Proceedings
The Impact of Legislation Change on the Incidence of Suicides in Custody – Experiences in Austria, 1947-1996
Fruehwald S~~Frottier P~~et al
This article describes the incidence of suicides in custody in Austria from 1947 to 1996 with respect to important legislational changes regarding the criminal justice system. Within the 5 decades a significant increase of the absolute numbers of jail & prison suicides was evident in spite of the considerable decrease of the total inmate population, which was caused by a reform of the criminal law in 1975. Possible explanations are discussed. (15 refs