Self-Inflicted Injury and Coping Behaviours in Prison (IN: Suicide Prevention: The Global Context. Proceedings of the 19th Congress of the IASP, March 1997, ed. by R J Kosky et al)

This study used a quasi-experimental design to compare 71 prisoners who self-harmed & 71 prisoners who denied ever having self-harmed in prison. The types of stressors, levels of distress, coping strategies & their effectiveness were studied. The most common stressor for the self-harm group was isolation from family or other supports. This group rated their overall coping strategies as less effective than the comparison group. 3 possible interpretations of the study findings are presented.