Attitudes towards prisoners who self harm scale: a psychometric evaluation
| Pages | 158-166 |
| Date | 13 July 2015 |
| Published date | 13 July 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-08-2014-0133 |
| Author | Kerri Garbutt,Helen Casey |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Aggression, conflict & peace |
Attitudes towards prisoners who self harm
scale: a psychometric evaluation
Kerri Garbutt and Helen Casey
Kerri Garbutt is a Chartered
Psychologist and Registered
Forensic Psychologist at the
Fens Unit, Offender Personality
Disorder Pathway Service,
HMP Whitemoor, March,
Cambridgeshire, UK and
Forensic Services, Rotherham,
Doncaster and South Humber
NHS Trust, Doncaster, UK.
Dr Helen Casey is Clinical
Studies Lead at the Fens Unit,
Offender Personality Disorder
Pathway Service, HMP
Whitemoor, March,
Cambridgeshire, UK.
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to report on the internal consistency, convergent validity
and test-retest reliability of the Attitudes to Prisoners who Self-Harm scale (APSH). The latter have yet to be
examined.
Design/methodology/approach –Participants were pri son staff with prisoner contact (N ¼97).
Internal consistency of the APSH was examined using Cronbach’sα. Convergent validity of the APSH
was examined by comparing it to the Self-Harm Antipathy Scale, a reliable and valid measure of healthcare
staff attitudes to self-harm. Test-retest reliability was examined by re-administering the APSH one week after
initial assessment (n ¼75).
Findings –The measure demonstrated adequate levels of internal consistency, convergent validity and
test-retest reliability.
Originality/value –The findings support use of the APSH within custodial settings. It could be used to guide
recruitment and training of prison officers that care for prisoners who self-harmand to evaluate the efficacy of
their training. This would influence good practice.
Keywords Reliability, Prison, Attitudes, Validity, Internal consistency, Self-harm
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Studies have demonstrated self-harm and suicide attempts are high in prisons compared to the
community (Maden et al., 2000; Meltzer et al., 2002). Community estimates suggest between
2.7 and 4 per cent of adults have engaged in self-harm (Briere and Gil, 1998; Klonsky et al.,
2003; Nock et al., 2008). These contrast with the prison population where between 7 and
17 per cent of males (Maden et al., 2000; Meltzer et al., 2002) and 10 and 30 per cent of females
(Meltzer et al., 2002; Ministry of Justice, 2010) report self-harm. These figures may be even
higher for specialist prison units where prevalence of borderline personality disorder may be
greater; for example units within the UK’s Offender Personality Disorder Pathway Service
(Burns et al., 2011a, b; Casey et al. , 2013; Sinclair et al., 2012).
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) describes self-harm as any act of
self-poisoning or self-injury carried out by an individual regardless of motivation (NICE, 2012).
This usually involves self-poisoning by consuming medication at quantities higher than the
prescribed or recommended dose and self-injury by cutting. Although cutting is the most
common form of self-injury other methods include burning, strangulation, stabbing, inserting
objects and jumping from heights (NICE, 2012).
Previous engageme nt in self-harm is re lated to increased li kelihood of suicid e (Gairin et al.,
2003; Hawton et al., 2003) e specially if it inv olves hanging, str angulation or suff ocation
(Gairin et al., 2003). However, this may be due to the higher risk of accidental death involved
in these methods compared to others. Suicide and self-harm may be closely linked
Received 22 August 2014
Revised 11 October 2014
Accepted 16 October 2014
The authors would like to
acknowledge the assistance of
Barbara Parker during the final
revision of the paper.
PAGE158
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JOURNALOF AGGRESSION, CONFLICTAND PEACE RESEARCH
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VOL. 7 NO. 3 2015,pp. 158-166, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1759-6599 DOI 10.1108/JACPR-08-2014-0133
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