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THE GOVERNMENT HAS been asked to support the introduction of a suicide prevention programme in Irish prisons.
Yesterday, Maureen Mulligan, the Director of the Irish Institute of Naturopathic Medicine, discussed the issue with the Oireachtas justice committee.
Mulligan worked on a similar programme in UK prisons for 14 years with 200 voluntary practitioners.
Prisoners from all over Britain took part in the initiative. Mulligan said there was “a significant reduction of attempted suicide in individuals who have undertaken the programme”.
Participants were supported through counselling, natural medicine, anger management, and nutritional and fitness advice.
Mulligan told the committee of one instance where a prisoner with 150 previous charges was referred to the programme in 2006. His father had been murdered and he was dependent on drugs and alcohol.
“There was nothing for him, he was out of control,” she recalled.
Following three months of therapy in prison and continued engagement with the programme upon his release, he has not re-offended since.
Mulligan said that many of the prisoners she worked with “had given up the will to live”.
Some of those who completed the programme, which ran seven days a week, were released on parole and had their sentences shortened.
“One suicide within prison is too many and is everyone’s trauma,” Mulligan said.
She noted that a prisoner’s suicide affects their family “from generation to generation, forever feeding a need for failure and the cycle of wasteful tragedy”.
Mulligan said that many of the prisoners who sought help from the programme did so under false pretences, noting that some heroin addicts would pretend to have a bad back when they first engaged with doctors.
She said that it would “help their male egos” to not have to share their true problem initially.
“They come in for the wrong reason but stay for the right reason.”
The main aim for them was to get their families back … and be free of the need to use drugs.
“For some the first step of recovery is when they are incarcerated.”
Mulligan said that the issues of depression, self harm and suicide among prisoners need to be dealt with by society at large.
We need as a community to understand the pain held by the person who is lost to failure and doubt about their ability and purpose in living.
The pilot project was co-developed by a number of organisations and has the backing of doctors and academics in the UK, Germany and the US.
Mulligan wants Europe-wide training for doctors to be financed through the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 fund.
She said that the programme, if implemented, would be closely monitored and could be individually tailored to suit male and female prisoners and young offenders.
Committee chair David Stanton said that some of the issues raised by Mulligan were covered in the committee’s 2013 Report on Penal Reform.
He said that the group would “certainly have a discussion about this”.
Labour TD Anne Ferris said the programme was a “very, very good initiative”, adding: “We certainly as a committee should support it”.
Helplines:
Samaritans 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
Console 1800 247 247 – (suicide prevention, self-harm, bereavement)
Aware 1890 303 302 (depression, anxiety)
Pieta House 01 601 0000 or email mary@pieta.ie - (suicide, self-harm, bereavement)
Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19)
Childline 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s)
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Simple solution. Just obey the law.
didn’t the b’ham 6, guildford 4, mcguire 7, judith ward ect etc etc obey the law? How did that work out?
Grand actually. They got great compo
Yeah of course you have bleeding hearts who sees everone as a victim in jail. Thankfully im a realist. Break the laws go to jail.
They didn’t get great compo you troll, most are still suffering.
Eh what about suicide prevention awareness for people who didnt break the law, and are crippled trying to pay their mortgage because theyre wages are being cut and they are being taxed more and more all the time. The prisoners in this country are already treated like royalty. Free accomodation and free food. Absolute joke! Theyre supposed to be punished for commiting crime not rewarded. Rant over!
Very sad that we cannot have compassion for all who suffer… insider or outside of prison :-( I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like first off, say, to be a drug addict drugging yourself to make yourself feel OK, then perhaps a dealer and then getting locked up for years – I cannot see how being locked up in an Irish prison is being treated like royalty – I know I certainly would not like it. Personally there would be no comparison between that and being free with difficulty paying the mortgage…
I have heard John Lonergan say that the majority of young people who start out on their prison careers have in his view learning difficulties and / or addictions. Well my mother’s generation had tablets for their nerves – all nice and legal – to deaden their pain. Some young people these days have been so damaged that they take drugs as a form of self-medication. They have been let down by society too. Imagine the huge sense of failure and sense that their life is over they must suffer being imprisoned. No wonder they are such a suicide risk. Anything that helps them in such grim circumstances and also contributes to non re-offending is brilliant and essential in a civilised and compassionate society.
Crime and punishment. Not crime and rehabilitation. Our prisoners already have more luxury than a lot of people who have not committed serious crimes.
If you hadn’t noticed already, crime and punishment doesn’t work and after the thousands of years of trying it it still hasn’t worked
I suppose if you want to ensure we have a high re-offending rate and more crime then carry on with the crime and punishment. However, if we want a lower re-offending rate and lower crime we could be more like countries like Denmark (17% re-offending rate compared to our more than 70%), who treat their offenders with much more respect and compassion and seek to address the reasons behind the offending, help offenders to learn to take more responsibility for their actions, and help them to get the training and education they need to pick up a more responsible and better life when they leave prison – rather than just chucking them out with no income and no support like here in Ireland.
Single cells would reduce bullying rape and give prisoners who want to study, the chance to study. Having your own space for at least 12 hours would be a haven.
One suicide ANYWHERE is too many!
Don’t be silly. If Hitler committed suicide would that have been tragedy.
Eh he did actually commit suicide :-/
A. He did commit suicide. And B.. It was a shame as he dodged a trial in the war crimes tribunal…
Cian, it wasn’t a shame because he’d have died anyway
People are in Prison for a reason, how about addressing the reasons why people end up in prison in the first place? Prisons reflect society, any country with a decent standard of living, a good health care and welfare system tend to have a smaller percentage of its population in prison…….this is closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Absolutely right… some of these young people never had a chance… tragic… and true to say that countries that have more equal societies have much less crime and much smaller prison populations. Our education system has much to answer for… we have a high number of drop out adolescents who are out of education and out of work in this country… they experience failure in school… drop out and things can go downhill from there… I genuinely have seen this happen time and time again… imagine if they had an experience in school where they could experience success and a boost to their self-esteem, and a place where they could belong? Especially if they came from a difficult background.
I saw a programme on TV tonight about a TV chef who wanted to explore her past as a child who was in care and fostered, as her family background was so difficult. She met with some modern day foster parents and one of the men was fostering a young teenage lad who he had brought to boxing. That lad would break your heart – so angry, but under it so very hurt – he regularly had to leave his home throughout his childhood and teens because of the violence and conflict and just go anywhere else – a mate’s house or wherever – for up to a month at a time till circumstances forced him to go back home. This is the kind of angry child that could end up just not caring and either taking drugs or getting into some kind of trouble (though I hope this lovely young man will be OK). Often these children need help if they are not to spend a lifetime behind bars. Tragic.
Can’t do the time, don’t do the crime!
Depending on the crime I may have sympathy . If murders rapists and paedos they can do themselves in all they want.
A prisoner with 150 previous charges should have been locked up for life after he hit 10 convictions.
What civilised society lets a citizen break the law hundreds of times?
Indeed, what a horrible indictment of our justice system – it does not help people to reform and change their lives for the better… unlike countries like Denmark, which have a 17% re-offending rate compared to ours of more than 70%. They have a much more compassionate system that seeks really to reform the person; ours clearly further brutalises them.
Regardless of if these people are prisoners, they deserve help. Within Ireland 1 in 4 will suffer with depression which can often lead to suicidal thoughts so multiple people reading this should understand that feeling and empathise. These people have made mistakes but that does not take away from the fact that they don’t deserve to feel that way. Rehibilitation is a necessity if crime rates are to reduce.
Naturopathic Medicine… I hope you know that is not real medicine, right?
I’m all in favour of rehabilitation, but how exactly is magic medicine supposed to solve the problem?
What we need is a proper national strategy on suicide prevention, not some crackpot fake quack getting paid to talk nicely to convicted criminals.
Lowest pupil / teacher ratios In prisons 6 to 8 lags per teacher.. Taxpayers kids 30 to a teacher.. Disgrace I these dirt birds are treated like royalty they get bloody ice creams when it’s sunny for Christsake
“Further brutalises them” have you ever set foot inside a prison they are coddled beyond belief ive been an officer for 12 years and I have not witnessed or heard of any “brutality” against prisoners but I’d be here all day listing the assaults on staff
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