‘What to do with the cutters?’ – Best practices for offender self-injurious behaviors

Abstract

This paper addresses focal concerns regarding self-injurious behavior (SIB) in offenders, provides guidance on current best practices, and explains and challenges myths often held by correctional staff and administration regarding SIB. It is organized along the following thematic areas: (1) Behavior: SIBs within corrections are complex, challenging, and often misunderstood; (2) People: reducing rates of SIB in a correctional facility is a difficult challenge that requires collaboration; and (3) Place: the challenge of providing therapeutic and medical care within a correctional setting. Subsequently, policy implications and best practices recommendations are provided in order to better address this problematic behavior.