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

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FIGURE 1 Graph adapted from Mumola (2005). Certain types of facilities are at increased risk for suicide. Larger jails have fewer suicides than smaller jail facilities; with the nation's 50 largest jail systems (29 per 100,000 inmates) reporting half as many suicides as other jails (57 per 100,000 inmates). Offenders with a history of violence were most at risk; prisoners incarcerated for violent offenses in both local jails (92 per 100,000) and state prisons (19 per 100,000 state prisons) had rates much higher than average. Consequently, facilities housing a high proportion of violent offenders may be especially at risk for prisoner suicide. States differ considerably in reported rates of suicide. During a 2-year period, three states reported no prison suicides (New Hampshire, Nebraska, and North Dakota), whereas South Dakota reported as many as 71 suicides per 100,000 inmates and Utah reported 49 suicides per 100,000 inmates ( Mumola, 2005 ).