How do suicidal or violent prisoners understand and manage emotion?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A qualitative study in prison settings to explore the subjective experiences of alexithymia and how these relate to suicide and aggression.
IRAS ID
222430
Contact name
Laura Hemming
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 26 days
Research summary
Life-endangering or 'risky' behaviors are frequently engaged in by prisoners. For instance, within UK prisons in 2015, there were 90 suicides, and a further 32,000 self-harm incidents. This rate of suicide is around three times higher than in the general population and is thought to cost anywhere between £150 million to £300 million. In addition to this, within UK prisons in 2015, there were over 20,500 assault incidents, an average of 250 assaults per every 1,000 prisoners.
The Prison Service's harm reduction strategies are largely 'reactive', focusing on identifying individuals who have engaged in risky behaviors such as aggression or suicide, and then providing support to reduce the likelihood of them causing further harm to self or others. The current study aims to understand what triggers prisoners to use risky behaviors, and in line with recent findings, will focus on exploring the link between the difficulty with identifying and expressing emotions (a deficit known as alexithymia) and causing harm to self or others. If we can show that prisoners who struggle to recognise and appropriately manage their emotions are more likely to engage in risky behaviours, then there is strong reason to introduce interventions in prison aimed at increasing prisoners' emotional awareness and management.
Specifically, this project will study male prisoners located at HMP Forest Bank who in the last three months have experienced suicidal ideation or engaged in aggressive behaviour. This project will also explore views held by prison staff working at HMP Forest Bank who have had at least one experience working with a prisoner who has been suicidal or aggressive. This study aims to qualitatively explore how alexithymia is experienced by individuals, and how this relates to suicide and aggression. The study will use interviews and focus groups to explore this.
REC name
North East - York Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NE/0132
Date of REC Opinion
22 May 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion