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To cut jail suicides, cut the prison population To cut jail suicides, cut the prison population
(1 day later)
As you reported (Record number of prisoners take their own lives, 27 January), the Ministry of Justice has recently released figures showing that 119 prisoners took their own lives in 2017. Incidents of self-harm have also steeply risen in the last year. As you reported (Record number of prisoners take their own lives, 27 January), the Ministry of Justice has recently released figures showing that 119 prisoners took their own lives in 2016. Incidents of self-harm have also steeply risen in the last year.
Explanations of self-inflicted deaths and self-harm must be situated within the intensification of the everyday pains and deprivations of prison life. Prisons are places where autonomy and choices are severely curtailed; feelings of safety and sense of security are weak; and where the dull and monotonous living and working routines of the prison systematically deprive prisoners of basic human needs.Explanations of self-inflicted deaths and self-harm must be situated within the intensification of the everyday pains and deprivations of prison life. Prisons are places where autonomy and choices are severely curtailed; feelings of safety and sense of security are weak; and where the dull and monotonous living and working routines of the prison systematically deprive prisoners of basic human needs.
The general lack of privacy and intimacy; the forced relationships between prisoners sharing a cell; insufficient living space and personal possessions; the indignity of eating and sleeping in what is in effect a lavatory; living daily with the unpleasant smells of body odour, urine and excrement; and the humiliation of defecating in the presence of others – all of these are profoundly painful and harmful.The general lack of privacy and intimacy; the forced relationships between prisoners sharing a cell; insufficient living space and personal possessions; the indignity of eating and sleeping in what is in effect a lavatory; living daily with the unpleasant smells of body odour, urine and excrement; and the humiliation of defecating in the presence of others – all of these are profoundly painful and harmful.
Prisons can also sever prisoners from past relationships, while security restrictions mean they lose control of their lives in the present. In the end, prisons are all about wasting human life and will always be places that take things away.Prisons can also sever prisoners from past relationships, while security restrictions mean they lose control of their lives in the present. In the end, prisons are all about wasting human life and will always be places that take things away.
For many inmates, prisons are lonely, isolating and brutalising experiences. Combined with the painful awareness of the passing of wasted time, the bland mundaneness of prison life can lead to thoughts of death (suicidal ideation).For many inmates, prisons are lonely, isolating and brutalising experiences. Combined with the painful awareness of the passing of wasted time, the bland mundaneness of prison life can lead to thoughts of death (suicidal ideation).
As many of the pains of imprisonment can be neither effectively ameliorated nor removed, if we wish to avoid record prisoner self-inflicted deaths in the future we must take steps now to radically reduce the prison population.Dr David ScottRamsbottom, Greater ManchesterAs many of the pains of imprisonment can be neither effectively ameliorated nor removed, if we wish to avoid record prisoner self-inflicted deaths in the future we must take steps now to radically reduce the prison population.Dr David ScottRamsbottom, Greater Manchester
• This letter was amended on 2 February 2017. An earlier version referred to 2017 where 2016 was meant.