Staff use of mandatory notification as a means of reducing suicide and self-harm in NSW correctional centres

Phillip Snoyman*, Berindah Aicken, Jayson Ware, Georgina Spilsbury

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Staff working within correctional services have a duty of care to provide safe and humane treatment for people who are incarcerated. Correctional staff are tasked with ensuring that self-harm is minimized for people who are incarcerated. The extent of self-harm behaviour in offenders managed by Corrective Services New South Wales (CSNSW) is explored in terms of staff response to behaviours. Self-harm is conceptualized along a continuum that can be described in four categories ranging from potentially lethal to preventative. Although staff do not overtly use this conceptual model, it is useful to describe self-harm behaviour in relation to CSNSW practice. The relationship between self-harm and violent and breach of order offences is explored. Finally, although not formally used by staff, risk of reoffending as measured by the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) is found to be significantly related to staff understanding of self-harm risk. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)255-272
Number of pages18
JournalPsychiatry, Psychology and Law
Volume20
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • CSNSW
  • LSI-R
  • offenders
  • risk
  • self-harm
  • staff understanding

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