Non-Fatal Self-Harm in Western Australian Prisons: Who, Where, When and Why
| Author | Donald M. Thomson,Guy J. Hall,Greg E. Dear,Kevin Howells |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486580103400104 |
| Date | 01 April 2001 |
| Published date | 01 April 2001 |
Non-Fatal Self-Harm
in
Western Australian
Prisons: Who, Where,
When
and
Why
Greg
E.
Dear
Edith
Cowan
University
Donald
M.
Thomson
Charles
Sturt
University
Guy
J.
Hall
Murdoch
University
Kevin Howells
University
of
South
Australia
One hundred and eight non-fatal self-harm incidents that occurred in
the
Western
Australian prison system over anine-month period
were examined. Descriptive data pertaining
to
these incidents and
the
91
prisoners who enacted them are presented. Self-report data pertaining
to
motives for self-harming, precipitating factors and level of suicidal
intent are also presented. The data are consistent with previous interna-
tional research. Most incidents involved lacerations of low lethality
(although
15%
were attempted hangings) and occurred in
the
prisoner's
cell when alone and within a secure prison. Self-report data indicated
that
prison stressors precipitated most incidents with
the
motive being
to
obtain relief from psychological distress. A high level of suicidal intent
was
reported
for
one
in
three
incidents.
Categories
of
prisoner
at
greater risk of self-harm included females, remandees, 18
to
25 year olds,
those in special placements (disciplinary, medical, protection) and
those
in custody for less than
one
month.
When researching self
..
harm in prison one could focus only
on
non
...
fatal self
...
harm or one could also examine suicide (clearly a subset of self
...
harm). We
decided to focus only
on
non
...
fatal self
...
harm because this enabled the collection of
self
...
report data
on
motives
and
precipitating factors from all cases.
One
clearly
needs to employ different methods for obtaining data
on
apparent motives
and
precipitating factors for suicides
and
it would be difficult to integrate these data
with self
...
report data pertaining to
non
...
fatal self
...
harm. While it would be possible
to collect descriptive data
on
suicides as well as
non
...
fatal self-harm our limited
Address for correspondence: Greg Dear, School of Psychology, Edith Cowan University, 100
[oondalup Drive, [oondalup, WA 6027, Australia. Email: g.dear®cowan.edu.au
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GREG E DEAR,
DONALD
MTHOMSON, GUY JHALL
AND
KEVIN HOWELLS
period of data collection (9 months) was too brief to obtain arepresentative sample
of suicides
that
would be large enough for statistical analysis. In
the
remainder of
this paper we have used the term "self-harm" to refer only to
non
...
fatal self
...
harm
and
not
to suicide.
The
essential purpose in studying self
...
harm in prison is to inform, and thereby
improve, efforts to prevent it. Self
...
harm incidents are distressing events
not
only
for those who harm themselves
but
also for their fellow prisoners and for the prison
officers who must respond to these incidents (Liebling, 1992; Liebling &Kramp,
1993). Most of the research into self
...
harm in prison has been conducted
intema
...
tionally
and
the
few published Australian studies provide descriptive data only
(e.g., Fleming,
McDonald
&Biles, 1992).
There
are
no
published
Australian
studies
that
examined precipitating factors, motives for self
...
harming, psychological
factors or differences
between
prisoners who self
...
harm
and
those who do
not.
Prison administrators in Australia have to rely on overseas research if they desire an
empirical base from which to develop policies and practices. Moreover, they must
assume
that
such research
can
be generalised to the Australian context. It would
therefore be of benefit to Australian prison administrators to have data pertaining
to self
...
harm in
the
Australian prison setting.
Another
reason for studying self
...
harm
in prison is
the
reported association
between self
...
harm and suicide, although the degree to which
the
two phenomena
are related is yet to be clarified (Fleming et al., 1992; Hawton &Catalan, 1987;
Lester &Danto, 1993; Liebling, 1992; Liebling &Krarup, 1993; Maris, 1992).
There is a substantially higher prevalence of self
...
harm history among prisoners who
suicide
than
in
the
general prison population (Backett, 1987; Bogue &Power,
1995; Dooley, 1990; Fleming et al., 1992; Lester &Danto, 1993; Liebling, 1992).
This
is consistent
with
research in hospital
and
community settings (Clark &
Fawcett, 1992;
Hawton
&Catalan, 1987; Maris, 1992). Moreover, persons who
self
...
harm
have
a
substantially
elevated
subsequent
suicide
rate
(Hawton
&
Catalan, 1987; Maris, 1992). Studies reviewed by Hawton and Catalan indicate
that
the
suicide rate for self
...
harmers in
the
first year after
their
initial suicide
attempt was 100 times
that
of the general community.
Descriptive
Data
Regarding Self-Harrn Incidents
Studies in
the
UK
(Inch,
Rowlands &Soliman, 1995; Liebling, 1992, 1993;
Liebling &Kramp, 1993; Power &Spencer, 1987; Wool &Dooley, 1987), the US
(Jones, 1986; Lester &Danto, 1993),
the
Netherlands (Kerkhof &Bemasco, 1990)
and Australia (Fleming et al., 1992) have found laceration to be
the
most common
self
...
harm method used in prison and the majority of incidents involve little or no
risk to life. Most self
...
harm takes place in the prisoner's cell when
the
prisoner is
alone (Fleming et al., 1992; Liebling, 1992, 1993; Liebling &Kramp, 1993).
The
specific situation
that
precipitated the self
...
harming behaviour varies from
case to case. Several studies have categorised reported precipitating factors
and
have found prison related events and situations to be the most common (Inch et
al., 1995; Liebling, 1992, 1993; Liebling &Kramp, 1993; Power &Spencer, 1987).
Examples of prison related precipitants of self
...
harm include bullying and intimida
...
tion by
other
prisoners, having a request denied, long lock
...
up periods and being
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