Role of the High School Professional in Identifying Managing Adolescent Suicidal Behavior (From Adolescent Suicide, P 181-191, 1988, Robert W. Cole, Jr., ed. -- See NCJ-117025)

• NCJ Number: 117038
• Author(s): M C Grab; A A Klein; S V Eisen
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 11 pages
• Sale Source: Phi Delta Kappa
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Reprinted from Journal of Youth and Adolescence, V 12, No. 2, April 1983, P 163-173

Annotation

Results of a survey of 80 professional staff at 12 public high schools in the Boston area indicated that the ongoing contact of adolescents with high school staff may provide an opportunity for the early identification and effective management of suicidal behavior.

Abstract

Data were gathered through semistructured personal interviews. The participants included guidance counselors, administrators, teachers, health professionals, social workers, and psychologists. They were asked to identify patterns, behaviors, or attitudes that would raise their concern about an adolescent's potential for suicide. The respondents identified more than 30 signs of potential vulnerability, including indications of depression, verbal and written cues, isolation, and self-destructive behaviors. Among predisposing factors, those related to alienation within the family were viewed as the most important. Other important risk factors identified were low self-esteem, difficulty in peer relationships, and economic or ethnic differences from other students. When suicidal behaviors occurred, respondents saw students and staff as trying to be helpful, while families were more often viewed as defensive. Tables and 8 references.