title: Inmate suicides in the Correctional Service of Canada.
abstract: This article presents descriptive statistics on the 66 suicides occurring in federal institutions in Canada over a 4-year period. Criminological and institutional factors of those who committed suicide included lengthy involvement in the criminal justice system, a greater likelihood of being incarcerated for robbery or murder, and involvement in institutional incidents of a serious nature. In addition, 62% of the inmates who committed suicide had been transferred from other institutions within 6 months prior to suicide, though 59% evidenced no indicators of suicidal intent and 44% were not considered to be depressed at the time of suicide. Family problems (29%) were the most commonly hypothesized motivating factor in the suicides, followed by denial of a request for appeal, parole, or transfer (26%), fear of other inmates (24%), and substance abuse problems (21%). Current and planned suicide prevention and intervention strategies of the Correctional Service of Canada are discussed in the context of these findings.
authors.affiliation: Correctional Service of Canada, Mental Health/Health Services, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Laishes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000092864:Suicide Prevention