Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to document data availability and reporting on suicide mortality in state prison systems. The United States leads the world in mass incarceration, a structural determinant of health, but lacks real-time reporting of prison health statistics. This absence is particularly notable in suicides, a leading cause of death that carceral policies play a key role in mitigating. METHODS: Suicide data for each state prison system from 2017-2021 were gathered through statistical reports, press releases, and Freedom of Information Act requests. We graded states based on data availability. RESULTS: Only sixteen states provide updated, frequent, granular, freely provided suicide data. An additional thirteen states provided frequently updated data but that had little granularity, was incomplete, or was not freely provided. Eight states provided sparse, infrequent, or outdated data, and thirteen provided no data at all. CONCLUSIONS: The 2000 Death in Custody Reporting Act requires that states provide these data freely, yet the majority of states do not. There is a need for reliable, real-time data on suicides, suicide attempts, and conditions of confinement to better understand the harms of the carceral system and to advocate for change.
Source: PLoS ONE
Institutions: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,805
Funders: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Awards: G1120543537, G223407194, G2484801677, G3511106470, G3617356680, G5246361710, Mass Probation: Probation’s Individual and Community Effects on Mental Health Disparities, G6613980829, Population Research Training, Collaborative Justice-Involved Research and Training Program on Substance Use and HIV at Brown University Health
OpenAlex ID: W4378902506