Barriers and Opportunities for Suicide Prevention Among Correctional Officers: An Issue Brief for Clinicians

Correctional officers work a tough beat in law enforcement. Their job—keeping incarcerated persons and the public safe—involves working in a highly challenging environment with daily threats of physical, emotional, and mental harm. Suicide rates among correctional officers are much higher than those in the general population, but suicide among correctional officers remains an under-addressed problem in the field of suicide prevention. Drawing on research and the expertise of correctional researchers, officers, and clinicians, this issue brief describes the problem of suicide among correctional officers and identifies barriers and opportunities for suicide prevention efforts in the correctional officer workforce in the United States, with an emphasis on what clinicians can do to promote resilience, identify risk, and intervene clinically. This issue brief also identifies resources for additional learning about this topic.

Warning Signs of Suicide: A Fact Sheet for Clinicians

This fact sheet is intended to act as a brief reference tool to help clinicians recognize signs that may indicate a client (i.e., patient) is at immediate or acute risk of suicide (i.e., risk of suicide in the following minutes, hours, or days).

Resources for Suicide Loss Survivors

This fact sheet describes the impact of a suicide death, suicidal grief, barriers to seeking help from friends and family, and special considerations for grieving children.