Near-lethal self-harm in women prisoners: contributing factors and psychological processes

Marzano, Lisa ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9735-3512, Fazel, Seena, Rivlin, Adrienne and Hawton, Keith (2011) Near-lethal self-harm in women prisoners: contributing factors and psychological processes. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, 22 (6) . pp. 863-884. ISSN 1478-9949 [Article] (doi:10.1080/14789949.2011.617465)

Abstract

We investigated the circumstances and psychological processes involved in the near-lethal self-harm acts of 60 women prisoners, using qualitative and quantitative methods. Most incidents involved hanging or ligaturing and
high levels of suicidal ideation, and were attributable to individual and prison-related factors. Half of the incidents were described as impulsive, but mostly occurred against a background of longer-term suicidality and multiple repeated attempts. Hopelessness and images of
past trauma were common in the lead-up to the acts. These findings have implications for prevention of suicidal behaviour in female prisoners.

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