Suicide in Adult Correctional Facilities: Key Ingredients to Prevention and Overcoming the Obstacles

See Bureau of Justice Statistics, Jails and Jail Inmates 1993–94 (Washington, D.C.: Department of Justice, NCJ 151651, Apr. 1995): at 11.

See Hayes L.M. , “National Study of Jail Suicides: Seven Years Later,” Psychiatric Quarterly, 60 (1989): 7–29.

See id. at 26.

See id. at 21.

See Copeland A.R. , “Fatal Suicidal Hangings Among Prisoners in Jail,” Medicine, Science and the Law, 29 (1989): 341–45; DuRand C.J. Burka G.J. , and Federman E.J. , “A Quarter Century of Suicide in a Major Urban Jail: Implications for Community Psychiatry,” American Journal of Psychiatry, 152 (1995): 1077–80; Frost R. and Hanzlick R. , “Deaths in Custody: Atlanta City Jail and Fulton County Jail, 1974–1985,” American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 9 (1988): 207–11; and Marcus P. and Alcabes P. , “Characteristics of Suicides by Inmates in an Urban Jail,” Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 44 (1993): 256–61.

See Bonner R.L. , “Isolation, Seclusion, and Psychological Vulnerability as Risk Factors for Suicide Behind Bars,” in Maris R. Berman A.L. , and Maltsberger J.T. , eds., Assessment and Prediction of Suicide (New York: Guilford Press, 1992): 398–419; and Winkler G.E. , “Assessing and Responding to Suicidal Jail Inmates,” Community Mental Health Journal, 28 (1992): 317–26.

See Bonner , supra note 6, at 404.

See Bureau of Justice Statistics, Correctional Populations in the United States, 1995 (Washington, D.C.: Department of Justice, NCJ 163916, June 1997): at 105 tbl. 5.17.

See Hayes L.M. , “Prison Suicide: An Overview and Guide to Prevention,” Prison Journal, 75 (1995): 431–56.

See Anno B.J. , “Patterns of Suicide in the Texas Department of Corrections, 1980–1985,” Journal of Prisons and Jail Health, 5 (1985): 83–93; Jones D. , Study of Inmate Suicides (Frankfort: Kentucky Corrections Cabinet, 1986); White T.W. and Schimmel D.J. , “Suicide Prevention in Federal Prisons: A Successful Five-Step Program,” in Hayes L.M. , ed., Prison Suicide: An Overview and Guide to Prevention (Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Corrections, 1995): 46–57; and Salive M.E. Smith G.S. , and Brewer T.F. , “Suicide Mortality in the Maryland State Prison System, 1979 through 1987,” JAMA, 262 (1989): 365–69.

See New York State Department of Correctional Services, Characteristics of Suicide Victims in NYSDOCS Between 1986–1994 (Albany: New York State Department of Correctional Services, 1994); and Salive Smith , and Brewer , supra note 10.

See White and Schimmel , supra note 10.

Anno , supra note 10, at 90.

See Haycock J. , “Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Review of Recent Research on Suicide in Prison,” Omega, 23 (1991): 81–91.

Id. at 90.

The American Correctional Association's standards for suicide prevention in jails and prisons are identical. See American Correctional Association, Standards for Adult Local Detention Facilities (Laurel: American Correctional Association, 1991) [hereinafter Standards for Adult Local Detention Facilities] and American Correctional Association, Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions (Laurel: American Correctional Association, 1991) [hereinafter Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions].

The National Commission on Correctional Health Care's standards for suicide prevention in jails and prisons are identical. See National Commission on Correctional Health Care, Standards for Health Services in Jails (Chicago: National Commission on Correctional Health Care, 1996) [hereinafter Standards for Health Services in Jails]; and National Commission on Correctional Health Care, Standards for Health Services in Prisons (Chicago: National Commission on Correctional Health Care, 1997) [hereinafter Standards for Health Services in Prisons].

See Standards for Health Services in Jails, supra note 17; and Standards for Health Services in Prisons, supra note 17.

See Hayes L.M. , “Jail Standards and Suicide Prevention: Another Look,” Jail Suicide/Mental Health Update, 6, no. 4 (1996): 1–11.

See Hayes L.M. , “National and State Standards for Prison Suicide Prevention: A Report Card,” Journal of Correctional Health Care, 3 (1996): 5–38.

See Marcus and Alcabes , supra note 5; and Cox J.F. and Morschauser P.C. , “A Solution to the Problem of Jail Suicide,” Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 18 (1997): 178–84.

See Felthous A.R. , “Preventing Jailhouse Suicides,” Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 22 (1994): 477–88.

Several comprehensive training curriculums are available. See, for example, Rowan J.R. and Hayes L.M. , Training Curriculum on Suicide Detection and Prevention in Jails and Lockups (Mansfield: National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, 1995); New York State Office of Mental Health, Commission of Correction, and Ulster County Community Mental Health Services, Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention in County Jails and Police Lockups—Trainer's Manual (Albany: New York State Office of Mental Health, 1986); and New York State Office of Mental Health, Department of Correctional Services and Commission of Correction, Suicide Prevention and Intervention in State Correctional Facilities—Trainer's Manual (Albany: New York State Office of Mental Health, 1995).

See Hughes D.H. , “Can the Clinician Predict Suicide?,” Psychiatric Services, 46 (1995): 449–51.

See Clark D.C. and Horton-Deutsch S.L. , “Assessment in Absentia: The Value of the Psychological Autopsy Method for Studying Antecedents of Suicide and Predicting Future Suicides,” in Maris Berman , and Maltsberger , supra note 6, at 144–82.

See Appelbaum K. Dvoskin J. , and Geller J. , Report on the Psychiatric Management of John Salvi in Massachusetts Department of Correction Facilities, 1995–1996 (Worcester: University of Massachusetts Medical Center, 1997); Anno , supra note 10; and Jones , supra note 10.

See Atlas R. , “Reducing the Opportunity for Inmate Suicide: A Design Guide,” Psychiatric Quarterly, 60 (1989): 161–71; and Lester D. and Danto B.L. , Suicide Behind Bars: Prediction and Prevention (Philadelphia: Charles Press, 1993).

See Emergency Cardiac Care Committee and Subcommittees, American Heart Association, “Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiac Care,” JAMA, 268 (1992): 2172–83.

See Standards for Adult Local Detention Facilities, supra note 16; Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions, supra note 16; Standards for Health Services in Jails, supra note 17; and Standards for Health Services in Prisons, supra note 17.

See Standards for Adult Local Detention Facilities, supra note 16; Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions, supra note 16; Standards for Health Services in Jails, supra note 17; and Standards for Health Services in Prisons, supra note 17.

See Hayes , supra note 20.

See Mitchell J.T. and Everly G.S. , Critical Incident Stress Debriefing: An Operations Manual for the Prevention of Traumatic Stress Among Emergency Services and Disaster Workers (Ellicott City: Chevron Publishing, 1996); and Meehan B. , “Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Within the Jail Environment,” Jail Suicide/Mental Health Update, 7, no. 1 (1997): 1–5.

See Sanchez H.G. , “Inmate Suicide and the Psychological Autopsy Process,” Jail Suicide/Mental Health Update, 8, no. 3 (1999): 3–9.

See Hayes L.M. , “Were They Preventable?: The Comprehensive Review of Inmate Suicides,” Jail Suicide/Mental Health Update, 8, no. 3 (1999): 1–3, 9–11.

To ensure confidentiality, all names have been changed. No other modifications to the facts have been made.

See Hayes L.M. , “Custodial Suicide: Overcoming Obstacles to Prevention,” in Liebling A. , ed., in Deaths in Custody: Caring for People at Risk (London: Whiting & Birch, 1996): 169–82.

See, for example, Jail Suicide/Mental Health Update, 7, no. 3 (1998), 8, no. 1 (1998), and 8, no. 2 (1998).

See, for example, Hayes L.M. , “Orange County Sheriff's Department—A Model Suicide Prevention Program,” Jail Suicide/Mental Health Update, 8, no. 1 (1998): 1–7, at 3.

See id. at 6.