In their efforts to prevent suicides, psychiatrists who consult to jails face a dilemma. Placing a suicidal inmate in a single cell to restrict access to harmful materials and instruments is a common practice. Yet, mental health authorities argue that isolating a suicidal inmate only stimulates self-destructive impulses. Meanwhile, in some jail settings, the combination of single cell placement, complete disarmament, and close observation may be the most effective available option. Future research on the relationship between isolation and jail suicides must define isolation and specify which preventive measures are coadministered. Since most inmates who commit suicide in jail do so by hanging, it would be important to determine whether these inmates were permitted cloth items with which they could fashion ligatures. Finally, more investigative attention should be given to the various individual components of successful suicide prevention programs. Note, references