American Indian suicides in jail
Subtitle: can risk screening be culturally sensitive?
By: NIJ
Series: Research for practice
Publisher: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Washington, DC
Language: eng
Subjects: Indians -- Suicidal behavior; Indians -- Suicidal behavior -- Prevention; Indians of North America -- Suicidal behavior; Indians of North America -- Suicidal behavior -- Prevention; Prisoners -- Suicidal behavior; Prisoners -- Suicidal behavior -- Prevention
Description: Culture can affect how inmates view suicide and, consequently, how they react to authorities' attempts to assess their risk for suicide. In a county detention center in a Northern Plains State where American Indians are the dominant cultural minority in both the jail and the community at large, the jail administrator became concerned about the extent of suicidal behavior in the facility and asked researchers to help find the reason. Discomfort with the interview process appeared to be the major reason the detainees were not candid in answering questions in the suicide risk assessment. American Indians were less open in answering questions about health and use of drugs and alcohol. The wording of the questions and the setting of the interview seemed to have more of an effect than the nature of the questions. The researchers found that the American Indian concept of mental illness may cause them to interpret questions about this condition differently, and that a relationship of trust with the interviewer may produce more openness. The findings suggest that suicide risk assessment protocols tailored to the cultural backgrounds of detainee populations might be more effective than an impersonally administered one-size-fits-all approach. In view of American Indians' high incarceration rate and risk for suicide, their experiences could be used to design more culturally sensitive risk assessment protocols
Notes: "Jun. 05."

Shipping list no.: 2005-0229-P

Includes bibliographical references (p. 9)

Also available via Internet from NCJRS web site. Address as of 9/19/05: http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/207326.pdf; current access available via PURL

Supported by the National Institute of Justice 99-IJ-CX-0016