PREVENTING JAILHOUSE SUICIDES

Psychiatric consultants to city and county jails are confronted with t he challenge of preventing jailhouse suicides, a problem of national s cope. Suicide prevention programs in jails must emphasize screening an d identification, psychological support, observation, disarmament, cla rity and consistency, and diagnosis, treatment, and/or hospitalization . Exactly how these principles are formulated and implemented will dep end on the unique circumstances of each jail. Finally information is p resented as evidence that a program that embodies these principles can effectively reduce the number of suicides in a jail where the average daily census has increased from fewer than 400 to greater than 900 in the past six years.