Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice

National Study of Suicide in All People with a Criminal Justice History

Purpose of the Research

The US National Strategy for Suicide Prevention has an aim to reduce the number of suicide cases among prisoners. In the mid-1980's, it was reported that there is 9 times more risk of a person committing suicide in prison compared to the general public. The same is the case in England and Whales. This calls for measures to present the suicide rates in prison. The research also intended to determine whether people released from prison had a probability of committing suicide.

Study

The study examined the number of suicides taking place between 1981 and 2006. Those who were given a guilty verdict since 1980 were the subjects. People given not guilty verdicts and noncustodial sentences were also part of the study. The prevalence of serious mental illness among the subjects was also analyzed (Webb, Qin, Stevens, et al, 2011, 591).

Findings

Out of all the suicides that took place between 1981 and 2006, around a third of the males who had committed suicide had a history of criminal justice. In case of females, the proportion was around 12.8% (Webb, Qin, Stevens, et al, 2011, 591). The most common verdict received by majority of the people who committed suicide was a fine. Thus, it was proved that people with a criminal justice history have a higher chance of committing suicide.

Appropriateness of Findings

The findings are in line with the research objectives. The study was based on all the suicide cases that took place over a long period of time. Hence, the findings are accurate and relevant. The verdict of each person was also recorded n order to determine which verdict has the highest risk of leading to suicide. This ensured consistency in the findings.

Conclusions

It was determined that apart from people in ...