NCJ Number
226911
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 54 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2009 Pages: 692-698
Date Published
May 2009
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study identified risk factors for self-injurious behavior (SIB) among a sample of male prisoners with (n=132) and without (n=132) histories of engaging in SIB.
Abstract
The findings suggest a risk model for SIB prisoners that address factors related to developmental experiences, mental health, offense history, and institutional functioning. Under such a model, SIB prisoners would likely have experienced abuse/neglect in childhood, impairment of the central nervous system, and a relative lack of formal education. These factors have resulted in a predisposition to mood disorder, borderline character pathology, and attendant problems, as well as the development of dangerous behaviors, notably suicide attempts and assault behavior. All of these factors may contribute to poor coping and instability in the prison setting. These results will require replication in a new and preferably larger sample before incorporation in a prisoner SIB risk assessment instrument. The outcome for this study was whether the prisoner had ever engaged in SIB as specified by specific self-injurious behaviors on at least two occasions within any 12-month period during the current prison term. Independent variables pertained to developmental experiences, mental health, legal/offense histories, and institutional functioning. Bivariate and penalized maximum likelihood conditional logistic regression (CLR, 74-76) analyses were performed, using version 2.7.0 of R Foundation for Statistical Computing (2008) in order to examine the relationship between risk factors and prisoner SIB. Overall correctness of classification and rates of sensitivity, specificity, false positives, and false negatives were examined with classification tables. 2 tables and 82 references