Assessment, intervention and prevention of self-injurious behaviour in correctional environments

Self-injurious behaviour (SIB) is a significant concern for the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) because of the risks it can pose to the safety of staff and offenders within federal correctional institutions. SIB can be defined as any type of direct bodily harm or disfigurement that is deliberately inflicted  on oneself that is not considered […]

Gender and racial differences for suicide attempters and ideators in a high-risk community corrections population

Background: Community corrections populations are a high-risk group who carry multiple suicide risk factors. Aims: To identify factors correlated with historical suicide attempts and ideation among African-American men, African-American women, White men, and White women in a community corrections population. Method: Self-report data from 18,753 enrollees in community corrections were analyzed. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to […]

Fifth Independent Review Committee on non-natural deaths in custody: April 1st, 2017 to March 31st, 2019

There is a significant history surrounding non-natural deaths in Correctional Service Canada (CSC) institutions and CSC’s responses to the recommendations of investigations into the circumstances of these deaths. The Correctional Investigator in his 2005-06 Annual Report raised concerns regarding the timely completion of meaningful investigation reports and action plans developed by CSC to address the […]

Suicidal ideation across race in a justice-involved sample: An item response theory approach

Objectives Compared to community samples, rates of suicide are much higher in forensic and correctional settings, yet limited research has focused on the development and improvement of suicide assessment methods used in such contexts. Moreover, despite evidence that suicide assessment varies across Caucasians and African Americans, to our knowledge this important issue has received little […]

Development of the self-injury risk assessment protocol for corrections (SIRAP-C)

Objective: We developed the Self-Injury Risk Assessment Protocol for Corrections (SIRAP-C) to meet legal mandates for self-directed violence (SDV) risk assessment standards in correctional settings. We focused on two empirical aims: (1) factor structure and internal consistency and (2) subscale associations with SDV and intervention recommendation outcomes. Hypotheses: We expected a multifactorial SIRAP-C structure with acceptable internal […]

Proximal risk for suicide in correctional settings: A call for priority research

Suicide is the leading cause of death among jail detainees and the third leading cause of death among state prison inmates. These populations have been recognized as a high-risk group deserving special clinical attention. The literature on deaths by suicide in correctional settings has identified numerous risk factors for eventual death, but few of these […]