NCJ Number
132764
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 14 Issue: 8 Dated: (November 1989) Pages: 1,5-9
Date Published
1989
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Prisoner suicide is the leading cause of death in jails and lockups, but experts say it is almost totally preventable.
Abstract
More than 400 people each year kill themselves in jails and detention centers, according to official reports. Experts believe three or four times more suicides occur, but are labeled something else. Even at the reported figure, the suicide rate in local correctional facilities is nine times the rate in the general population. A study of 339 suicides in 1986 found that most jail inmates who committed suicide were male, the average age was 30, 72 percent were white, just over half were single, most were detained on nonviolent charges, and 89 percent were not screened for potentially suicidal behavior at the time of booking. The study also found that 94 percent of the suicides were by hanging; 48 percent used their bedding, and 51 percent occurred within the first 24 hours of incarceration. According to some correctional officials, suicide prevention is best accomplished through positive interaction between trained correctional staff and inmates. Correctional officers need to be aware of the following influences on prisoners that may cause hopeless, suicidal behavior: loss of control, strange environment, confinement with people who are not ordinary, strange noises and odors, militaristic setting, separation from friends and relatives, and shame. Several successful training programs for correctional staff are described, and the costs of litigation that sometimes results from a prisoner suicide are discussed.