On the same week a federal judge refused to end oversight of state prisons mental health services, an unscientific survey asked 100 San Quentin men about prison suicides.
The survey discovered 80 percent of the men knew someone who committed suicide while incarcerated.
The survey found that 35 percent of prisoners believed suicide was due to feeling hopeless—unhappiness followed at 34 percent. Twenty-four percent said despondency would cause a suicide, while a parole denial garnered 18 percent. Other reasons cited were health issues, deaths in family, divorce and girlfriends leaving them. Comments included, staff abuse and depression caused by withdrawal of medication.
The majority of people, 58 percent, said hanging would be the method of suicide, while 20 percent choose a drug overdose. Other methods included, blood depletion and jumping off tiers.
When the person interviewed was asked if he could have done anything to prevent a suicide, only seven percent said yes, while 57 percent said no.
Thirty-seven percent of the men said after learning about a suicide, they became angry at prison custody. Thirty-six percent became angry toward the mental health caregivers.
Twenty-four percent said they saw signs of suicide before it happened, while 38 percent saw no signs.
Only six of the men surveyed said the suicide victims discussed their problem with mental health services.
The following questions were asked and here are the results:
Do you think committing suicide is a cowardly act?
Yes 24 percent No 41 percent
Do you think committing suicide takes a lot of courage?
Yes 44 percent No 41 percent
If you had known that a person was attempting to commit suicide, would have you done something to prevent the act from occurring?
Yes 68 percent No 15 percent
Have you ever contemplated suicide?
Yes 24 percent No 59 percent
Does the mental health department do enough to prevent suicide in prison?
Yes 6 percent No 71 percent
When the survey asked, What do you think is the best way to prevent suicides in prison?
The answers ranged from, alert staff, doctors and mental health staff so that a trusting communication link with inmates could be developed to promote peer interventions and training so that prisoners could recognize suicidal tendencies and actively work to prevent them.
The last question requested personal feelings about how suicide affected their lives. Here are some of the final comments:
“I’ve personally know of at least seven people committed suicide since I’ve been incarcerated. It has had a deep profound affect on my soul and has changed the way I view the time value of life.”
“Caring attitude towards them. Don’t view them as “crazy” or “sickies.” Take this condition more seriously as they may be the first line of assistance to them, report to proper care-givers.”
“When some “suit” gives you 50-to-life for stealing a cupcake and you’re in your 40’s when it happens, it (suicide) may be the only control over your own life that you’ll ever again see. People are incredibly cruel in the “the justice machine” and it just never ends for some of us. So yeah – suicide is a viable “out”!!” (sic)
“Having been incarcerated for over 36 years, I still see many staff members and inmates encouraging suicide rather than discouraging it.”
