Key Assignment Draft

Suicide is recognized as a critical problem within the jail environment for inmates faced with the issue of initial incarceration, but the issue of prison suicide has not received comparable attention. Although the rate of suicide in prisons is lower than in jails, it remains disproportionately high.

Your job is to conduct research on prison suicide and develop a policy to be implemented at your respective prison.

Assignment Guidelines

Address the following in 5àpages:

Part 1: The first section of your paper will be based on research.

How prevalent is the incidence of prisoner suicide? Explain in detail.

What factors seem to contribute the most to prisoner suicide? Explain in detail, and use scholarly and academic resources to fully support your arguments.

What are the characteristics and histories of victims of prisoner suicide? Explain.

Where and under what circumstances is prisoner suicide likely to occur? Be detailed in your response, and provide examples to support your arguments.

Why are prison officials obligated to address the problem of prisoner suicide? 

You must research and identify studies of both state and federal inmates.  

Part 2: Develop a policy/program aimed at prevention of inmate suicide in your prison.

Identify and describe key correctional departments and others, such as line staff, who should be involved in implementation of the policy and the role they should play.

Be specific and detailed in your response when explaining the importance of line staff.

The policy should address major components such as:

• Training

Identification

• Referral

Assessment

• Intervention
• In your policy, identify the types of records that are to be maintained.
• The policy should reference state and national standards.
• The policy should also reflect staff and budget considerations.

You should research standards set by the American Correctional Association, American Medical Association, and American Public Health Association, National Commission on Correctional Health Care Standards.