Association of Overcrowding and Turnover with Self-Harm in a Swiss Pre-Trial Prison
Self-harm is a common issue in detention and includes both suicidal and non-suicidal behaviours. Beyond well-known individual risk factors, institutional factors such as overcrowding (i.e., when the prison population exceeds its capacity) and turnover (i.e., the rate at which the prison population i...
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doaj-9c1e522a3ef041fb95801b4f7623112e2020-11-24T22:38:35ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1660-46012018-03-0115460110.3390/ijerph15040601ijerph15040601Association of Overcrowding and Turnover with Self-Harm in a Swiss Pre-Trial PrisonStéphanie Baggio0Laurent Gétaz1Nguyen Toan Tran2Nicolas Peigné3Komal Chacowry Pala4Diane Golay5Patrick Heller6Patrick Bodenmann7Hans Wolff8Division of Prison Health, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, 1225 Geneva, SwitzerlandDivision of Prison Health, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, 1225 Geneva, SwitzerlandDivision of Prison Health, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, 1225 Geneva, SwitzerlandDivision of Prison Health, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, 1225 Geneva, SwitzerlandDivision of Prison Health, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, 1225 Geneva, SwitzerlandDivision of Prison Health, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, 1225 Geneva, SwitzerlandDivision of Prison Health, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, 1225 Geneva, SwitzerlandVulnerable Population Center, Department of Ambulatory Care and Community Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital & University of Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne, SwitzerlandDivision of Prison Health, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, 1225 Geneva, SwitzerlandSelf-harm is a common issue in detention and includes both suicidal and non-suicidal behaviours. Beyond well-known individual risk factors, institutional factors such as overcrowding (i.e., when the prison population exceeds its capacity) and turnover (i.e., the rate at which the prison population is renewed), may also increase the risk of self-harm. However, these factors are understudied or previous studies reported inconsistent findings. This study investigated the association of self-harm with overcrowding and turnover in the largest pre-trial Swiss prison in Geneva. Data were collected yearly between 2011 and 2017. Measures included self-harm (all kinds of self-injuring acts requiring medical attention, including self-strangulations and self-hangings). We performed meta-regressions to analyse the relationships between self-harm and institutional factors. Self-harm events were frequent, with a prevalence estimate of 26.4%. Overcrowding and turnover were high (average occupation rate of 177% and average turnover of 73%, respectively). Overcrowding and turnover were significantly associated with self-harm (respectively b = 0.068, p < 0.001 and (b = 1.257, p < 0.001). In both cases, self-harm was higher when overcrowding and turnover increased. Overcrowding and turnover raise important human rights concerns and have damaging effects on the health of people living in detention. Identification of and care for this vulnerable population at risk of self-harm are needed and institutional factors should be addressed.http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/4/601custodyhealth carepreventionprisonerssuicide |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Stéphanie Baggio Laurent Gétaz Nguyen Toan Tran Nicolas Peigné Komal Chacowry Pala Diane Golay Patrick Heller Patrick Bodenmann Hans Wolff |
spellingShingle |
Stéphanie Baggio Laurent Gétaz Nguyen Toan Tran Nicolas Peigné Komal Chacowry Pala Diane Golay Patrick Heller Patrick Bodenmann Hans Wolff Association of Overcrowding and Turnover with Self-Harm in a Swiss Pre-Trial Prison International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health custody health care prevention prisoners suicide |
author_facet |
Stéphanie Baggio Laurent Gétaz Nguyen Toan Tran Nicolas Peigné Komal Chacowry Pala Diane Golay Patrick Heller Patrick Bodenmann Hans Wolff |
author_sort |
Stéphanie Baggio |
title |
Association of Overcrowding and Turnover with Self-Harm in a Swiss Pre-Trial Prison |
title_short |
Association of Overcrowding and Turnover with Self-Harm in a Swiss Pre-Trial Prison |
title_full |
Association of Overcrowding and Turnover with Self-Harm in a Swiss Pre-Trial Prison |
title_fullStr |
Association of Overcrowding and Turnover with Self-Harm in a Swiss Pre-Trial Prison |
title_full_unstemmed |
Association of Overcrowding and Turnover with Self-Harm in a Swiss Pre-Trial Prison |
title_sort |
association of overcrowding and turnover with self-harm in a swiss pre-trial prison |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2018-03-01 |
description |
Self-harm is a common issue in detention and includes both suicidal and non-suicidal behaviours. Beyond well-known individual risk factors, institutional factors such as overcrowding (i.e., when the prison population exceeds its capacity) and turnover (i.e., the rate at which the prison population is renewed), may also increase the risk of self-harm. However, these factors are understudied or previous studies reported inconsistent findings. This study investigated the association of self-harm with overcrowding and turnover in the largest pre-trial Swiss prison in Geneva. Data were collected yearly between 2011 and 2017. Measures included self-harm (all kinds of self-injuring acts requiring medical attention, including self-strangulations and self-hangings). We performed meta-regressions to analyse the relationships between self-harm and institutional factors. Self-harm events were frequent, with a prevalence estimate of 26.4%. Overcrowding and turnover were high (average occupation rate of 177% and average turnover of 73%, respectively). Overcrowding and turnover were significantly associated with self-harm (respectively b = 0.068, p < 0.001 and (b = 1.257, p < 0.001). In both cases, self-harm was higher when overcrowding and turnover increased. Overcrowding and turnover raise important human rights concerns and have damaging effects on the health of people living in detention. Identification of and care for this vulnerable population at risk of self-harm are needed and institutional factors should be addressed. |
topic |
custody health care prevention prisoners suicide |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/4/601 |
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