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                                    Resources
                                    Resources By Area of Practice
                                    Topics In Corrections
                                    Suicide In Corrections

      

                    
          
    Suicide in Corrections
Suicide is a threat to all persons involved in corrections. The rates of inmate suicide are far higher than the national averages, and even higher still for special populations (including juvenile and LGBTI inmates), even corrections officers have a much greater occupational suicide rate. The resources provided will help give an overview of the problems surrounding correctional suicides and the ways one can implement strategies to turn around the alarming upward trajectory of suicide rates.
                   Topic Categories and Resources
The following grey bars are accordions that can be expanded to show a list of "top-shelf" resources that have been hand-picked by our library team around this topic. If you would like additional research assistance on this topic, please contact our help desk. They have access to specialized databases and thousands of resources you won't find online. Click on a grey box below to browse resources in that section.
            
      Accordion    Inmate 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
              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
  
      Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000-2019 - Statistical Tables (2021)
              Mortality in State and Federal Prisons, 2001-2018 - Statistical Tables (2021)
              Prisoner Suicides and Attempts Increasing in Texas (2017)
              Creating a Culture of Safety (2016)
              Sandra Bland Died One Year Ago (2016)
              Why Are So Many Inmates Attempting Suicide at the California Institution for Women? (2016)
              Revised screening, vigilance lead to drop in Texas jail suicides (2016)
              Mortality In Local Jails And State Prisons, 2000-2013 - Statistical Tables (2015)
              Is he faking? Why you should treat all suicide threats as real (2015).
              Why Jails Pose Such a High Suicide Risk (2015)
              The 'Shock Of Confinement': The Grim Reality Of Suicide In Jail (2015)
              New BJS report shows suicide in jails is a national crisis (2015)
              Why Jails Have More Suicides than Prisons (2015)
              How Solitary Confinement Can Drive Inmates to Suicidal Thoughts (2015)
              Some inmates should have the right to euthanasia (2014)
              What Corrections Professionals Can Do to Prevent Suicide
              Accordion    Juvenile Suicide
      
      Price
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Screening and Assessment for Suicide Prevention: Tools and Procedures for Risk Identification among Juvenile Justice Youth

            
      
Identifying suicide risk among young people is a critical component of the comprehensive approach that the juvenile justice system must adopt to prevent suicide. Ideally, this identification is done with research-based screening and assessment instruments. To select effective instruments, it is

  Amount in Stock
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              Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Detained Youth

            
      
If you work with justice-involved juvenile, you need to read this bulletin. "Incarcerated youth die by suicide at a rate two to three times higher than that of youth in the general population. In this bulletin, the authors examine suicidal thoughts and behaviors among 1,829 youth ages 10 to 18 in
  
      Suicidal Behaviors among Adolescents in Juvenile Detention: Role of Adverse Life Experiences (2014)
              Need to Know: A Fact Sheet Series on Juvenile Suicide (2013)
              2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for Action
              Youth in Contact with the Juvenile Justice System Task Force (2016)
              Preventing Suicide: Working With Youth Who Are Justice Involved (2013)
              NIC - Desktop Guide: Ch.11 Mental Health
              NIC - Desktop Guide: Ch.16 Behavior Observation, Recording, and Report Writing
              Accordion    Staff Suicide
      
      Correctional Officer Suicide Annotated Bibliography

            
      
Recognizing that corrections can be a tough profession, the National Institute of Corrections is at the forefront of Health and Wellness for Corrections Professionals. The NIC website has a wealth of resources on the topic including webinars, a virtual conference dedicated to the subject, as well as
              New Directions in Corrections: Staff Wellness: NIC's Second Virtual Conference

            
      
Accession Number
              029910

            On June 10, 2015, the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) launched a national virtual conference on staff wellness titled “New Directions in Corrections: Staff Wellness.” Session topics will include using neuroscience to reduce stress, “healing corrections,” the organizational implications of
              Occupational Stressors in Corrections Work Annotated Bibliography

            
      
"Corrections work of all disciplines, whether in institutional or in community-based settings, has been recognized as being exceptionally stressful. Traditionally, this has been regarded as a consequence of staff’s exposure to multiple organizational stressors and also operational stressors
  
      Corrections raising awareness following the sting of staff suicides (2017)
              High suicide rates plague Massachusetts correctional officers (2016)
              Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries - BJS (2015)
              Prison Officers Need Help, But They Won't Ask For It (2014)
              Correctional Wellness and Safety Literature Review (2013)
              Correctional suicides: Doing time takes its toll (2013)
              Beating The Odds (2012)
              Accordion    Suicide Policy, Procedures & Training
      
      Basics and Beyond: Suicide Prevention in Jails

            
      
Accession Number
              026251

            This video presentation will enable readers to:

Understand the problem of jail suicide--rates of suicide in certain groups, the decrease in jail suicide rates, what makes jails risky environments, and challenges of prevention.
	Describe suicide risk factors, warning signs, and suicide myths that
  
      Suicide Prevention Resource Guide: National Response Plan for Suicide Prevention in Corrections (2020)
              A Sentinel Events Approach to Jail Suicide and Self-Harm (2019)
              A Sentinel Events Approach to Addressing Suicide and Self-Harm in Jail (2019)
              Department of Corrections (DOC) Inmate Suicide Prevention Study (2009)
              Suicide in Correctional Facilities - NCJRS (2009)
              Assessing Suicide and Risk Behaviors in an Incarcerated American Indian Population: Investigating Culturally Sensitive Risk Assessment Instruments and Procedures in a Border Jail, Final Report (2003)
              Jail Suicide Assessment Tool (2002)
              Suicide Prevention Program - NCCHC
              Shield of CareTM Training Materials - TDMHSAS
              Online Forms - TCJS
              Suicide in Prison: Prevention Strategy and Implication from Human Rights and Legal Points of View (2014)
              Accordion    Suicide Prevention Organizations
      
      Greening Juvenile Justice

            
      
The strength of this article is in its discussion of an often forgotten part of greening a facility-the use of environmentally safe cleaning products and practices. The Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center in San Leandro, California is the green facility that has achieved LEED (Leadership in
  
      Suicide Prevention Resource Center
              American Association of Suicidology
              National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
              Accordion    Suicide in LGBTI & Special Populations
      
      Thailand separates LGBT inmates, considers segregated prison (2017)
              Handling Jail Special Populations: A Thumbnail Training Guide (2016)
              Health Correlates of Criminal Justice Involvement in 4,793 Transgender Veterans (2015)
              Federal Bureau of Prisons: Special Housing Unit Review and Assessment (2014)

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