![[Logo] The Howard League for Penal Reform](fileadmin/howard_league/template/resources/logo.gif "The Howard League for Penal Reform"){kind=logo}
Suicide and self-injury prevention
The Howard League for Penal Reform has been at the forefront of the campaign to reduce the incidence of suicide and self-injury in prisons for more than a decade. The campaign began with an inquiry launched by the Howard League into the deaths of five teenagers in Leeds prison in 1988/9. This was followed up by further research into four suicides in Feltham and a broader inquiry into violence in young offender institutions, during the early 1990s.
The Howard League for Penal Reform used this expertise in the researching and publication of further reports on the subject, Scratching the Surface: the hidden problem of self-harm in prisons and Desperate Measures: prison suicides and their prevention, provided a ground-breaking new look at the issues.
Since 2001 the Howard League for Penal Reform has undertaken a series of further reports investigating different aspects of suicide and self-injury. The following reports are available from the Howard League:
- Suicide and self-harm prevention: court cells and prison vans
- Suicide and self-harm prevention: repetitive self-harm among women and girls in prison
- Suicide and self-harm prevention: following release from prison
- Suicide and self-harm prevention: the management of self-injury in prison
- Suicide and self-harm prevention:strategy for Northern Ireland
For further information about the numbers of prison suicides click here.
In addition to our own research programme, the Howard League for Penal Reform also acts as an expert adviser to the prisons minister on issues of suicide and self-injury prevention. The Howard League for Penal Reform's director, Frances Crook, meets with the minister and other prison service staff three times per year to discuss key developments and trends.
The Howard League online