Suicides in the Custody Division of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and US Jails and Prisons: A Comparative Study (From Locked Up: Body, Mind and Soul: American Correctional Health Services Association 1994 Multidisciplinary Training Conference, P 31-41, 1994 -- See NCJ-148921)

• NCJ Number: 148922
• Author(s): E E Kunzman
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 11 pages
• Sale Source: American Correctional Health Services Assoc
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Statistics on inmate suicides in Los Angeles County (Calif.) jails for 1971-93 were compared with national data for 1979-86 and previously reported data from the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center and the Los Angeles Coroner's Office.

Abstract

The analysis focused on race, age, sex, method, time of day, day of week, month and season of the year, length of incarceration, arrest charges, and drug abuse or intoxication. Suicide deaths were also compared to other causes of death. Results revealed that suicides were not the leading cause of inmate deaths either nationally or in Los Angeles. During 1987-91, suicides accounted for 11 percent of the deaths of Los Angeles jail inmates. Deaths from cardiovascular causes and infections far outnumbered suicides. The analysis indicated several diagnostic factors and preventive interventions. Tables (Author summary modified)