Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Mar;104(3):442-7.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301742.

Solitary confinement and risk of self-harm among jail inmates

Fatos Kaba  1 , Andrea Lewis, Sarah Glowa-Kollisch, James Hadler, David Lee, Howard Alper, Daniel Selling, Ross MacDonald, Angela Solimo, Amanda Parsons, Homer Venters
Affiliations

Solitary confinement and risk of self-harm among jail inmates

Fatos Kaba et al. Am J Public Health. 2014 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: We sought to better understand acts of self-harm among inmates in correctional institutions.

Methods: We analyzed data from medical records on 244 699 incarcerations in the New York City jail system from January 1, 2010, through January 31, 2013.

Results: In 1303 (0.05%) of these incarcerations, 2182 acts of self-harm were committed, (103 potentially fatal and 7 fatal). Although only 7.3% of admissions included any solitary confinement, 53.3% of acts of self-harm and 45.0% of acts of potentially fatal self-harm occurred within this group. After we controlled for gender, age, race/ethnicity, serious mental illness, and length of stay, we found self-harm to be associated significantly with being in solitary confinement at least once, serious mental illness, being aged 18 years or younger, and being Latino or White, regardless of gender.

Conclusions: These self-harm predictors are consistent with our clinical impressions as jail health service managers. Because of this concern, the New York City jail system has modified its practices to direct inmates with mental illness who violate jail rules to more clinical settings and eliminate solitary confinement for those with serious mental illness.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
The distribution of first self-harm and potentially fatal self-harm relative to the date of the first solitary confinement in New York City jails: January 1, 2010–January 31, 2013.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lohner J, Konrad N. Deliberate self-harm and suicide attempt in custody: distinguishing features in male inmates’ self-injurious behavior. Int J Law Psychiatry. 2006;29(5):370–385. - PubMed
    1. Noonan ME, Carson EA. Washington, DC: Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics; 2011. Prison and jail deaths in custody, 2000–2009—statistical tables.
    1. Fagan TJ, Cox J, Helfand SJ, Aufderheide D. Self-injurious behavior in correctional settings. J Correct Health Care. 2010;16(1):48–66. - PubMed
    1. Preti A, Cascio MT. Prison suicides and self-harming behaviours in Italy, 1990–2002. Med Sci Law. 2006;46(2):127–134. - PubMed
    1. New York State Office of Mental Health. Serious and persistent mental illness. Available at: http://www.omh.ny.gov/omhweb/guidance/serious_persistent_mental_illness..... Accessed July 3, 2013.

LinkOut - more resources