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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:23 am
Time: 12:23 am
Results for inmate suicide
3 results foundAuthor: Power, Jenelle Title: A Comparative Review of Suicide and Self-Injury Investigative Reports in a Canadian Federal Correctional Population Summary: The present investigation focuses the national investigation reports for all 80 male and 6 female offenders who were the subjects of national investigations for incidents of self-injury (including suicide attempts) or suicide while under the supervision of the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) between fiscal years 2003-2004 and 2007-2008. The offenders included were the subjects of investigations by the Investigations Branch of the CSC and were residing in CSC’s institutions or in the community during the incident. The study examines the cases of twenty offenders who were involved in incidents of self-injury and sixty-six cases of offenders who died by suicide. Eleven of the offenders who engaged in self-injury were involved in multiple self-injurious incidents that occurred in close temporal proximity and resulting in 51 self-injury events included in the study. The proportion of Aboriginal offenders in the population was comparable to the proportion in the overall federal offender population. The offenders in the suicide group appeared to be more likely to have longer sentences and more violent histories than those in the self-injury group. The proportion of the self-injury events that occurred in the Prairie and Quebec regions was low relative to the proportion of CSC’s population in these regions while the proportion of self-injury events that occurred in the Atlantic and Pacific regions was higher. Ligature use was by far the most common method used by offenders who died by suicide. In cases of self-injury, the most common method used was also ligature, followed by cutting. SIB was most likely to occur in segregation while suicide was most likely to occur in cells in the general population. In the majority of incidents of suicide and self-injury, there were precipitating events that could be identified in retrospect. However, these precipitating events were often not interpreted as significant events at the time and were usually events that are not uncommon among the offender population. The majority of offenders in both groups had a history of depression and/or hopelessness as well as self-injury. About one-third of the suicide group had family members or friends who had died by suicide. Offenders in the self-injury group were significantly more likely to have concurrent psychological disorders than those in the suicide group. Suicide and self-injury were more likely to occur on the weekends than during the week. Self-injury was more likely to occur in the evenings and during the winter months. Further research on self-injurious behaviour and suicide in federally sentenced offenders is required. Research taking place in the Research Branch will examine environmental and psychological factors associated with these behaviours in offenders. Details: Ottawa: Correctional Service of Canada, 2010. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report 2010 No. R-221: Accessed March 29, 2011 at: http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/rsrch/reports/r221/r221-eng.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Canada URL: http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/rsrch/reports/r221/r221-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 121203 Keywords: Inmate SuicideMental Health CareSelf-HarmSelf-Injury, Inmates (Canada) |
Author: Gordon, Arthur Title: Self-Injury Incidents in CSC Institutions Over a Thirty-Month Period Summary: Between April 1, 2006, and September 30, 2008, 1,230 self-injury incidents were reported in the Offender Management System (OMS), a national database that contains information on all federal offenders, and/or in the Situation Reports (SITREP), which are daily reports designed to keep senior managers abreast of significant incidents across CSC. Descriptions of the incidents based on these sources were examined. The following are the main findings: • The number of self-injury incidents across Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) that were reported increased by 73% during the 30-month study period from 197 incidents (between April and September, 2006) to 341 incidents (April – September 2008). The pattern of change is similar whether the data are based on SITREP alone or the more complete dataset (OMS-SITREP) used in this study. The data do not, however, determine what factors drove this increase. The number of self harming incidents may be due to an actual increase in self injurious behaviour related possibly related to a changing offender profile, or to greater staff awareness and changes to reporting standards that occurred within CSC during this time period, or, indeed, other factors. • Women offenders were proportionately more likely than male offenders to engage in self-injurious behaviours. Women were more likely than men to self-injure more than once. • The number of self-injury incidents among Aboriginal offenders was greater than would be expected based on their population in the institutions. • The five treatment centres and the maximum/multi-security institutions had the most self-injury incidents, the most offenders who self-injured, and the most offenders who self-injured repeatedly. • Male offenders tended to self-injure by slashing or overdosing, while women offenders showed higher use of ligatures or head-banging. • Ninety percent of self-injury incidents resulted in no or minor injury to the offender. • Sixty-seven percent of offenders self-injured only once during the study period. While a similar percentage of men and women offenders engaged in self-injury more than once, women who repeatedly self-injured had more such incidents than did men. • Twenty-six of the 1,230 self-injury incidents resulted in death. However, 77% of the inmates who died had no previous documented incidents of self-injury during their incarceration suggesting that self-injury appears to be a distinct phenomenon that should be studied independently of attempted suicide. • Based on the results of this report, it can be concluded that data extraction through OMS queries is not sufficient to provide an accurate measure of self-injurious incidents due largely to variability in how such incidents are coded in OMS. Creating a field in OMS that would indicate whether an incident involved self-injury would provide a more efficient and reliable measure of self-injury. In addition, future research should focus on the psychological and behavioural characteristics of self-injuring offenders to better inform prevention, management and treatment options. Details: Ottawa: Correctional Service of Canada, 2010. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report 2010 Nº R-233: Accessed April 16, 2012 at: http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/rsrch/reports/r233/r233-eng.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Canada URL: http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/rsrch/reports/r233/r233-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 124980 Keywords: Inmate SuicideMental Health CareSelf-HarmSelf-Injury, Inmates (Canada) |
Author: INQUEST Title: Stolen Lives and Missed Opportunities: the deaths of young adults and children in prison Summary: Between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2014, 65 young adults and children died in prison whilst in the care of the state. Of this number, 62 were young adults aged 18-24 years and three were children under 18 (one 15 year old and two 17 year olds). This report analyses the deaths drawing upon the evidence-base accumulated through INQUEST's specialist casework with bereaved families and associated policy work over the last 30 years. It supports the work of the Transition to Adulthood (T2A) programme, which, like this report, is funded by the Barrow Cadbury Trust. Moreover this report supports the independent review into self-inflicted deaths in National Offender Management Service custody of 18-24 year olds. The independent inquiry is chaired by Lord Harris and seeks to make recommendations which will reduce the risk of future self-inflicted deaths in custody. As with earlier INQUEST reports on youth custody, it exposes a litany of systemic neglect, institutional complacency and shortsighted policies which have contributed to the deaths of children and young adults. Our analysis is situated within a contextual frame which argues that understanding deaths in prison requires examining their broader social, political and economic context. It builds upon arguments developed in 2005 by Goldson and Coles and in a range of other publications. First, the number of deaths is high because prison is overused as the societal solution to a range of social problems that need to be addressed elsewhere. Second, there are so many deaths in prison because prison is by its very nature, dehumanising and violent. The limits to which they can be changed or reformed means that prison as currently constructed will continue to be a place where people lose their lives. This report argues for a fundamental rethink about the use of prison for children and young adults that requires political boldness and a more steadfast willingness to implement evidence-based change. Recent attention has been focused on the prison system following concerns expressed about the rising number of prison deaths, staff cuts and the implications of regime change. The vulnerabilities of young prisoners have been well documented, yet they continue to be sent to unsafe environments, with scarce resources and staff untrained to deal with, and respond humanely to, their particular and complex needs. At a practice level, establishments do not seem to have learned lessons from previous deaths in prisons; too many deaths occur because the same mistakes are made time and again. This in turn raises questions about the adequacy of the investigation, inspection and monitoring systems and process of accountability for institutions linked to the state. In the light of these concerns, this report considers the implications and reasons behind the prison deaths of children and young adults since 2011, stressing the need for new thinking and new strategies if such deaths are to be avoided in the future. Details: London: INQUEST and Barrow Cadbury Trust, 2015. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 9, 2015 at: http://www.barrowcadbury.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Inquest-Report_finalversion_Online.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.barrowcadbury.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Inquest-Report_finalversion_Online.pdf Shelf Number: 134757 Keywords: Deaths in Custody (U.K.)Inmate SuicideJuvenile DetentionJuvenile Inmates |