A qualitative study of self-harm and suicidal behavior in male prisoners
10.3969/j.issn.1000-6729.2025.06.10
- VernacularTitle:男性服刑人员自我伤害及自杀行为的定性研究
- Author:
Jiali YANG
1
;
Lan WANG
;
Weiyi LIU
;
Chao WANG
;
Bo YANG
;
Hui ZHAO
Author Information
1. 中国政法大学证据科学研究院,北京 100088
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
maleprisoners;
self-harm;
suicide;
qualitative research
- From:
Chinese Mental Health Journal
2025;39(6):534-540
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To explore the occurrence,co-occurrence,and different subtypes of self-harm and sui-cidal behaviors among male prisoners to inform the development of targeted intervention strategies.Methods:A phenomenology in qualitative research was adopted,and 30 male prisoners with a history of self-harm behaviors,suicidal ideation and suicideattempts,were selected for semi-structured interviews.Data was analyzed by Colaizzi's seven-step method to distill themes.Results:Theme analysis revealed 4 themes and 9 sub-themes(subtypes)of the self-harm and suicidal behaviors of male prisoners,namely the initial occurrence of self-harm behaviors,non-suicid-al self-injury(NSSI)including 6 subtypes(emotional management disorder,self-punishing,antagonistic dissocia-tion,sensation seeking,self-harm without self-awareness,and instrumental self-harm),the co-occurrence of self-harm-suicide behaviors with a subtype of rational suicide,the acute suicide behavior including two subtypes(impul-sive suicide and psychiatric suicide).Conclusion:Negative emotions and emotional dysregulation are important re-lated factorsof self-harm among male prisoners.Suicidal behaviors commonly co-occurred with NSSI,and under-standing the NSSI of prisoners could provide reference for suicide prevention in prisons.There is variability in the motivation of different subtypes of NSSI in maleprisoners,and subtype-based personalized interventions could be a-dopted to reduce the occurrence of self-harm and suicidal behaviors.
