The Death of Offenders in Switzerland

Abstract

Death of prisoners has been a topic of concern for many years. Most studies have been focused on suicide among prison inmates and among populations of comparable age and sex. Such comparisons have usually shown suicide rates to be considerably higher among prisoners, and the prevailing conclusion has been that prison conditions are the major cause of this difference. Recent research in England and Wales suggests, however, that suicide rates are also unusually high among offenders in the community. If other causes of unnatural death are included, the gap between prisoners and offenders not in custody narrows further. To date, relevant research has tended to be limited to England and a few other English-speaking countries; therefore the present study was conducted in order to determine how far the conclusions might hold more generally. The Swiss data presented here confirm that unnatural death is rather common among offenders outside prison. Despite some differences in frequency of suicide and other unnatural causes of death among prisoners in England and Switzerland (which may be due to differences in sentencing and other policies), the overall picture of mortality in prisons suggests many similarities between the two countries.