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Suicide in Jails and Prisons

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Book cover Suicide Risk Assessment and Prevention

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Abstract

Suicide in prisons is a serious international public health problem. Suicide remains one of the most common causes of death in detention centers in many countries with suicide rates that are much higher than those of the general population. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the possible root causes and risk factors associated with prison suicide. Most epidemiological studies suggest that suicide commonly results from the cumulative effect of numerous biopsychosocial factors.

Some of the risk factors are already present in the prisoners prior to their imprisonment and are then “imported” into prison, making the prisoners a particularly vulnerable population. The presence of a psychiatric disorder is one of the most common. Moreover, there are other highly stressful factors that are specifically related to detention. An additional factor is the fact that prisons are often left out of community mental health programs.

To cope with this serious public health problem, there are several prevention strategies reported in literature that need to be examined. These include: training of prison staff, prisoners’ screening and observation, communication between staff members, creation of a positive prison environment, adequate connections with mental health services, and debriefing in case of suicide occurrence.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychiatry Residency Program, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Francesca Perugino & Andrea Turano

  2. Psychology Program, Stockton University, Galloway, NJ, USA

    David Lester

Authors
  1. Francesca Perugino
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  2. Andrea Turano
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  3. David Lester
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesca Perugino .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Suicide Prevention Center, Sant’Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Maurizio Pompili

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Perugino, F., Turano, A., Lester, D. (2022). Suicide in Jails and Prisons. In: Pompili, M. (eds) Suicide Risk Assessment and Prevention. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42003-1_98

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