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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:18 am
Time: 12:18 am
Results for prison suicides
4 results foundAuthor: Howard League for Penal Reform Title: Preventing Prison Suicide Summary: Prisons need to change to enable staff to build relationships with prisoners and reduce the risk of suicide, according to research published jointly by the Howard League for Penal Reform and Centre for Mental Health. Preventing Prison Suicide: Perspectives from the inside focuses on the views and experiences of current and former prisoners about what contributes to vulnerability and what increases or reduces their risk of suicide. It is one of a series of briefing papers by the two charities. It finds that relationships between staff and prisoners are key. Prisoners need to feel supported, cared for and able to confide in and trust staff. Prisoners reported that staff shortages, inexperience and lack of training can all increase the risk of suicide. Prisoners described a culture where distress was often not believed or responded to with compassion. Arrival, being released and being transferred were all cited as times when prisoners felt most vulnerable. Details: London: The Howard League, 2016. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 22, 2017 at: http://howardleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Preventing-prison-suicide.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://howardleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Preventing-prison-suicide.pdf Shelf Number: 141187 Keywords: Mental HealthPrison SuicidesSuicides |
Author: New Zealand. Office of the Ombudsman Title: A question of restraint - Care and management for prisoners considered to be at risk of suicide and self-harm Summary: New Zealand signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) in September 2003 and ratified OPCAT in March 2007. The objective of OPCAT is to establish a system of regular visits by international and national bodies to places of detention in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. OPCAT is incorporated into New Zealand law through the Crimes of Torture Act 1989 (COTA). The Ombudsman was designated a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) in respect of: - prisons; - premises approved or agreed under the Immigration Act 1987; and - health and disability places of detention. Unlike other human rights treaty processes that deal with violations of rights after the fact, OPCAT is primarily concerned with preventing violations. Our visits are carried out with a view to strengthening protections against ill treatment and improving conditions of detention, taking into account international human rights standards. This preventive approach aims to ensure that sufficient safeguards against ill treatment are in place and that any risks, poor practices or systemic problems are identified and addressed. Each place of detention we visit contains a wide variety of people, often with complex and competing needs. Some detainees are difficult to deal with - demanding and vulnerable - others are more engaging and constructive. All have to be managed within a framework that is consistent and fair to all. While we appreciate the complexity of running such facilities and caring for detainees, our obligation is to ensure that appropriate standards are maintained in the facilities, and to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. By their very nature, prisons house difficult to manage, sometimes dangerous and often vulnerable prisoners who can push boundaries and challenge the system. In coercive establishments such as prisons, there is a danger that security is over-emphasised to the detriment of the dignity of prisoners. This year we found examples where order and security prevailed too easily over dignity and fairness; specifically, the care and treatment of adult prisoners considered to be at risk of suicide and self-harm. This report highlights our observations and findings over the reporting period July 2015 - June 2016 and focuses on the comprehensive inspections of five prison sites: Arohata Women's Prison, Manawatu Prison, Rolleston Prison, Invercargill Prison and Otago Corrections Facility. Additional visits to Auckland Prison, Auckland Regional Women's Corrections Facility, Auckland South Corrections Facility (managed by SERCO), Christchurch Men's Prison and Rimutaka Prison are also referred to in the body of the report and help inform the overall findings in this report. Details: Wellington, NZ: Office of the Ombudsman, 2017. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 4, 2017 at: http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/system/paperclip/document_files/document_files/1905/original/a_question_of_restraint_march_2017.pdf?1493174263 Year: 2017 Country: New Zealand URL: http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/system/paperclip/document_files/document_files/1905/original/a_question_of_restraint_march_2017.pdf?1493174263 Shelf Number: 145304 Keywords: Health CarePrison SuicidesPrisoner RestraintSelf-HarmSuicide |
Author: INQUEST Title: Still Dying on the Inside: Examining deaths in women's prisons Summary: Emily Hartley, aged 21, was the youngest of 22 women to die in prison in 2016, the year that saw the highest annual number of deaths in women's prisons on record. Emily was imprisoned for arson, having set fire to herself, her bed and curtains. She had a history of serious mental ill-health including self-harm, suicide attempts and drug addiction. This was Emily's first time in prison. A prison that could not keep her safe. A sentence that cost her life. On 1st February 2018 the inquest investigating Emily's self-inflicted death concluded with deeply critical findings about her care and the failure to transfer her to a therapeutic setting. What made her premature and preventable death all the more shocking is that ten years to the day of Emily's inquest, the same coroner had dealt with a strikingly similar death, that of Petra Blanksby. Nineteen year-old Petra was imprisoned for an arson offence, having set fire to her bedroom in an attempt to take her own life. Two women, ten years apart, criminalised for being mentally unwell. Petra too, had a history of mental ill health and suicide attempts. At the end of her inquest in 2008, the coroner recommended to the Prison Service and Department of Health they should deal with the lack of secure therapeutic facilities outside prison. At the conclusion of Emily's inquest, the same coroner David Hinchliff wrote: "I repeat ten years later that the Prison's Department and the Department of Health should conduct a collaborative exercise to achieve the provision of suitable, secure, therapeutic environments in order to treat those with mental health problems". Eleven years after the publication of Baroness Corston's seminal review in 2007 of women in the criminal justice system, the situation has never felt so desperate. It is with anger, sadness and deep frustration that we report almost no progress on the necessary systemic and structural change needed. Ninety-three women have died in women's prisons since March 2007. The casework team at INQUEST continue to support families whose daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts and grandmothers have died. The harms of imprisonment follow women back into the community, as demonstrated by the fact that 116 women died after release from prison between 2010 and 2017. INQUEST's work with bereaved families seeks to make visible the women behind the statistics and the structural issues behind their criminalisation and imprisonment. We seek to show the human face of this pernicious social problem, because so many of these deaths are preventable. They raise profound concerns about human rights violations - not only the failure to provide a safe and dignified environment, but also the failure to act to prevent further deaths, an aspiration that unites all bereaved families. The women's names memorialised in this report are a stark reminder of the tragic human consequences of the failure of successive governments to take seriously the needs of women experiencing a range of health, economic and social inequalities. They also speak to institutional state violence and how our prisons today systematically generate pain and suffering and how they can lead to death. This report provides unique insight into deaths in women's prisons. It is empirically grounded in (1) an examination of official data; (2) INQUEST's original research and casework; and (3) an analysis of coroners' 'Prevention of Future Death' reports and narrative jury findings. This evidence has been strengthened by the facilitation of families' legal representation and the more effective participation of the bereaved. This has led to more searching questions at inquests and has shone a light on the shocking reality of women's experiences in the criminal justice system. Details: London: INQUEST, 2018. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 8, 2018 at: https://www.inquest.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=8d39dc1d-02f7-48eb-b9ac-2c063d01656a Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.inquest.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=8d39dc1d-02f7-48eb-b9ac-2c063d01656a Shelf Number: 150106 Keywords: Deaths in CustodyFemale InmatesFemale PrisonersMental Health ServicesPrison Suicides |
Author: Ludlow, Amy Title: Self-inflicted Deaths in NOMS' Custody Amongst 18-24 Year Olds: Staff Experience, Knowledge and Views Summary: This Report presents the findings of research into self-inflicted deaths (SID) in custody amongst 18-24 year olds in National Offender Management Service (NOMS) custody in England and Wales. This research was commissioned by the Harris Review into Self-Inflicted Deaths In Custody Amongst 18-24 Year Olds, and was undertaken by RAND Europe and the Prisons Research Centre, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge. This research focused on staff experience, knowledge and views, which have been gathered through interviews and observations at five prisons in England and Wales. The document will be of interest to government, civil society and academic audiences interested in improving prisoner wellbeing and safety generally and SID reduction and risk management specifically. The Report consists of seven sections that address the research questions set out by the Harris Review. Sections 1 and 2 provide an overview of the background, context and methods of the study. Sections 3-6 present the findings of the study relating to four key themes - how staff conceive of risk of SID, how SID risk is managed, staff training and institutional and individual responses to SID. The report closes with a review of promising practice and areas for improvement based on staff suggestions. Details: Santa Monica, CA: Cambridge, UK: RAND Europe and the University of Cambridge, 2015. 102p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 11, 2018 at: http://iapdeathsincustody.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Self-Inflicted-Deaths-in-NOMS%E2%80%99-Custody-amongst-18%E2%80%9324-Year-Olds-Staff-Experience-Knowledge-and-Views.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://iapdeathsincustody.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Self-Inflicted-Deaths-in-NOMS%E2%80%99-Custody-amongst-18%E2%80%9324-Year-Olds-Staff-Experience-Knowledge-and-Views.pdf Shelf Number: 150162 Keywords: Deaths in CustodyPrison SuicidesSuicides |