A Comprehensive Analysis of Suicide in Federal Prisons: a Fifteen-Year Review

This study reports the findings of a retrospective analysis of psychological autopsies for all completed suicides in the Bureau of Prisons over a 15-year period. This study represents the most comprehensive data available about prison suicide. The data support the effectiveness of a structured suicide prevention program as well as the utility of psychological autopsies as a method of case review and data collection. Through an analysis of the psychological autopsy data, a number of basic demographic variables common to completed suicides were discovered which might be extrapolated to other prison populations. In addition, this methodology allowed high-risk populations to be identified, and a profile of inmates who committed suicide was constructed. Implications for future assessment and intervention strategies are discussed.