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Suicide in Corrections - Inmate Suicide

  • document cover for National Study of Jail Suicide: 20 Years Later

    National Study of Jail Suicide: 20 Years Later

    This report “does more than simply present a calculation of suicide rates. It presents the most comprehensive updated information on the extent and distribution of inmate suicides throughout the country, including data on the changing face of suicide victims. Most important, the study challenges both jail and health-care officials and their respective staffs to remain diligent in identifying and managing suicidal inmates” (p.vii). Five chapters follow an executive summary: introduction; national study of jail suicides-20 years later; demographic findings of...

  • document cover for The Role of Corrections Professionals in Preventing Suicide

    The Role of Corrections Professionals in Preventing Suicide

    This report discusses the role correctional officers must play in dealing with inmate suicides. Especially, those officers in jails. The suicide rate for local jails is about four times that of the U.S. as a whole with the rate for jails of 100 beds or less being nearly 10 times greater. Sections of this publication cover: inmates and suicide risk; recognizing the warning signs; responding to the warning signs; and procedures addressing suicide prevention in correctional facilities.

  • What Corrections Professionals Can Do to Prevent Suicide

    The Role of Corrections Professionals in Preventing Suicide
    Inmates and Suicide Risk
    Recognizing the Warning Signs
    Responding to the Warning Signs
    Suicide Prevention in Correctional Facilities
    Resources
    • Resources for Corrections Professionals
    • General Resources on Suicide and Suicide Prevention
    References

  • Some inmates should have the right to euthanasia (2014)

    "Should convicted prisoners facing life behind bars get the right to die on the grounds of their tortured existence? Sometimes, says a doctor who has experienced the treatment of inmates who have attempted suicide."

  • How Solitary Confinement Can Drive Inmates to Suicidal Thoughts (2015)

    "Some people think that solitary confinement is basically just spending some alone time," one former prisoner says. "It's not. It's like being buried alive."

  • Why Jails Have More Suicides than Prisons (2015)

    "One reason why jails have a higher suicide rate (46 per 100,000 in 2013) than prisons (15 PER 100,000) is that people who enter a jail often face a first-time “shock of confinement”; they are stripped of their job, housing, and basic sense of normalcy. Many commit suicide before they have been convicted at all. According to the BJS report, those rates are seven times higher than for convicted inmates."

  • New BJS report shows suicide in jails is a national crisis (2015)

    "At this unique moment when the public is actually paying attention to local jails, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) has released a new report based on its Death in Custody Reporting Program showing that the number of people who died while under custody of state prisons and local jails increased for a third consecutive year and, especially troubling, that suicide in jails is a national crisis"

  • The 'Shock Of Confinement': The Grim Reality Of Suicide In Jail (2015)

    "If it turns out Bland did commit suicide, experts in jail mortality say it wouldn't be as surprising as her family believes. The grim reality is that jails have high suicide rates - higher than prisons. Part of the reason, says corrections expert and consultant Steve J. Martin, is what he calls the "shock of confinement." Jails often house people who've never been in serious legal trouble before, and it can have a traumatic effect on them."

  • Why Jails Pose Such a High Suicide Risk (2015)

    "We’ll never know exactly what happened to Sandra Bland, the 28-year-old black woman who police said was found hanged to death in her Texas jail cell last week following her arrest after a traffic stop. Even though the last two days’ worth of news - the official autopsy, the fact that Bland had told prison officials she had attempted suicide earlier this year, and a video in which she had recounted her struggles with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder - do point to suicide, there’s still a formal investigation to be done. And even if that investigation further confirms the...

  • Is he faking? Why you should treat all suicide threats as real (2015).

    "Taking each suicide threat as the real thing ensures that you're always ready for when an inmate actually attempts suicide and prevent losing a life."

  • Mortality In Local Jails And State Prisons, 2000-2013 - Statistical Tables (2015)

    "Presents national and state-level data on the number of inmate deaths that occurred in local jails and state prisons, the distribution of deaths across jails, and the aggregate count of deaths in federal prisons. The report presents annual counts and 14-year trends between 2000 and 2013 in deaths in custody. It provides mortality rates per 100,000 inmates in custody in jail or prison; details the causes of death, including deaths attributed to homicide, suicide, illness, intoxication, and accidental injury; describes decedents' characteristics, including age, sex, race or Hispanic origin, legal and hold status, and time served; and specifies the state...

  • Revised screening, vigilance lead to drop in Texas jail suicides (2016)

    "Texas county jails have seen an almost 60 percent decrease in suicides from last year."

  • Why Are So Many Inmates Attempting Suicide at the California Institution for Women? (2016)

    "On April 14, Rocha's body was discovered hanging in her 10-by-15-foot cell, in the psych ward at CIW, the noose around her neck fashioned from a bedsheet and tied around a heating vent. There was no suicide note. Rocha's parole hearing had been scheduled for the next day."

  • Sandra Bland Died One Year Ago (2016)

    "...and since then, at least 810 people have lost their lives in jail."

  • Creating a Culture of Safety (2016)

    "Sentinel Event Reviews for Suicide and Self-harm in Correctional Facilities"

  • Prisoner Suicides and Attempts Increasing in Texas (2017)

    "The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) reported a 40% increase in suicides between 2008 and 2014. As of September 2015, the average number of suicide attempts in Texas prisons each month had jumped 28% from 81.7 attempts per month in 2014 to 104.5 attempts per month during the first eight months of 2015."