PREDICTION AND CONTROL OF SUICIDE RISK IN A PRISON POPULATION.
Item
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Title
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PREDICTION AND CONTROL OF SUICIDE RISK IN A PRISON POPULATION.
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Identifier
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AAI8203282
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identifier
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8203282
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Creator
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GASTON, ARNETT WILLIAM.
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Contributor
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Louis J. Gerstman
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Date
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1981
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical
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Abstract
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The case histories of 54 male prison suicides over an eight year period were contrasted with 500 nonsuicidal controls to determine any demographic or behavioral factors that might distinguish the two groups. Four factors were found to occur significantly more often in the suicidal groups: addiction, depression, poor reality testing and poor impulse control. In addition the suicides tended to be older than the controls, and were more likely to have made their attempts by night than by day.;This information was communicated to custodial personnel in an effort to foster selective patterns of vigilance over prisoners at risk. The result was that over the following four years 259 suicide attempts were reported, of which 31 were successful. The 88% rescue rate was found to be potentially inflated since many reports lacked genuine harmful intent.;Accordingly, all unsuccessful attempts were assessed for lethal risk, thereby defining a high risk group (N = 104), a low risk group (N = 106), and an equivocal group (N = 18).;In terms of the four factors identified previously, members of the high risk group were found to be indistinguishable from the successful suicides in average risk, while both groups had higher risk scores than the low risk and equivocal groups. When the four groups were converged into two, it was found that the high risks and successfuls were older than the low risks and equivocals and likewise were more prone to make their attempts by night, just as was the case for the original group of suicides.;It was concluded that the identification of risk factors had fostered suicide prevention. The percentage of actual suicides represented only 23% of serious attempts, while the risk factors themselves were deemed similar to those at work in the general population.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Clinical Psychology
