Understanding Suicide: Perspectives, Risk Factors and Gender Differences

The book opens with an examination of suicidality as a complex issue. Suicides may be prevented by addressing the mode of reporting in the media, by restricting access to means of suicide, and training health workers and primary care physicians to identify people at risk, assess and manage respective crises, and provide adequate follow-up care. This book discusses the rates of suicidal behavior in inmates, risk factors, and provides a review on how these aspects may differ by offender type (female, juvenile, violent, and sex offenders). An assessment of reasons for living is provided with the hope that it may bolster long-term risk evaluation and may contribute to the clinical tools available to therapists working with high-risk clients. Nurturing clients reasons for living may aid in stopping passive suicidal ideation. A study that used data from 2,386 7th through 12th grades who completed Wave I of Add Health is exhibited, suggesting that sex, grade point average, self-esteem, depression, optimism, sense of school belongingness, and closeness to both mothers and fathers effected students propensity for experiencing bullying and suicidality. As youth suicide is a significant public health problem that requires urgent attention, the concluding chapter describes emerging ideation-to-action models and their implications for school-based youth suicide prevention.