Mock Annotated Bibliography - Kelly Barnes

Gülen, Ayhan et al. “Suicide Risk among Prisoners in French Guiana: Prevalence and Predictive
               Factors.” BMC Psychiatry , 2017. 1-10.

This research article explores the suicide risk among prisoners with the main goal of evaluating "the prevalence of suicidal risk and its predictive factors in the correctional population of French Guiana" (2). This article conducts research by a cross sectional study on all independent prisoners in French Guiana. The research was conducted by the Mini Test - the Mini Test is "the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). The MINI is a short diagnostic structured interview (DSI) developed in France and the United States to explore 17 disorders according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-V diagnostic criteria" (2). After the research was conducted, the study presents its findings in an analytical manner rather than argumentative. The article concluded that "The MINI revealed that 13.2% (93/707) of inmates had a suicidal risk, of which 14.0% (13/93) had a high risk, 15.1% (14/93) a moderate risk and 41.9% (39/93) a low risk of suicide" (4). The study found that suicide rates in French Guiana were almost no different from those in mainland France. There were a lot of factors playing into suicide risk, such as age and whether or not the inmates had exposure to abuse, so the research should have "Longitudinal follow-up should further study time dependent aspects like the first incarceration shock and subsequent adaptation, and the influence of events within the prison such as other suicide attempts." (9). In conclusion, the research shows that French Guiana has no more of a difference than mainland France in suicide risk, but further research needs to be conducted.