Contemporary Imprisonment

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The most pressing problem for the prison system could be seen to be suicide. According to the World Health Organization (2000) suicide is often the single most common cause of death in correctional settings. Both jails and prisons are responsible for protecting the health and safety of their inmate populations. The failure to do so can be open to legal challenge. Based on this the World Health Organisation (2000) also states that it can be further fuelled by media interest, a suicide in correctional facility can easily escalate into a political scandal. Therefore the provision of adequate suicide prevention and intervention services is both beneficial to the prisoners in custody, as well as the institution in which the services are offered (World Health Organization 2000, p5).

Correctional settings differ with respect to inmate populations and local conditions according to the World Health Organisation (2007, p7) short-term detainees, pre-trial offenders, sentenced prisoners, harsh sentencing practices, overcrowding, times spent locked up, sanitation, levels of stress, and access to basic health or mental health services. Each of these factors may Influence suicide rates in different ways. Nevertheless, it is still possible to reduce suicides in correctional settings by adhering to certain basic principles and procedures (World Health Organization 2007, p8).

Suicide in the community is a serious health problem. The World Health Organization estimates that one suicide attempt occurs approximately every three seconds, and one completed suicide occurs approximately every minute. This means that more people die by suicide than by armed conflict. Consequently, reducing suicide has become an important international health ...

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...hing USA and Canada

Liebling, A (1994) Suicide amongst Women Prisoners: Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Oxford: Blackwell

Liebling, A. (2001) Suicides in Prison: Ten Years On: Institute of Criminology Cambridge

Lloyd, C (1990) Suicide and Self-Injury in prison: A Literature Review: crown copyright London

Shneidman (1973:159) cited by Libeling Suicides in prison ten years on. References unavailable

Towl, G. Snow, L. & McHugh, M. (2002) Suicide in Prisons: Blackwell Publishers Ltd A Blackwell Publishing Company, Oxford United Kingdom

Towl, G & Crighton, D. (2010) Forensic Psychology: Blackwell Publishing

World Health Organizations (2000) Preventing Suicide A Resource for Prison Officers: Geneva

World Health Organization (2007) Preventing Suicide in Jails and Prisons: WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. Geneva, Switzerland

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