Abstract
Background: There is no extensive literature on social predictors of self-harm in the juvenile justice system, over the time of a prisoner’s sentence. Self-harm behavior displays a higher prevalence in prison, 11 to 14 times greater than in the general population. Our study extended the current research in self-harm by examining dynamic factors of self-harm in adolescents over their sentence in the Romanian juvenile prison system. Method: The present research examined longitudinal predictors of self-harm behaviors in 439 adolescent inmates (Mage = 16.21; 5.2% female, 94.8% male), enrolled in prison during 2011-2012, following them for two years. A series of time-to-event analyses were applied to start from the time of the subject’s internment in the juvenile prison system. Results: Findings from the multivariate survival analyses show that adherence to self-harm conduct in prison was consistently influenced by family factors and prison contexts; although low ability to cope with frustration, sensitivity and emotion dysregulation also mattered. Keeping the other covariates invariant, serving a prison sentence in a closed regime reduces the probability of remaining free of self-harm events, increasing the monthly hazard of self-harm by a factor of 5.26 on average (HR = 5.26, 95% CI = 2.37 - 11.64) compared to the open regime. Conclusion: A greater focus on longitudinal studies may help improve the screening process and also follow the progress of each juvenile to warrant the efficacy of preventive programs in self-harm, according to their emerging needs.
Highlights
According to the international society for the study of self-injury, the term “selfharm” refers to deliberate acts that aim to inflict tissue damage on one’s self without the intention of taking one’s life [1]
Our study extended the current research in selfharm by examining dynamic factors of self-harm in adolescents over their sentence in the Romanian juvenile prison system
Characteristics of Adolescents in Custody during the Period 2011-2012 Table 2 summarizes the variables of interest for male and female adolescents serving a sentence in the Romanian Juvenile Prison System
Summary
According to the international society for the study of self-injury, the term “selfharm” refers to deliberate acts that aim to inflict tissue damage on one’s self without the intention of taking one’s life [1]. It was demonstrated that self-harm normally acts as the main process of emotional regulation. Current evidence suggests that people who self-harm in prison reported a reduction in their distress levels or a reduction of negative emotions, such as fear and sadness [3]. It is unclear why people use self-harm as a strategy to control their emotions. Selfharm is interpreted as a manner of escapism to avoid negative feelings towards one’s self This emotional regulation, though maladaptive, suggests that this selfflagellation behavior could operate as a physiologically and mentally effective mechanism for releasing tension in situations perceived as unendurable [3] [6]
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