Objective:

To identify the characteristics that make up the psychosocial risk factors that have an impact on suicidal behavior in Colombian prisoners, in order to improve the psychological care provided in penitentiaries.

Method:

Documentary review article, of qualitative type, carried out through a collection, review and analysis of 50 documents; of which 13 articles were selected for the elaboration of the results. During the research, the elaboration and distinction of the document is taken into account, according to the collection and organization of information collected through databases such as Scielo, Scopus, Oxford, Science Direct, Redalyc, Pubmed, among others, Therefore, the categories and subcategories developed during the investigation corresponding to the topic to work are discriminated.

Results:

Key psychosocial risk factors were identified, such as: prison ionization, family or affective bond, use of psychoactive substances, life plan, psychological problems and time of sentence; presented by the prison population worldwide, which are taken into account to reduce suicide rates in prison settings.

Conclusions:

The documentary review identifies the risk factors and protective factors that allow the timely detection of suicidal behaviour in persons deprived of their liberty, taking into account that some of the risk factors may also be protective factors, such as family ties, the life plan, the process of imprisonment and the time of sentence, and other factors if they are highly relevant because of their risk in suicidal behavior; such as substance use and psychological problems.

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