ABSTRACT
Prison suicides rates have been shown to be higher than those in the community, even for equivalent population groups, as far as we can tell from available information. Prison suicides also differ in qualitative respects from suicides in the community: their profiles are different. Of most significance is the finding that a history of psychiatric treatment may be less likely amongst prison suicides than amongst those in the community (Backett, 1987; 1988; Barraclough and Hughes, 1987) despite the high levels of psychiatric treatment in the prison population (Coid, 1984; Gunn et al, 1978). On the other hand, prison suicides differ less than might be expected from the general prison population in most respects.
