Appendix 5.6 Florida Corrections Commission 1999 Annual Report Appendix 5.6 Suicide in Prison Prison can exacerbate severe and chronic mental illness. Brutality and overcrowding can also affect inmates, even if they had no prior history of mental illness.
Many people become depressed and suicidal in prison.
Prison can not only deteriorate existing mental conditions, but can cause breakdowns in previously sane prisoners. In late 1998, two female inmates housed at Jefferson Correctional Institution committed suicide. Although the Department of Corrections has one of the lowest inmate suicide rates nationally, their deaths sparked investigations by the department, the Governor s Inspector General, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The department s problematic response to a suicide by a male inmate housed at Martin CI, in addition to the two female inmate suicides, prompted this general examination of suicide in prison. Theories of Suicide for the General Population Nationally the suicide rate in 1995 for the general population for adults age 20 to 24 years old was 16.2 per 100,000 persons with 27.7 for males and 4.3 for females.