Suicide is the most common cause of death in correctional institutions. Therefore, correctional institutions have to face a big challenge, because each suicide leads not only to problems within the system of the institutions but can also lead to legal consequences.
The high potential suicide risk of inmates is caused by various individual facts and different socio-cultural factors. Inmates are often already part of a high-risk group at the time of admission to custody. The very stressful situation of custody can even increase these symptoms. Besides this they have to deal with a no-way-out feeling, an unsecure future, inmate-to-inmate conflicts or inmate-to-staff conflicts, the loss of familiar and social contact and in some cases the consequences from drug or alcohol abuse.
There can also be an increase of the suicide risk, if correctional institutions don´t have sufficient guidelines for the treatment of this special group of inmates.
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