Staff Use of Mandatory Notification as a Means of Reducing Suicide and Self-Harm in NSW Correctional Centres

Abstract

Staff working within correctional services have a duty of care to provide safe and humane treatment for people who are incarcerated. Correctional staff are tasked with ensuring that self-harm is minimized for people who are incarcerated. The extent of self-harm behaviour in offenders managed by Corrective Services New South Wales (CSNSW) is explored in terms of staff response to behaviours. Self-harm is conceptualized along a continuum that can be described in four categories ranging from potentially lethal to preventative. Although staff do not overtly use this conceptual model, it is useful to describe self-harm behaviour in relation to CSNSW practice. The relationship between self-harm and violent and “breach of order” offences is explored. Finally, although not formally used by staff, risk of reoffending as measured by the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) is found to be significantly related to staff understanding of self-harm risk. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Key words:

• CSNSW
• LSI-R
• offenders
• risk
• self-harm
• staff understanding

Notes

1. Sexual offences include indecent assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual intercourse without consent.

2. Violent offences include assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm.

3. Property offences include robbery, goods in custody, stealing, break and enter.

4. Fraud offences include dishonestly obtaining money by deception, obtaining money by deception, embezzlement.

5. Driving offences include driving while licence suspended, driving with mid-range PCA (Prescribed Concentration of Alcohol; refers to a blood alcohol reading showing a concentration between 0.08 and 0.15 grams of alcohol per 100ml blood), dangerous driving.

6. Drug offences include importing a prohibited substance, traffic in commercial quantity of prohibited substance, manufacture of a prohibited drug.

7. Order offences include parole order revoked, breach apprehended violence order, not complying with conditions of a good behaviour bond.

8. Other offences are those that do not fit into the above categories including attempt to commit an offence, refusing a blood test, etc.