Going Beyond Band-Aids to Stop Suicides in French Prisons

by Matt Kelley

categories: international criminal justice, Overcrowding, prison conditions

Published August 30, 2009 @ 02:34PM PT

French officials are taking the first steps this month to stem a rising tide of suicides in the nation's prisons. One facet of the response involves removing the physical tools of suicide from prison cells. While this may save lives, it won't address the deeper problem of despair in France's crowded prisons.

At least 88 people have killed themselves so far this year in the nation's prisons. This means suicides in the country are on pace to rise for a third straight year, and that the suicide rate among French prisoners continues to far eclipse that of the U.K. or the U.S.

Prison administrators in France will soon be issued "suicide kits" - including paper pajamas and tear-proof bedding to prevent hangings, which account for 96 percent of suicides. This may be a start, but preventing suicides by denying the physical tools is one thing. Addressing the overall mental health of prisoners is another.

There are also plans to train staff on identifying signs of possible suicide and to partner long-term prisoners with high-risk new arrivals. These programs are aimed in the right direction, and I hope they become the heart of the French response to this crisis, rather than simply sending "suicide kits" and calling it a solution.

Psychiatrist Louis Albrand, whose report on the state of French prisons is expected in October, said the steps announced this month were "disappointing."

"This is not a serious response. We need genuine penitentiary reform," said Albrand, who wants an overhaul of jails in favour of smaller-scale structures, and curbs on the use of solitary confinement, from 45 to 20 consecutive days.

It concerns me, as well, that overcrowding and suicides are being tied so closely in the media's (scant) coverage of the French suicide issue. Addressing overcrowding is a path to preventing suicides, but it isn't a solution in itself. Prisons at 100% capacity can still isolate prisoners, they can still fail to offer hope and services, they can still have hundreds of suicides.

Why are suicides so rampant in French prisons? I'm no expert on the conditions there, but I can tell you that it isn't only the crowding. Many states in the U.S. are well beyond 20% over capacity, and yet they experience far lower suicide rates. Are American prisons simply better at keeping the tools for suicide out of prisoners' cells? It's possible. We are surely even more committed to solitary confinement than France. And we don't have mental health services figured out either.

I mentioned the climbing rate of French suicides back in June, as an aside in a post pointing to the innovative prisoner bicycle tour. In general, Europe is more willing than the U.S. to view prison as rehabilitation, and prison systems there (and around the world) need more programs like the bike tour, and like mentorships between long-termers and new arrivals, to prevent suicides and increase the overall health of France's corrections institutions.