UK: prison 'culture change' needed to prevent suicides

A culture change in the penal system is needed to stop the rising number of suicides in prisons, according to a new report.

Campaigners say a “profound” shift is needed to move from a primarily punitive approach to one centred around rehabilitation and recovery.

Staff shortages and a “toxic” working environment were highlighted as issues in a paper published by the Centre for Mental Health and the Howard League for Penal Reform.

Figures published last month showed there were a record 119 apparent suicides in prisons in England and Wales last year - which is double the number in 2012.

There has also been a rise in self-harm incidents across prisons.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “Overcrowding and understaffing in prisons is placing intolerable stress on staff and prisoners, and putting lives at risk.

“No one should be so desperate while in the care of the state that they take their own life.”

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