Being locked up with nothing to do but serve time, can drive an incarcerated man or woman to the point of suicidal ideation. Suicide in prison is more widespread than any other place outside of prison and is the leading cause of death for inmates in custody. There are many factors that exist that relate to prison suicides, such as the security of the facility, the living conditions, and the mental problems that exist within the prisoners. Proper judgment of whether an inmate starts becoming suicidal is what's definitely needed to prevent suicide. Because inmates still commit suicide in correctional facilities, prisons should emphasize and prioritize more on suicidal inmates and take more measures possible to preventing suicide.
In prisons, it's been said that according to Robert Frickey's, "Suicide in the U.S Federal Prison System," that suicide is one of the best possible solutions to dealing with the stress given in living behind metal bars. As the years go by, the suicide rate within prisons keep increasing by a rate of 18 to 40 per 100,000 which was explained by Anasseril E. Daniel in his article, "Preventing Suicide in Prison: A Collaborative Responsibility of Administrative, Custodial, and Clinical Staff." Also according to Daniel, in the United States, suicide rates among prison inmates are higher than in the general population and suicide accounts for more than half of all deaths in custody. Two sad things occur when suicide in prison happens. The first one is the death of an inmate and the second one is the failure of the correctional facilities to protect those who have suicidal behavior. Determining the factors will help prevent suicide in prison.
No matter how much effort is being put into preventing suicide, it still does happen and there are several more factors as to why inmates attempt suicide. In Lindsay Haye's article, Suicide in Adult Correctional Facilities: Key ingredients to prevention and overcoming obstacle, she mentions that there are two major factors that cause prison suicide and they are," jail environments are conducive to suicidal behavior; and the inmate is facing a crisis situation" "(260).
