Background: Besides some cases reported by the media in recent years about prison inmates who committed suicide, hardly anything is known concerning social, criminological and psychiatric characteristics of suicide victims in jails and prisons in Austria. It therefore seems necessary to evaluate jail and prison suicides in order to establish effective means of prevention.
Methods: A study was conducted evaluating all suicides in Austrian prisons between 1975 and 1999. In addition to nationality, education and working status, other indicators of social integration and psychiatric history of suicide victims were studied.
Results: 220 personal files of 250 suicides were available. During the observation period the suicide rate of imprisoned foreigners decreased slightly (mean 106.6/100,000), whereas the suicide rate of Austrian citizens increased significantly (mean 172.0/100,000). Of all suicide victims, 41% had neither finished school nor had they any professional education. 44% were unemployed before incarceration, 50% did not work while incarcerated. A high frequency of suicidal behavior amongst suicide victims before committing suicide (49% suicide attempts, 37% suicide threats), and a high prevalence of mental disorders (37% psychopharmacological treatment, 48.6% were assessed by a psychiatrist) could be detected.
Conclusions: Screening instruments should be applied which are easy to handle for prison officers and indicate the appropriate management of inmates at a high suicide risk.