Suicide and Self-Harm in Corrections, Risk Factors for

[Page 1505]Risk factors for suicide and self-harm among offenders are separated by offenders’ location within the criminal justice system and include demographic and psychosocial correlates of suicide and self-harm. This is a topic of importance within criminal psychology because offenders are at greater risk of experiencing suicide-related distress and self-harm than the general population. For example, in the United States, there are 13 deaths by suicide per 100,000 individuals; however, there are 36 deaths by suicide per 100,000 individuals in detention facilities. That is, inmates are 2.77 times more likely to die by suicide than individuals in the general population. Therefore, suicide and self-harm are problems that offenders and forensic professionals are more likely to encounter. There have been many studies examining risk factors for ...