Citation

Austin AE, van den Heuvel C, Byard RW. J. Forensic Sci. 2014; 59(5): 1260-1262.

Affiliation

Discipline of Anatomy and Pathology, The University of Adelaide, Frome Road, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia; Forensic Science SA, 21 Divett Place, Adelaide, SA, 5000, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1556-4029.12454

PMID

24635128

Abstract

Forty-eight deaths occurring in prisons in South Australia were identified between January 1996 and December 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 South Australian 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.

Language: en