NCJ Number
156044
Editor(s)
A Liebling,
T Ward
Date Published
1994
Length
256 pages
Annotation
A collection of papers provides a comprehensive and international overview of the nature and extent of inmate suicide, along with suggestions for successful management and prevention techniques.
Abstract
This edited collection of papers brings together selected contributions to an international conference held at Canterbury, England, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Institute for the Study and Treatment of Delinquency. The conference brought together academic experts, practitioners, and volunteer organizations from all over the world to develop a greater practical and theoretical understanding of deaths in custody. The papers are organized into the following themes: the nature and scope of the problem, prison suicides in context, and prevention and solutions. A number of the papers are concerned with a definition of the problem. They discuss such issues as how many deaths in custody are actually suicides, when an attempted suicide is genuine, and what should be considered an act of self- harm. These issues are important in framing the nature and scope of the problem of inmate suicide. Three lessons drawn from the research on both prison disorder and suicide are noted. First, the removal of "disruptive" inmates or the isolation of "suicidal" inmates seldom prevents the trouble that staff are trying to avoid; the despair of suicidal inmates is only intensified by isolation and overly restrictive regimes. A second lesson is that the regime experienced by the "mainstream" prison population must be the focal point of prevention strategies, since it is within mainstream situations that most disorder arises and most suicides occur. Third, the quality of life in prison depends largely on the nature of relationships between inmates and front-line correctional officers. The papers on prevention emphasize the importance of screening for suicidal inmates and action based on an awareness of the characteristics of inmates prone to suicide. Contact with familiar and supportive persons from both outside and within the correctional facility are emphasized as a means of providing an environment that will counter feelings of despair and hopelessness. 253 references, chapter notes, and a subject index