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: 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 ). Evans, Albers and Macari (1996) describe a continuum with self-harming behaviors at one end, suicidal gestures and attempts in the middle, and suicide completion at the other. Research indicates that these behaviors are all related; Cox (2003) found that 86% of prisoners who completed suicide in a 5-year period had histories of physical self-destruction. Scope of the Problem
TOP
Defining the Problem
Scope of the Problem
Risk Factors
Psychiatric Diagnosis
Suicide Assessment Measures
Suicide Prevention Standards,...
Conclusion and Recommendations...
References
Research clearly indicates that suicide rates in prisons and jails far exceed suicide rates in the general public ( Cox, Landsberg, & Paravati, 1989; Hall & Gabor, 2004;