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Self-Harm in Prison

Manipulators can Also Be Suicide Attempters

Edith Cowan University

DONALD M. THOMSON

Charles Sturt University

ADELMA M. HILLS

University of Western Sydney

This study sought to determine whether self-harm incidents classified as manipulative would also be classified as low suicidal intent and low risk to life. Seventy-four prisoners who had self-harmed were interviewed within 3 days of the incident. Measures were obtained of the degree of suicidal intent (Suicide Intent Scale), the degree to which the incident posed a risk to life (assessed by medical staff), and the principal motive for self-harming (open-ended question). The data did not support the notion that manipulators and suicide attempters are mutually exclusive groups. Only 6 of the 18 participants who reported manipulative motives displayed low suicidal intent, and 3 of the 18 enacted self-harm that posed at least a moderate risk to life. Prison staff cannot assume that prisoners who appear manipulative or report manipulative motives were not suicidal at the time of self-harming.

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