Risk factors for self‐injurious behaviour in custody: Problems of definition and prediction

This article reviews the international literature of the last two decades on self‐injurious behaviour in prisons and jails and introduces the risk factors associated with this behaviour. Studies from a variety of countries investigated different samples (e.g. in jails or prisons; female or male inmates). We only chose those studies using a control group of inmates without self‐injurious behaviour. The findings on potential risk factors for self‐injurious behaviour are largely contradictory because of the differences in sample selection and dependent variables (deliberate self‐harm without suicidal intent vs. suicide attempts). We also discuss some methodological problems in predicting self‐injurious behaviour.