NCJ Number
141725
Journal
Jail Suicide Update Volume: 4 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1992) Pages: 1-6
Date Published
1992
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Few issues are as challenging to corrections officials as the management of manipulative inmates who often call attention to themselves by threatening suicide or even feigning an attempted suicide in order to avoid court appearances, bolster an insanity defense, gain a transfer, or receive preferential treatment.
Abstract
Current research described here compared the characteristics of inmates who threatened suicide but did not attempt it, attempters whose act was not life threatening, and attempters whose act was potentially life threatening. The sample used included 62 male inmates, consecutive admissions to a State hospital in the northeast sent by municipal lockups, jails, or prisons because they had attempted suicide or serious self-injury. The results showed a significant relationship between inward-directed hostility and the lethality of attempt. There was no difference between the three groups in terms of subjects who were evaluated as having an antisocial personality. The group that attempted a potentially life threatening suicide had suffered more recent losses of significant others in some way and therefore experienced greater symptoms of depression and hopelessness. However, a number of status and psychological characteristics were similar between all the groups. 3 tables and 18 references