Deaths in Hamburg prisons 1996-2012 - Recommendations on suicide prevention in prison custody.

Abstract

130 cases of prisoner deaths in Hamburg were examined in a doctoral thesis providing the basis for this study (P e t ers en 2016). Compared with previous assessments, prisoners live longer and are slightly more likely to die of natural causes, the most common cause of death being heart attack. Also, medical care in prisons has significantly improved - some prisoners in fact receive better treatment while incarcerated as compared to outside of prison. The suicide risk, however, remains 8 times as high for inmates compared to the general population. 55 % of these suicides take place within the first 30 days of pre-trial detention. Most of the suicides in Hamburg prisons (26 %) occur on Sundays. In previous studies this number was lower at 15 % (Granzow 1996) and nationwide it was at 20 % (Bennef eld-Kersten 2012). The paper also provides 18 recommendations to prevent future suicides of prisoners. Overall, the rate of prison suicides is slightly decreasing. Prisoners today live longer and mostly die of lifestyle diseases, particularly heart attacks. However, they are still significantly more likely to take their own life than individuals living in freedom.