NCJ Number
131121
Date Published
1990
Length
85 pages
Annotation
The report analyzes suicide statistics and suicide prevention practices in Quebec prisons and makes suggestions for improvements.
Abstract
Statistics show that the suicide problem among Quebec inmates is considerable: 26.19 suicides for each 100,000 admitted prisoners in 1988 as opposed to only 16.91 for the population at large. Unmarried male inmates between the ages of 18 and 35 are especially prone to take their own lives. Telephone conversations with 23 Quebec prisons indicated that 14 institutions have initiated steps to make all their employees aware of the problem, another 3 had trained some of their personnel, whereas 6 institutions had made no prevention efforts. The most frequent preventive steps taken were early recognition of potential suicides during admission procedures, surveillance of at-risk inmates, and training of special teams to intervene in suicide emergencies. A study of prison documents dealing with suicide indicated adequate preparation for intervening in emergencies. Nevertheless, the article suggests the need for a comprehensive suicide prevention program including both the use of human intervention and electronic surveillance.