Women, Self-Harm, and the Moral Code of the Prison (original) (raw)
Related papers
Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 2010
Background Rates of self-harm are high among women in prison in the UK. This is the fi rst study to compare the views and attitudes of prison staff and women prisoners and to look at the effects of these attitudes on prisoner/staff relationships. Aims To explore understanding of self-harm among women prisoners, prison offi cers and health-care staff and how their perceptions might infl uence service provision and development. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with women prisoners who selfharm and with staff at a women's prison. Data were analysed thematically.
Self-harm in a men's prison: staff's and prisoners' perspectives
2007
This thesis draws on feminist and critical phenomenological perspectives to explore the issue of self-harm in men's prisons. In relation to what remains a "hidden problem" (Howard League, 1999, p. 1), the needs of men harming themselves with no apparent suicidal ...
Custody vs care: attitudes of prison staff to self-harm in women prisoners—a qualitative study
Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 2009
Self-harm rates amongst the UK female prison population are disproportionately high. Prison staff potentially have a crucial role in the identification and management of female prisoners at risk; despite this there has been little focus on the attitudes of prison staff towards female prisoners who self-harm. This paper presents such an explanation; qualitative methods were used, with semi-structured interviews with eight prison officers and five healthcare staff from one female prison in the North of England. Interviews were tape recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed iteratively, until category saturation was achieved. The data suggests that prison staff labelled self-harm as either 'genuine' or 'nongenuine.' Women whose self-harm was perceived as non-genuine by staff were viewed as 'rational manipulators,' self-harming to achieve particular ends. Staff described feelings of resentment towards these women. Most staff reported that balancing their welfare and security functions was difficult, feeling most confident with their custody role. They described feeling untrained and unsupported in their welfare role, and pressurised due to time constraints and reported low staffing levels. This combination of factors left most staff reporting lack of confidence in dealing with women who self-harm.
Social Science & Medicine, 2011
We examined the psychosocial influences on female prisoner suicide by carrying out a study of near-lethal self-harm. We interviewed 60 women prisoners who had recently engaged in near-lethal self-harm (cases) and 60 others who had never carried out near-lethal acts in prison (controls) from all closed female prison establishments in England and Wales, using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods. We gathered information on socio-demographic and criminological variables, life events and childhood trauma, exposure to suicidal behaviour, contributory and precipitating factors for near-lethal self-harm, social support and psychological characteristics. While socio-demographic factors were only modestly associated with near-lethal self-harm, being on remand, in single cell accommodation, and reporting negative experiences of imprisonment were strong correlates. Recent life events and past trauma, including different forms of childhood abuse, were also significantly associated with near-lethal self-harm, as were a family history of suicide and high scores on measures of depression, aggression, impulsivity and hostility, and low levels of self-esteem and social support. Our findings underline the importance of both individual and prison-related factors for suicide in custody, and hence the need for a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention in women’s prisons. Given the multiple needs of female prisoners at-risk of self-harm and suicide, complex psychosocial interventions are likely to be required, including interventions for abused and bereaved women, and initiatives to improve staff–prisoner relationships and reduce bullying. The findings of this research may provide insights into factors leading to suicidal behaviour in other forensic and institutional settings, such as detention centres and psychiatric hospitals, and may assist in developing suicide prevention policies for prisoners and other at-risk populations.► We conducted a case-control study of near-lethal self-harm in 120 women prisoners. ► Both individual and environmental factors were associated with near-lethal self-harm in women prisoners in England and Wales. ► Prior incarceration, single cell status and sexual abuse were independently associated with near-lethal self-harm. ► Combined health, social, and environmental interventions may help prevent suicide and severe self-harm in women’s prisons.
I. Is My Work `Feminist' Enough? Tensions and Dilemmas in Researching Male Prisoners who Self-harm
Feminism & Psychology, 2007
here is a clear link between the pain of imprisonment and harm (as selfinflicted injury or suicide). .. it is crucial that the reality of this pain and its consequences are reflected in research. (Liebling, 1995: 183) In focusing my PhD research on the issue of self-harm in prisons, my political agenda was-and remains-to increase awareness of the extent of this 'problem', and of the role of the criminal justice system in 'creating' self-injury. In turn, I hoped that this would stimulate discussion, as well as action, in relation to the functions, (over)uses and abuses of imprisonment. Both theoretically and philosophically, my work was located within the wider literature on the effects of imprisonment (Liebling and Maruna, 2005; Sykes, 1958). A basic premise of this body of research is that, notwithstanding the alleged 'risk' and 'vulnerability' of people in custody (which are in themselves problematic), 'the ethos of an establishment, how inmates are treated, will determine the amount of self-injury' (HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, 1990, quoted in Howard League, 2001: 1). Within this popular framework, self-harm has been conceptualized as a way of coping with the harms and 'pains' of imprisonment, and thus constructed as a test of the 'health', 'moral performance' and 'legitimacy' of our prisons and criminal justice system (Liebling et al., 2005). This, in turn, locates prisoner self-harm within a liberal, deontological discourse, which emphasizes the 'humanity' of all prisoners and hence their right to be treated with decency, respect and fairness, regardless of their alleged crimes. As argued by Carlen and Worrall (2004), to do so is not only 'justified in terms of "outcomes" (preventing suicide, reducing re-offending, and so on)', but, more importantly, is 'good in itself ' (emphasis in original, p. 50). Therefore, to research and 'care'
Self-Harm amongst Female Offenders in Custody: Lessons from the Literature
The prison population is extremely vulnerable to committing acts of selfharm and female prisoners are more likely to self-harm than their male counterparts. The National Suicide Research Foundation (2004) recorded that 22.2% of the cases of self-harm that occurred in Irish prisons in 2002 involved females, even though women comprised only 3.1% of the total prison population. This article examines international research and trends to consider why self-harm is so prevalent amongst female prisoners, how self-harm can be prevented and what the best response is to those who self-harm.
British Journal of Psychiatry, 2010
Suicide is a leading cause of death in prisons in most Western countries. 1-3 In England and Wales, between 1978 and 2003 the age-standardised suicide rate in female prisoners was 20 times higher than in women in the general population. 4 It has been suggested that this could be the result of high levels of mental health and substance misuse problems in women prisoners, which are risk factors for suicide in the general population. 9,10 In one of the few studies to have focused specifically on suicide among female prisoners, higher rates of mental health problems were found in women prisoners than reported in male prisoners who had died by suicide. 11 However, lack of a control group in this and similar studies means that it is not known whether levels of psychiatric morbidity in female prisoners who have died by suicide differ from other female prisoners. Also, despite numerous studies pointing to psychiatric disorder as a risk factor for suicide in prisoners, 12,13 previous research has been in male-only or predominantly male samples, has mostly lacked power to investigate specific diagnostic categories, and reported insufficient detail to enable reliable assessment of the contribution of psychiatric comorbidity. A recent systematic review of risk factors for suicide in prison found no clinical studies specifically on women. In this study we aimed to address these limitations by investigating the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in women prisoners who had nearly died as a result of a suicide attempt compared with female prisoners who had never made a near-lethal attempt in prison. Previous studies have consistently reported high rates of self-harm, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in women prisoners, both in their lifetime and during the current prison term. 15-17 With 30% of female prisoners engaging in self-harm while in prison, 18 and 5% having attempted suicide in custody in the past month, 19 the burden placed on prisons and their mental health services is considerable. In addition, there is evidence that individuals who make medically serious suicide attempts are epidemiologically similar to individuals who complete suicide, 20,21 and twice as likely as other suicide attempters to die by suicide. 22 Therefore, as well as presenting an important clinical problem in their own right, near-fatal attempts provide a valid proxy for self-inflicted deaths in research investigating risk factors for suicide. 23 They enable investigation of factors that require self-report, including personal issues, triggers and psychological mechanisms of which prison authorities and key informants may be unaware, and which are often not reliably recorded in clinical and prison records of prisoners who have taken their own lives. In addition, being a less rare event than prisoner suicide, near-lethal self-harm allows for more adequately powered investigations than studies of the characteristics of prisoners who have died by suicide.
Prison officers' attitudes towards self-harm in prisoners
International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 2019
Prison officers are the agents that have the most contact with prisoners during imprisonment and are essential for control prisoners at risk. Because of that, it is essential to understand their attitudes towards prisoners who self-harm because their attitudes predispose the behavior in situations of self-harm. Thus, our study aimed to explore the attitudes of prison officers regarding prisoners who self-harm. The results revealed that prison officers did not advocate harsh treatment for self-harming prisoners. However, they tend to reveal some difficulties in understanding the causes of self-harm, reproducing the negative myths referred to in the literature. They also tend to neglect the fact that these behaviors may, in some cases, culminate in suicide. These results highlight the need for specific training about this phenomenon, not only in prison officers initial training but also in continuing training, identifying issues of particular importance to address, such as interpersonal skills and behavioral strategies to deal with incarcerated individuals who self-harm. We also advocate for the importance of reinforcing prison officers' role as first-line responders, empowering these agents in their social responsibility towards prisoners well being and the way penal justice is implemented.
Objectives. This study considers how those who work in prisons are affected by and respond to repetitive self-harm of male prisoners. The perspectives of correctional staff are often overlooked in research that considers self-harming prisoners. As prison staff have regular, potentially daily contact with prisoners who self-harm, it is important to consider the ways in which they respond to this aspect of their job, both in terms of their own and prisoners' well-being.