Muhammad Nasirruddin Taijadin (827223) 27/03/2021 SSYR 5013 – Recidivism Prevention Throughout the world, prison population is increasing year after year In 2018, there is an increase of previous year 1.7% in prison population in the USA from the 1.7% of 100,000 = 1,700 One year = 365 days On average, at least 4 people are being sent to prison everyday In 2019, Malaysia has around 74,000 inmates which is also an increase from the previous year Living in prison is not at all rainbows and sunshine It is a stressful environment This can lead to the development of mental health disorder among inmates A study in England shows that there are a high prevalence of mental health disorder such as major depressive disorder among inmates (especially among substance abusive inmates) during their first month of imprisonment However, over time the symptoms tend to reduce for some of them In Malaysia, a study shows that there are 33.8% prevalence among female inmates while in another study shows that there are 60% prevalence among male inmates These figures are very concerning The number of suicide cases also increases not only in prison but also after they were released. A study in Australia suggests that there are 33.7% prevalence of suicide ideation among inmates and 20.5% prevalence of suicide attempts Several studies have shown that there is significant relationship between the presence of mental health disorders among inmates and the prevalence of suicidal behaviour Cambridge defines suicide as: the act of killing oneself intentionally From a psychological perspective, suicide is behaviour and desire of taking your own life to escape from an unbearable psychological pain What are the factors that drives an inmate to commit suicide? There are several factors that drives an inmate to commit suicide including social factors and psychological factors One of the social factors of committing suicide in prison is lack of social support Inmates are being deprived from their social support, i.e. family, wife and children, friends Losing social support may cause them to feel alone and abandoned hence this will lead to developing mental health disorders which could also lead suicide if left unchecked Another social factor is being bullied by other inmates Being a victim of bully diminishes one’s self esteem This may lead to feeling worthless and hopeless hence lead to developing mental health disorders Next, the psychological factors One of them is type of crime committed Substance abusive inmates have higher tendency to develop mental health disorders Being deprived of substance on cold turkey may cause the development withdrawal syndrome and anxiety which can lead to committing suicide Another psychological factor is childhood trauma Developmental psychologists believe that our belief system is the result of our childhood experience Series of bad childhood experience such as sexual abuse, physical abuse and others may cause a negative belief system Inmate with such belief system may believe that they are trapped in the cycle which leads to feel worthless and hopeless The increasing cases of suicide in prison needs to be addressed and prevention steps need to be taken One of the prevention steps that has been taken is: Changing the colour of the bedsheets to a brighter colour Back then, the colour of the bedsheets were dull So it blended in with the wall and the bedframe Most correctional staffs did not even notice that the bedsheet has been removed from the bed and fashioned into a noose In USA, some facilities have changed their bedsheets to yellow This is to help the staffs to be more attentive on it Questions: How effective is this method? Is hanging themselves the only way of committing suicide? Sometimes we forget that suicide intention/desire to commit it is not only the act but also the Hence, by only focusing the changes in the environment may not be as effective. Prevention steps on individual and psychological level need to be taken One, train the correctional staffs on mental health awareness and psychological first aid Suicide did not happen overnight, instead it is a build up from a series of stressful events This may help them to identify early signs of mental health disorders among inmates such as behavioural changes, increasing of suicidal ideation etc. And it will also allow them to provide an immediate psychological first aid Next, implement more mental health practitioners such as counsellors, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists or correctional psychologists in correctional facilities This would allow inmates to have better access to mental health service Each inmates has unique experience and individual needs Mental health practitioners can develop individual action plan to address these unique experiences and cater to their individual needs In Malaysia currently, our mental health service in prisons are very lacking and mostly caters to a collective need Mental health practitioners on loaned from the Ministry of Health only visited the prison on a monthly basis This is also due to the lack of mental health practitioners within the Ministry of Health itself In Singapore, they have Prison Housing Unit in collaboration with Institute of Mental Health where they provide mental health service every day In UK, they have Prison Mental Health In-reach Teams Prison needs to improve their mental health service in order to reduce suicide rates Improved mental health service will also help to prevent recidivism