Suicide in the Criminal Justice System
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Managing the risk of self-inflicted death to support a psychologically safe and rehabilitative criminal justice pathway
IRAS ID
229063
Contact name
Jenny Shaw
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, days
Research summary
Suicide is among the top twenty leading causes of death globally. In the UK, the rate from suicide is 10.9 per 100,000 population. People involved in the criminal justice system are at a higher risk of suicide compared to the general population. Those in prison are at risk both whilst in custody and when they leave prison. Preventing suicide and reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths remains a Government priority. Following a number of policy changes, a sustained reduction in the number of prison suicides was seen for over a decade. However, in recent years, there has been a rise in prison suicides with 2016 recording the highest number of self-inflicted deaths in custody since records began in 1978. This study will conduct an independent case series examining all self-inflicted deaths in prisons in England and Wales between 2016 and 2019. This will allow us to examine trends over time and explore what may have contributed to the rise in self-inflicted deaths in custody. We will examine specific groups (such as remand, women, older prisoners) and the circumstances of suicide to make recommendations regarding the recognition, assessment and management of suicide risk and related issues of general mental health care and training needs of staff. Furthermore, although deaths by those in, or shortly after leaving police custody, and those on community supervision or licence annually account for smaller numbers than self-inflicted deaths in prison, the risk is pervasive throughout the CJS. Therefore this study will conduct a scoping exercise to ascertain what procedures are in place, and what data are collected, when a suicide occurs in the wider CJS. This will add to a comprehensive body of information about self-inflicted deaths across the criminal justice pathway in order to inform prevention policies going forward.
REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
17/WA/0263
Date of REC Opinion
20 Sep 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion