The self-inflicted death of care experienced men in custody, through a lens of loss

Thomas, Ian and Rogers, Justin (2025). The self-inflicted death of care experienced men in custody, through a lens of loss. In: Jones, Kerry and Robb, Martin eds. Men and Loss: New perspectives on bereavement, grief and masculinity. Routledge Key Themes in Health and Society. Oxon, UK and New York, USA: Routledge, pp. 124–135.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003333999-11

Abstract

In this chapter we reflect on the impact of loss and separation for care experienced men in custodial settings. The chapter will draw on an analysis of nineteen Prison Ombudsman’s fatal incident reports of care experienced men who died by suicide in UK prisons between 2004 and 2020 (Rogers and Thomas, 2022). The chapter is co-written by a social work academic with practice and management experience of working in a secure setting for young people, and a social worker with lived experience of care and custody, which included thirty-five arrests and six custodial sentences over eleven years. The analysis of the experiences of the people who died in custody will draw on a lens of loss and adopt a reflexive approach that includes the lived and practice experiences of the authors.
The greatest consequence of emotional loss and childhood trauma is not the sudden impact, but the long-term impression, and the way a developing child will continue to interpret the world and their sense of belonging within it (Maté, 2008). It is in this context that the chapter examines the ways men with a care experience may process their emotions of loss and separation and how all too often this can lead to mental health crisis, and for some in custodial settings, death by suicide. The chapter explores the challenges of prison culture for men with a care experience and highlights how prison as a response to offending is a poor investment of resources. Prison often promotes a culture which perpetuates cycles of trauma and continued criminality, which we argue compounds underlying vulnerabilities for care experienced men in custody. This chapter will consider lessons for practice and policy so that this marginalised group’s rights can be realised, with a compassionate focus that works towards protecting men within custodial settings.

Plain Language Summary

In this chapter we reflect on the impact of loss and separation for care experienced men in custodial settings. The chapter will draw on an analysis of nineteen Prison Ombudsman’s fatal incident reports of care experienced men who died by suicide in UK prisons between 2004 and 2020 (Rogers and Thomas, 2022). The chapter is co-written by a social work academic with practice and management experience of working in a secure setting for young people, and a social worker with lived experience of care and custody, which included thirty-five arrests and six custodial sentences over eleven years.

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