The number of prisoners harming them-selves in federal penitentiaries has almost tripled in the last five years, a new study from the federal correction investigator says.
Overcrowding, longer sentences, the warehousing of the mentally ill in prisons and a corrections mentality too focused on security and not enough on rehabilitation are all factors in a complex, growing problem, Howard Sapers said Tuesday as he delivered his eighth annual report.
His investigations show that aboriginal offenders and women are most likely to abuse themselves by cutting, self strangulation, head-banging, burning and ingesting harmful objects or substances.
The Correctional Service of Canada continues to treat such incidents as security problems rather than mental-health issues, said Sapers, which can make problems worse.
"There are safe places to put these people where they will receive the treatment that they need as opposed to just holding them in a cage and occasionally pepper-spraying them or putting them in restraints," Sapers said at a news conference.
