Suicide and Self-Harm

A study of deaths amongst people on probation found that in 1996 they were over 9 times more likely to die than the general population; and in 1997 they were 13 times more likely to die than the general population (Sattar, 2003)

There is a paucity of research on the rates of suicide and self-harm amongst people in contact with probation

A study of deaths amongst ex-prisoners  from the Washington State Department of Corrections concluded that:

• In the first two weeks after release, the risk of death for ex-prisoners was 12 times that of other state residents 
• The leading causes of death among former inmates were drug overdose, cardiovascular disease, homicide, and suicide"  (Binswanger et al., 2007: 157) 

A study of a random sample of 173 offenders on probation in one county in England, found that nearly a third of those interviewed had a lifetime history of suicide attempts (Pluck and Brooker, 2014)

had self-harmed in the month prior to interview (Pluck and Brooker, 2014)

5%

32%

References

Sattar (2003). The Death of Offenders in England and Wales, Crisis,,24(1), 17-23

Pluck, G., and Brooker, C. (2014) Epidemiological survey of suicide ideation and acts and other deliberate self-harm among offenders in the community under supervision of the Probation Service in England and Wales, Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 24: 358-364

Binswanger, I.A., Stern, M.F., Deyo, R.A., Heagerty, P.J.,Cheadle, A., Elmore, J.G.,and Koepsell, T.D. (2007) Release from prison - A high risk of death for former inmates, The New England Journal of Medicine, 356: 157-165