Suicide and Self-Harm in Prisons and Jails - by Christine Tartaro & David Lester (Hardcover)

About the Book

Using recent prison and jail suicide data, Suicide and Self-Harm in Prisons and Jails explores how the stress associated with arrest, sentencing, and incarceration can contribute to the onset of a suicidal crisis even among those who never before experienced suicidal ideation or self-harmed.

Book Synopsis

Using recent prison and jail suicide data, Suicide and Self-Harm in Prisons and Jails explores how the stress associated with arrest, sentencing, and incarceration can contribute to the onset of a suicidal crisis even among those who never before experienced suicidal ideation or self-harmed.

Review Quotes

A very much needed comprehensive and practical book. It will help in the hard work of preventing suicide in prisons. Highly recommended for anyone interested in suicide prevention and prison environment.

Combining the skills of Christine Tartaro, an insightful criminologist, and David Lester, a leading suicidologist, Suicide and Self-harm in Prisons and Jails is not only timely, but also the most important book on the topic since Lester's Suicide Behind Bars two decades ago. Richly detailed, weaving together research, case examples, and the law, the authors allow the reader to appreciate and understand the complexity of suicide in prisons and jails, as both present very different rates and dynamics, and how to help. This book is a prime contribution for forensic specialists, law enforcement and correctional officers, students, and those of us who investigate the deaths for legal and liability issues. I predict that it will become the standard.

Tartaro and Lester provide an accessible overview of the epidemiology and etiology of prison suicidality and self mutilation, as well as a critical assessment of clinical/prevention issues including screening programs, crisis counseling, environmental designs (that can limit opportunities for suicide), and litigation regarding system negligence. It is clearly the leading source on the topic for both researchers and practitioners.

This book is a thoroughly researched and comprehensive review of the current state of knowledge on the subject of suicide prevention in the custodial environment. It should prove valuable for any mental health professional who works with inmates, as well as for correctional staff and administrators who are tasked with ensuring the safety of an incarcerated population. Overall, Suicide and Self-Harm in Prisons and Jails is a comprehensive, eminently practical guide to this critical topic, and represents an important contribution to the field.

About the Author

Christine Tartaro is associate professor of criminal justice at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

David Lester is distinguished professor of psychology at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.