Research report Suicide risk and its possible reduction among incarcerated persons in the context of predictive capacity (pilot study based on qualitative analysis of four suicide events)

Author: Lt Col Dr Jarosław Rychlik, Professor, University of Justice

Introduction

Within the adopted plan, the following aspects of suicide risk are distinguished:

1. The individual dimension – involving the search for internal, personal determinants of
   suicide (e.g., traits, tendencies, beliefs and attitudes, mental disorders and illnesses, etc.);

2. The individual dimension – understood from the perspective of the environmental
   resources available to the individual. This aspect considers environmental resources whose
   burden or deterioration results in increased suicide risk. In this area, it is proposed that we
   distinguish resources:
   • concerning the environment outside the penitentiary unit (e.g., having family
   support, the ability to return to previous work, having housing),
   • involving the environment in the penitentiary unit (e.g., sociometric position in the
   correctional group, nature of the crime, and attitude towards prison staff);

3. The structural dimension – concerning specific organisational and infrastructure aspects
   of the penitentiary unit that may be considered determining factors with regard to the
   effectiveness of counteracting suicide risk (detention/prison facilities, age of the penitentiary
   facility, social and living infrastructure, location in terms of transport connections, capacity);

4. The legal and functional dimension – related to the adequacy of anti-suicide procedures with
   respect to the capacity of penitentiary units and their staff (e.g., conflict between the
   implementation of preventative measures and the numerous tasks resulting from other
   regulations and orders, insufficient technical resources, insufficient staff for the implementation
   of anti-suicide measures);

5. The staff psychosocial dimension – concerning levels of professional stress, burnout, social
   integration among Prison Service officers and staff, opportunities for constructive conflict
   resolution between officers.

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