NCJ Number
88359
Journal
Revue penitentiaire et de droit penal Volume: 106 Issue: 4 Dated: (October-December 1982) Pages: 387-393
Date Published
1982
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Suicide incidence in French prisons for the period 1975-1978 showed a rate of 14.2 per 10,000 and far exceeded rates recorded prior to the 1970's.
Abstract
The high point was 1975, with 47 suicides, constituting a 16.9 rate. Following a slight decline in the interim years, partial data for 1981 showed a rate of 17.1 already in the first quarter. The 173 suicide victims between 1975 and 1978 were all male inmates; in the following 3 years, 5 female inmates committed suicide as well. Foreign inmates had an 18.4 suicide rate between 1975 and 1978. The rate according to age was 8.6 for those below 21 years old and 22.1 for those over age 50. Of the total suicides in the 3-year period, 113 were persons in pretrial detention; only 60 were inmates committed to prison sentences. Hanging and strangulation were the modes chosen in 87 percent of the cases. Data are also provided on the rates of attempted suicides, the resulting death rates, and the modes used in both failed and successful death attempts. Graphs and tabular data are provided.