro JD, Fox KR, Bentley KH, Kleiman EM, Huang X, et al. Risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors: a meta-analysis of 50 years of research. Psychol Bull. 2017;143(2):187–232.
Fazel S, Runeson B. Suicide. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(3):266–74.
Mann JJ. Neurobiology of suicidal behaviour. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2003;4(10):819–28.
Gates ML, Turney A, Ferguson E, Walker V, Staples-Horne M. Associations among substance use, mental health disorders, and self-harm in a prison population: examining group risk for suicide attempt. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017;14(3):pii: E317.
Rivlin A, Hawton K, Marzano L, Fazel S. Psychiatric disorders in male prisoners who made near-lethal suicide attempts: case-control study. Br J Psychiatry. 2010 Oct;197(4):313–9.
Sarchiapone M, Carli V, Giannantonio MD, Roy A. Risk factors for attempting suicide in prisoners. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2009;39(3):343–50.
Fazel S, Cartwright J, Norman-Nott A, Hawton K. Suicide in prisoners: a systematic review of risk factors. J Clin Psychiatry. 2008;69(11):1721–31.
Rivlin A, Hawton K, Marzano L, Fazel S. Psychosocial characteristics and social networks of suicidal prisoners: towards a model of suicidal behaviour in detention. PLoS One. 2013;8(7):e68944.
Fazel S, Danesh J. Serious mental disorder in 23000 prisoners: a systematic review of 62 surveys. Lancet. 2002;359(9306):545–50.
Marzano L, Hawton K, Rivlin A, Smith EN, Piper M, Fazel S. Prevention of suicidal behavior in prisons. Crisis. 2016;37(5):323–34. Epub 2016 June 9.
Pompili M, Lester D, Innamorati M, Del Casale A, Girardi P, Ferracuti S, Tatarelli R. Preventing suicide in jails and prisons: suggestions from experience with psychiatric inpatients. J Forensic Sci. 2009;54(5):1155–62.
Lohner J, Konrad N. Deliberate self-harm and suicide attempt in custody: distinguishing features in male inmates’ self-injurious behavior. Int J Law Psychiatry. 2006;29(5):370–85.
Marzano L, Hawton K, Rivlin A, Fazel S. Psychosocial influences on prisoner suicide: a case-control study of near-lethal self-harm in women prisoners. Soc Sci Med. 2011;72(6):874–83.
Favril L, O’Connor RC, Hawton K, Vander LF. Factors associated with the transition from suicidal ideation to suicide attempt in prison. Eur Psychiatry. 2020;63(1):e101.
Favril L, Yu R, Hawton K, Fazel S. Risk factors for self-harm in prison: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020;7(8):682–91.
Angelakis I, Austin JL, Gooding P. Childhood maltreatment and suicide attempts in prisoners: a systematic meta-analytic review. Psychol Med. 2020;50(1):1–10.
Zhong S, Senior M, Yu R, Perry A, Hawton K, Shaw J, Fazel S. Risk factors for suicide in prisons: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Public Health. 2021;6(3):e164–74.
Hayes LM. Suicide prevention in correctional facilities: reflections and next steps. Int J Law Psychiatry. 2013;36(3–4):188–94.
Hayes LM. National study of jail suicide: 20 years later. J Correct Health Care. 2012;18(3):233–45.
Leese M, Thomas S, Snow L. An ecological study of factors associated with rates of self-inflicted death in prisons in England and Wales. Int J Law Psychiatry. 2006;29(5):355–60.
Jenkins R, Bhugra D, Meltzer H, Singleton N, Bebbington P, Brugha T, Coid J, Farrell M, Lewis G, Paton J. Psychiatric and social aspects of suicidal behaviour in prisons. Psychol Med. 2005;35(2):257–69.
Marcus P, Alcabes P. Characteristics of suicides by inmates in an urban jail. Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1993;44:256–61.
Frottier P, Fruehwald S, Ritter K, Eher R, Schwaerzler J, Bauer P. Jailhouse Blues revisited. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2002;37:68–73.
Bonner RL. Stressful segregation housing and psychosocial vulnerability in prison suicide ideators. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2006;36(2):250–4.
Gentile G, Nicolazzo M, Bianchi R, Bailo P, Boracchi M, Tambuzzi S, Zoja R. Mortality in prisons: the experience of the Bureau of Legal Medicine of Milan (Italy) (1993–2017): suicides and natural deaths in prison. Med Sci Law. 2021;61(1_suppl):67–76.
McKenzie N, Keane M. Contribution of imitative suicide to the suicide rate in prisons. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2007;37(5):538–42.
Mills JF, Kroner DG. Screening for suicide risk factors in prison inmates: evaluating the efficiency of the Depression, Hopelessness and Suicide Screening Form (DHS). Leg Criminol Psychol. 2005;10(1):1–12.
Hayes L. Suicide prevention on correctional facilities: an overview. In: Puisis M, editor. Clinical practice in correctional medicine. Philadelphia: Mosby-Elsevier; 2006. p. 317–28.
Liebling A, Arnold H. Prisons and their moral performance: a study of values, quality and prison life. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press; 2004.
Ireland J. Bullying among prisoners: evidence, research and intervention strategies. London: Brunner-Routledge; 2002.
Hall B, Gabor P. Peer suicide prevention in a prison. Crisis. 2004;25(1):19–26.
Junker G, Beeler A, Bates J. Using trained inmate observers for suicide watch in a federal correctional setting: a win-win solution. Psychol Serv. 2005;2:20–7.
Shaw J, Baker D, Hunt IM, Moloney A, Appleby L. Suicide by prisoners. National clinical survey. Br J Psychiatry. 2004;184:263–7.
Gunnell D, Bennewith O, Hawton K, Simkin S, Kapur N. The epidemiology and prevention of suicide by hanging: a systematic review. Int J Epidemiol. 2005;34(2):433–42. Epub 2005 Jan 19.
Marzano L, Fazel S, Rivlin A, Hawton K. Psychiatric disorders in women prisoners who have engaged in near-lethal self-harm: case-control study. Br J Psychiatry. 2010;197(3):219–26.
Fruehwald S, Frottier P, Matschnig T, Eher R. The relevance of suicidal behaviour in jail and prison suicides. Eur Psychiatry. 2003;18(4):161–5.
Barker E, Kõlves K, De Leo D. Management of suicidal and self-harming behaviors in prisons: systematic literature review of evidence-based activities. Arch Suicide Res. 2014;18(3):227–40.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Perugino, F., Turano, A., Lester, D. (2022). Suicide in Jails and Prisons. In: Pompili, M. (eds) Suicide Risk Assessment and Prevention. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41319-4_98-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41319-4_98-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-41319-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-41319-4
eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine