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TODAY'S PROBLEMS IN PENOLOGY

NCJ Number
48905
Journal
New York State Journal of Medicine Volume: 75 Issue: 10 Dated: (SEPTEMBER 1975) Pages: 1812-1814
Author(s)
B J MALCOLM
Date Published
1975
Length
3 pages
Annotation
THE PROBLEM OF SUICIDE AMONG INMATES OF NEW YORK CITY JAILS IS DISCUSSED, AND FINDINGS FROM A STUDY OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONS WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE IN JAIL ARE SUMMARIZED.
Abstract
IN 1973, THE SUICIDE RATE FOR THE GENERAL POPULATION OF NEW YORK CITY WAS 11.6 PER 100,000. THE RATE WAS 10 TIMES GREATER FOR CITY JAIL INMATES. ON ANY GIVEN DAY, NEW YORK CITY JAILS HOUSE 11 PERCENT OF THE NATION'S TOTALS DETAINEE POPULATION. IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT 15 TO 20 PERCENT OF THE CITY'S JAIL POPULATION CONSISTS OF PERSONS WITH DIAGNOSABLE EMOTIONAL OR MENTAL DISORDERS AND THAT THE PERCENTAGE OF UNDIAGNOSED OR LATENT CASES IS EVEN HIGHER. SUICIDE ATTEMPTS IN THE JAILS OFTEN REFLECT LATENT MENTAL DISTURBANCES, BROUGHT TO THE SURFACE IN PART BY THE TRAUMA OF THE JAIL SETTING. WITH ITS LIMITED RESOURCES, THE JAIL IS EXPECTED TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT MANY PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS CANNOT ACHIEVE: SUICIDE PREVENTION. THE NEW YORK CITY JAIL SYSTEM ATTEMPTS TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM THROUGH A PROGRAM INVOLVING SUICIDE PREVENTION AIDES -- SPECIALLY TRAINED, PAID INMATES WHO PATROL MENTAL OBSERVATION AREAS ON THE ALERT FOR SUICIDE ATTEMPTS. IN 1973, THE AIDES AVERTED APPROXIMATELY 71 SUICIDE ATTEMPTS, 85 PERCENT OF WHICH INVOLVED INMATES IN THE PROCESS OF HANGING THEMSELVES. A STUDY OF SUICIDES OVER A 10-YEAR PERIOD IN NEW YORK CITY JAILS REVEALED THAT SUICIDE CASES TEND TO BE WHITE MALE NONADDICTS AGED 21-25, MARRIED, AND RESIDING IN MANHATTAN OR BROOKLYN. SUICIDES TEND TO COME FROM THE LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC SECTOR, TO HAVE A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION, TO BE CHARGED WITH PROPERTY CRIMES, TO HAVE PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS, AND TO HAVE PRIOR HISTORIES OF BOTH CONVICTIONS AND SUICIDE ATTEMPTS. SUICIDES ARE MOST COMMON IN THE SUMMER AND IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. THE MOST COMMON METHOD IS HANGING. THERE HAS BEEN NO SUICIDE BY A FEMALE IN NEW YORK CITY JAILS SINCE 1957. A BILL HAS BEEN PLACED BEFORE THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE TO PROVIDE FOR THE TRANSFER OF MENTALLY DISTURBED AND SUICIDAL JAIL INMATES TO STATE HOSPITALS FOR TREATMENT. (LKM)

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