Abstract

LARROTTA CASTILLO, Richard; LUZARDO BRICENO, Marianela; VARGAS CIFUENTES, Sandra  and  RANGEL NORIEGA, Kelly. Characteristics of suicide behavior in Colombian prisons. Rev. Crim. [online]. 2014, vol.56, n.1, pp.83-95. ISSN 1794-3108.

Objective. This study of a descriptive correlational type was aimed at establishing which of the incarceration context variables of time, method and place appear more frequently in 60 inmates involved in situations dealing with suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and completed suicide during the first quarter of 2013 in the prisons and correctional institutions attached to the INPEC, the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute of Colombia. Method. The intentional sample consisted of 60 inmates, 68.3 % of which were men and 31.7 % were women with an average age of 28.02 years and a standard deviation of 8.03 years. Results. Through a format for the exclusive use by the INPEC and the "Statisticals Package for the Social Sciences" (SPSS) software, the result obtained was that suicide attempt, with 76.7 %, is the most frequently occurring conduct. Likewise, through the Pearson Chi-squared test (X2), the existence of statistically significant relations between the suicidal behavior type and gender and method used was established, instead of event and type of suicidal conduct. Conclusions. The initial incarceration stage is the most risky period (one to five months) in the emergence of the first suicidal attempt (41.7 %), which may be explained as triggered by the affective and emotional maladjustment fragmenting the daily life of inmates in their interpersonal and intrapersonal relations, where positive communication is absent and both moral and psychological stress are revealed (OMS, 2000).

Keywords : Prison; correctional institutions; suicide; psychology; prison staff.

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