At the time of the research, 130 women were incarcerated in the two provincial prisons; 103 were available, and 60 agreed to participate in the study. In the penitentiary, 67 women were incarcerated; 50 were available and 28 agreed to participate. The participation rates were deemed satisfactory and comparable with those obtained in similar studies. Two tools were used in the study: the Suicide Probability Scale and the Lethality of Suicide Attempt Rating Scale. In the provincial prisons, 60 percent of the women indicated they had attempted suicide at least once, compared with 39.3 percent in the Federal penitentiary. These results apparently show that women incarcerated in provincial facilities had a more difficult past, even though the federally sentenced women had obviously committed more serious offenses and received longer sentences. The majority of the suicide attempts occurred somewhere other than a penal institution. Thus, individuals who end up in prison are already part of a group with a high suicide risk. Moreover, several of these women had attempted suicide numerous times, which supports the hypothesis that the attempts may be a cry for help. Based on the benchmarks of the Suicide Probability Scale, 39 percent of the women (and perhaps as high as 48 percent at the provincial level) should be referred for clinical assessment. 22 notes