Suicide in Prison 1980 to 1998: National Overview

• NCJ Number: 180471
• Author(s): Vicki Dalton
• Date Published: August 1999
• Length: 6 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No. 126

Annotation

This paper contains preliminary analysis of suicide in Australia’s prisons during the period 1980 to 1998.

Abstract

During the period 1980-98 a total of 787 people died in prison custody in Australia; 367 (46.6 percent) of those deaths were suicides. The annual number of deaths from all causes, and those resulting from suicide, increased over the period. During the period, Australia’s average daily prison population increased by 94 percent, from 9,746 to an average of 18,923. The number of prison deaths fluctuated from as few as 17 in 1986 to 75 in 1997. During the entire period there was a 127 percent increase in the total number of deaths (from 30 in 1980 to 68 in 1998). The pattern for suicide deaths specifically was more pronounced, with a 240 percent increase in the number of suicides from 1980 (n=10) to the highest figures recorded in 1997 and 1998 (n=23). During the entire period the rate of suicide in the community increased by approximately 38.5 percent, while the suicide death rate in prison increased by approximately 75 percent. Tables, figures, references