Title: Inmate Suicide: Prevalence, Assessment, and Protocols -- Tripodi and Bender 7 (1): 40 -- Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention
Headings: Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention
Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention
Inmate Suicide: Prevalence, Assessment, and Protocols

Content: Defining the Problem
TOP
Defining the Problem
Scope of the Problem
Risk Factors
Psychiatric Diagnosis
Suicide Assessment Measures
Suicide Prevention Standards,...
Conclusion and Recommendations...
References
Although the definition of suicide may seem fairly straightforward, the concept deserves some clarification as it can describe a range of thoughts and behaviors from suicidal ideation (thoughts and planning), to suicidal gestures (self-harming behaviors), to suicide attempts (serious harm to self that could result in death with no intervention), and finally to completions (harm to self resulting in death). Furthermore, means of suicide are particular to the prisoner population as they live in very restricted and tightly controlled environments. Inmates use several methods to kill themselves, including gas inhalation, drug overdose ( Cox, 2003 ), and hanging ( Cox, 2003; Tatarelli, Mancinelli, Taggi, & Polidori, 1999 ). In a comprehensive evaluation of suicide prevention programs in prisons, White and Schimmel (1995) found that hanging was the most common method of suicide; hangings constitute approximately 80% of all prison suicides. Cox (2003) conducted case reviews of suicides in one particular correctional facility and found that, along with hangings, prisoners overdosed on Tylenol, Deepen, and Elavil, similar to drugs reported in other correctional facilities. Closely related to suicide are inmate reports of a multitude of self-injurious behaviors, including cutting, head banging, ingesting foreign objects, and foreign substance ingestion ( Cox, 2003 ). However, researchers and criminologists debate whether these behaviors have different underlying motivations from suicidal acts and should thus be categorized as categorically different or whether they are indications of more serious suicidal risks in the future ( Apter et al., 1995 ).