Self-harm in prison custody
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Self inflicted deaths and harm in prison custody.
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1. Main facts and figures
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rates of self-harm for prisoners increased for the prison population in general during the period measured
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White prisoners had consistently higher rates of self-harm than other ethnic groups throughout the period measured
Things you need to know
These figures are the rates of incidents of self-harm per 1,000 prisoners. Individuals may commit multiple acts of self-harm within a year, which are reported as separate incidents. So, for example, 100 incidents may not have been carried out by 100 distinct individuals.
Estimates based on a larger number of respondents are generally more reliable. Therefore, the smaller numbers of respondents from ethnic minority backgrounds mean that estimates for these groups are less reliable than estimates for White people.
What the data measures
The data measures the number of incidents of self-harm per 1,000 prisoners in England and Wales per calendar year from 2011 to 2015, with a breakdown by ethnicity.
Self-harm in prison custody is defined as any act where a prisoner deliberately harms themselves, regardless of how they do so, what their intent is or how badly they injure themselves.
The ethnic categories used in this data
Prisoners’ ethnicity was recorded in the following broad categories:
- Asian/Asian British
- Black/African/Caribbean/Black British
- Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups
- White
- Chinese and Other ethnic group
2. Self-harm incidents per 1,000 prisoners by ethnicity
| Year | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other/Chinese |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 99 | 63 | 153 | 339 | 127 |
| 2012 | 90 | 65 | 136 | 325 | 159 |
| 2013 | 98 | 70 | 204 | 322 | 205 |
| 2014 | 82 | 71 | 229 | 361 | 184 |
| 2015 | 124 | 81 | 274 | 450 | 225 |
Download table data for ‘Self-harm incidents per 1,000 prisoners by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Self-harm incidents per 1,000 prisoners by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Self-harm in prison custody Self-harm incidents per 1,000 prisoners by ethnicity Summary
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in 2015, White prisoners had the highest rates of self-harm, with 450 incidents per 1,000 White prisoners
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prisoners in the Mixed ethnic group had the next highest rate of self-harm, at 274 incidents per 1,000 prisoners in that group in 2015
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Asian and Black prisoners had much lower rates of self-harm, with 124 incidents per 1,000 and 81 per 1,000 respectively
3. Methodology
Self-harm is measured as the rate per 1,000 prisoners (taken from prison population monthly snapshots, averaged across a 12-month period).
Ethnicity was recorded for more than 95% of incidents of self-harm. Because of the very small number of incidents of self-harm where ethnicity is not known, this data has been excluded from the analysis.
Administrative data sources are reported as recorded. Information is provided by prisons and signed off locally.
Data wardens review the data, but as with all large administrative surveys errors and omissions can occur.
Suppression rules and disclosure control
Values of 2 or fewer are suppressed in relation to individuals (not incidents, where no disclosure applies).
Rounding
Rates per 1,000 are rounded to 1 decimal place
Related publications
NOMS annual offender equalities report: 2015 to 2016
Further technical information
4. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Ministry of Justice
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
Admin data used for internal management information
5. Download the data
This file contains the following: ethnicity, year and value