Research suggests exposure to criminal justice system may increase risk of suicide

By Staff Writer

Past research has suggested that prisoners in the criminal justice system have an increased risk of attempting or committing suicide. However, scientists from the University of Manchester in England have studied the effects of being in the criminal justice system - regardless of verdict or prison sentence - on mental health.

The report, which is published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, shows the risk of suicide among offenders who are not imprisoned. The researchers examined the criminal history of a total of 27,219 Danish individuals who died by suicide between 1981 and 2006.

The results show that more than one-third of men - 34.8 percent - who killed themselves had a criminal history, compared to 24.6 percent of a control group. Additionally, 12.8 percent of women who died by suicide were in the criminal justice system, compared to 5.1 percent of those in a control group.

However, the researchers found that the highest rates of suicide were among those who had served time in prison. Yet, compared to those who were not in the criminal justice, individuals who had received even an innocent verdict had an increased risk of suicide.