Suicide, Self-Harm and Imprisoned Women

Suicide in offenders are a public health concern due to the increased numbers of episodes in the prison population over recent years. Policymakers have introduced suicide prevention programmes in prisons following the introduction of a strategy to address the continuing rise in self-inflicted deaths (HM Prison Service, 2001). Suicides are rarely the result of a single cause or event, but rather depend on the cumulative and interactive effects of a range of situational and psychosocial factors. This chapter will focus on imprisoned women who are at a high risk for suicide and then move onto a discussion of self-harm. It will end with a brief discussion of current interventions and treatments in custody. Attention is also given in the chapter to some of the difficult methodological issues in this area of work.