Self Harm and Suicide in Women Prisons - Coursework Example

Download file to see previous pages In the United Kingdom, all stakeholders are working together to reduce the death-related cases in the women prisons which are on the rise since 2009. Self-harm and suicide are caused by a number of factors. The factors may be biological, genetic, and environmental. The way, in which these factors interact and lead to suicide, is still unknown.
Self-harm occurs through injuring or poisoning that is done by an individual irrespective of the motivation that is involved. This involves self-injury through cutting oneself or poisoning through medication (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), 2014). According to the Health and Social Care Information Centre 4.9% of people in the United Kingdom, had harmed themselves in one way or another. Statistics show that in 2012, there were 11.6 deaths per 100,000 people (NICE, 2014). In English and Welsh prisons, the deaths resulting from self-harm were eight times higher. Moreover, research has also shown that people who have self-harmed, have a high likelihood of committing suicide within a period of twelve months. Additionally, the research has also shown that inmates, who commit suicide, have a history of self-harm in their lives. Consequently, NICE has a management plan both short term and long-term on how to handle people 8 years or older who self harm themselves. On long-term management, it covers psychological or a single and recurrent assessment. According to the assessment guidelines, there is a recommendation to the health care professionals that people, who have self-harmed, may also commit suicide. On the long-term management efforts, it covers psychological treatment and efficient treatment of recurrent cases. There were 139 out of 195 individuals self-harmed within a period of six years (NICE, 2014). This translates to annual self-harm from 200 to 249 people per 1000 each year. Additionally, statistics also show that individuals that self-harmed 20-24% were female prisoners (NICE, 2014). These numbers are high despite the small number of female prisoners. Moreover, women who self-harmed, did so eight times a year compared to the men who did so twice a year. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More