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Prison Suicides in South Australia: 1996–2010
Author(s) -
Austin Amy E.,
Heuvel Corinna,
Byard Roger W.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.12454
Subject(s) - imprisonment , demography , medicine , suicide prevention , prison , poison control , injury prevention , occupational safety and health , geography , psychiatry , medical emergency , psychology , criminology , archaeology , sociology , pathology
Forty‐eight deaths occurring in prisons in South Australia were identified between J anuary 1996 and D ecember 2010, including 25 cases of suicide (mean age = 37 years; median age = 34 years; age range = 24–70 years). Most suicides were due to hanging (23/25; 92.0%) with victims using bedding, belts, or shoelaces attached to cell shelves, air vents, doors, or other accessible projections. There were no suicides attributed to drug overdose or sharp force injury. Over a third of all suicides (39.1%) occurred during the first month of confinement, with 26.1% of cases occurring within the first week. There was one suicide reported after 2 years of imprisonment. Given that suicide in state prisons currently occurs at a rate approximately eight times that of the general S outh A ustralian community, it appears that the subset of incarcerated individuals represents a group in need of effective preventive strategies to enable more appropriate provisions of existing prisoner resources.