title: Suicide behind bars: trends, inconsistencies, and practical implications.
abstract: The results of two comprehensive approaches are compared: the nationwide surveys of suicides in U.S. jails by Hayes and the international meta-analyses of suicides in jails and prisons by Fazel et al. Factors are classified as demographic, situational, clinical, and methodical. More than 50% of U.S. jail suicide victims were men, white, unmarried, under 28 years of age, charged with minor or drug-related offenses, and intoxicated with drugs or alcohol. Suicides significantly occurred in isolation. Suicide victims in the international study were significantly (p < 0.001) men, white, married, pretrial, and charged with or convicted of violent offenses. Psychiatric diagnosis, alcohol abuse, taking psychotropic medication, and suicidal ideation were also positively correlated in the international study, but suicide victims were distributed more evenly over age-groups. Results of other studies illustrate the near universality of some findings. Three theories of suicide are briefly discussed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Forensic Psychiatry, Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, 1438 South Grand Blvd, Saint Louis, MO 63104, USA. felthous@slu.edu
authors.forename: Alan R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Felthous
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001237:Asphyxia / Q000401:mortality; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D019838:Neck Injuries / Q000401:mortality; D011329:Prisoners / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012196:Review Literature as Topic; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult