Self-inflicted harm in custody, Australia, 1989

This study is one of several studies conducted for a Royal Commission inquiry into aboriginal deaths in custody. The purpose of the study was to obtain information on self-inflicted harm in custody. The interest was in both attempted suicide (whether the person actually intended to die from the attempt or not) and other forms of self-harm, such as lacerations. It was intended that the information could be used to help develop policies and practices that may reduce the incidence of self-inflicted deaths in custody.

Topics covered in the present study include the time, place and form of self-injury, the immediate reaction of custodial staff and subsequent action (e.g. bail to attend hospital, counselling), and the use of alcohol or drugs. Background variables include geographical location and the age, sex, race (aboriginal or nonaboriginal) and most serious offence of the offender.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, researchers and other users should be aware that material in this dataset may contain material that is considered offensive. The data have been retained because it represents an evidential record of language, beliefs or other cultural situations at a point in time.

Dataset ID:

au.edu.anu.ada.ddi.00604

Principal Investigator:

Subject:

Legal systems, legal services, legal aid

Keywords:

Crime - Rehabilitation

Crime - Imprisonment

Mental Health - Suicide

Injuries

Health - Injuries

Document Description

The Document Description consists of bibliographic information describing the DDI-compliant document itself as a whole.

Document Title:

Self-inflicted harm in custody, Australia, 1989

Document ID:

au.edu.anu.ada.ddi.00604

Production

Producers:

Producer:

Abbreviation:

Affiliation:

Production Software:

Software:

Software Version:

Release Date:

Production Place:

Australian Data Archive 18 Balmain Crescent Canberra ACT 0200

Production Date:

3 May 1991

Version Statement

Version:

Version 2

Date:

22 Mar 2010

Notes:

This version of the metadata was created when the archive holdings for this study were reviewed in 2010.

Bibliographic Citation:

Biles, D., et al. Self-inflicted harm in custody, Australia, 1989 [computer file]. Canberra: Australian Data Archive, The Australian National University, 2010.

Study Description

The Study Description consists of information about the data collection, study, or compilation that the DDI-compliant documentation file describes. This section includes information about how the study should be cited, who collected or compiled the data, who distributes the data, keywords about the content of the data, summary (abstract) of the content of the data, data collection methods and processing, etc. Note that some content of the Study Description's Citation -- e.g., Responsibility Statement -- may be identical to that of the Documentation Citation. This is usually the case when the producer of a data collection also produced the print or electronic codebook for that data collection.

Production

Production Software:

Software:

Version:

Date:

Distribution

Distributors

Distributor:

Abbreviation:

Contact Persons:

Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, Bag 21 Queen Victoria Terrace ACT 2600

Affiliation:

Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody

Depositor:

Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, Bag 21 Queen Victoria Terrace ACT 2600

Affiliation:

Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody

Deposit Date:

Fri, 05/03/1991

Version Statement

Responsibility Statement:

Australian Data Archive

Study Information

Time Period Covered:

Sat, 04/01/1989 to Sat, 09/30/1989

Research Collection Date:

Sat, 04/01/1989 to Wed, 08/30/1989

Country:

Australia

Geographic Area:

National

Geographic Unit:

State

Unit of Analysis:

incident of self-harm

Universe:

all incidents of self-inflicted harm including attempted suicides in Australia from 1 April 1989 to 30 August 1989, in police and prison custody

Kind of Data:

census

Methodology

Time Method:

cross-sectional (one-time) study

Sampling Procedure:

no sampling (total universe)

Mode of Data Collection:

reports completed by custodial personnel

Type of Research Instrument:

Structured

Weighting:

None

Cleaning Operations:

The data were checked by the archive for missing variable and value labels, out of range values and wild codes, logical inconsistencies, and confidentiality.

Response Rate:

no sampling (total universe)

Class of the Study:

Level 2

Data Access

Access Conditions:

The depositor may be informed (by the archive) of use being made of the data, in order to comment on that use and make contact with colleagues of similar interests.

Citation Requirements:

All manuscripts based in whole or in part on these data should:

(i) identify the data and original investigators by using the recommended bibliographic reference to the data file

(ii) acknowledge the Australian Data Archive and, where the data are made available through the Australian Data Archive by another archive, acknowledge that archive;

Biles, D., et al. Self-inflicted harm in custody, Australia, 1989 [computer file]. Canberra: Australian Data Archive, The Australian National University, 2010.

(iii) declare that those who carried out the original analysis and collection of the data bear no responsibility for the further analysis or interpretation of them.

Deposit Requirements:

In order to assemble essential information about archival resources and to facilitate the exchange of information about users research activities, individuals are required to email ADA (ada@anu.edu.au) with the bibliographic details and, where available, online links to any published work (including journal articles, books or book chapters, conference presentations, theses or any other publications or outputs) based wholly or in part on the material.

Disclaimer:

Use of the material is solely at the user's risk. The depositor, The Australian National University and the Australian Data Archive shall not be held responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the material supplied.

Other Study Materials

Related Publications:

Fleming, J. et al. 'Self-inflicted harm in custody'. Research Paper No 16, Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, Canberra, 1990.