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Home Office

Answer

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of self-injury and attempted suicide by juveniles have occurred in the segregation unit at Stoke Heath. [172355] Paul Goggins: [holding answer 11 May 2004]: There were seven reported incidents of self-harm in the Segregation Unit at Stoke Heath young offender institution involving juveniles during 2003, and one so far reported in 2004. A new form for reporting self-harm was introduced across the prison estate in December 2002. This has improved the consistency with which self-harm incidents are reported and, by broadening the range of questions that are asked, improved the detail and quality of the information collected. Prior to 2003, data on the location in the prison where the self-harm incident occurred were not collated centrally. Suicidal intent is not easy to establish. The reasons why people self-injure are highly complex, and it is often difficult to distinguish between acts of self-harm that were attempts at ending life, and those which occurred for other reasons. It is not possible, therefore, for the Prison Service to extrapolate from the data recording incidents of self-harm those acts that may have been attempts at suicide. A number of intervention strategies have been introduced into prisons, young offender and juvenile establishments for people who self-harm. These include counselling, support groups, and specialised psychological interventions. While evaluation of these interventions is, at present, very limited, evidence from research in non-prison settings suggests that male and female adolescents who self-harm repeatedly may benefit from group therapy. A network of establishments has been set up to develop interventions, facilitate evaluation and share good practice. Guidance to staff on managing people who self- harm has also been circulated to establishments.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

172355; 422 c192W

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Young offenders Suicide Self-harm HMP/YOI Stoke Heath

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk