Abstract
Suicide is the leading cause of death in penal institutions, especially during the early stage of confinement. Effective suicide prevention thus requires early identification of at-risk inmates. The aim of this study was to assess a screening instrument developed in the Netherlands for early identification of potentially suicidal high-risk inmates. The screening instrument was retrospectively tested and further developed on the basis of 30 suicides that occurred between 1991–2000 at the pretrial detention center Berlin-Moabit and an equalsized control random sample. The screening instrument turned out to be sensitive. The initially high rate of false-positive classifications could be lowered by simplifying the instrument.