Chapter Six

© 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
Crisis Intervention
William Harmening
Roosevelt University
Harmening, Crisis Intervention: The Criminal Justice Response to Chaos, Mayhem, and
Disaster
Chapter 6
SUICIDE AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SELF DESTRUCTION

6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
To summarize the social impact of suicide in America.
To list and explain the predominant theories of suicide.
To define a typology scheme for suicide, and to summarize the
dangers associated with each to those who respond to this type
of crisis.
To list and summarize the techniques and protocols for
responding to and de-escalating suicide.
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
6.5 To summarize the special classes of suicide.

To summarize the social impact of
suicide in America.
Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
6.1

6.1 The Impact of Suicide
Statistics Reflecting the Impact of Suicide
• Approximately 80 suicides each day in America.
• Approximately 300,000 Americans survive a suicide attempt
each day.
• Around 116,000 people who survive a suicide attempt each
year require hospitalization, with an average cost per stay of
$15,000.
• Of those who survive an attempt, an estimated 19,000 are
left permanently disabled at a cost per patient of $127,000
annually for their continued care.
• About 1-percent of Americans end their lives by suicide. It is
the eight-leading cause of death in America.

6.1 The Impact of Suicide
The Criminal Justice Response
• Large amounts of resources are committed each day to
saving the lives of those who would rather die. Police officers
are routinely dispatched to threatened suicides, and suicide is
a daily occurrence in America’s prisons and jails. For first
responders, threatened suicides can be a very dangerous
type of intervention. The person in crisis may try to provoke the
police into shooting them, and if desperate enough, may
threaten violence against anyone attempting to prevent their
final act.

To list and explain the predominant
theories of suicide.
Learning Objectives
6.2

6.2 Theories of Suicide
Emile Durkheim’s Sociological Theory (1897)
• One of the first theories of suicide. Durkheim was a sociologist.
• Durkheim based his suicide typologies on an imbalance
between two social forces:
Social Integration
The extent to which an individual or group of individuals feels accepted as full members of
the larger society.
(ex: minority groups in America have traditionally been less integrated, and thus the rate of
despair and suicide is higher)
Moral Regulation
The rules and norms established by society that set limits on what are otherwise limitless and
destructive desires.
(ex: a lack of moral regulation on the accumulation of wealth leads to exploitation and
poverty in the lower socioeconomic classes, and with it an increase in suicide among those
groups)

Durkheim’s Suicide Typologies
• EGOISTIC SUICIDE
Results from too little social integration. They lack the values, traditions, and
norms of the dominant society, and therefore lack a sense of belongingness to
social groups and other social supports. Leads to despair and a socially-driven
sense of hopelessness.
• ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE
Results from too much social integration. They sacrifice for the good of the group.
An example is the soldier who commits suicide because he believes he failed his
troops.
• FATALISTIC SUICIDE
Results from excessive moral regulation, usually connected to pervasive
oppression. This may include military personnel who can’t escape their
duty, prison inmates, and people trapped in unhealthy relationships they feel
they cannot escape.
• ANOMIC SUICIDE
See next slide….

Durkheim’s Suicide Typologies
• ANOMIC SUICIDE
Results from a lack of moral regulation. Durkheim proposed four subtypes:
1. Acute economic anomie
Results when traditional institutions (church, government, commerce) are no longer sufficient
to meet the individual’s needs. Despair results.
2. Chronic economic anomie
Occurs when wealth and prosperity themselves are insufficient to replace the lost regulators
of society. Accounts for the high rate of suicide among the rich. “You can’t buy happiness.”
3. Acute domestic anomie
Occurs when a sudden change takes place on a personal level that leaves the individual
unable to adapt to meet their needs (i.e., divorce, widowhood, unemployment)
4. Chronic domestic anomie
Occurs only in men, according to Durkheim. He believed that marriage plays an important
role in society. Unmarried men lack that important regulator. High rates of risky behavior.

Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
Freud believed we enter the word with two basic instincts that work together to
compel all behavior. The first, EROS, or the life instinct, seeks pleasure, either
physical or psychological, and moves us forward in a goal-oriented manner.
When this instinct is allowed expression then psychic equilibrium results. When it
is not allowed expression, then anxiety and frustration result.
Freud’s second instinct is THANATOS, or the death instinct. He believed we are
born with a biological need to return to the quiet calm of the womb. Put another
way, we are born with the need for equilibrium. When it is lost, then THANATOS
seeks to regain it, even through aggression.
EGO is the component of personality that seeks to maintain a balance between
the two instincts.
Freud believed suicide results when EROS is no longer able to achieve
pleasure, and THANATOS is no longer able to diminish the resulting
disequilibrium. The result is despair and hopelessness, or what Freud might call
EGO DEATH.

Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
EGOEGO
EGO
EROS
Pleasure
THANATOS
Equilibrium
The biological need for equilibrium
Thanatos serves as a counter-weight to
EROS whenever it is allowed too much or
too little expression.
The biological need for pleasure
Too much expression of EROS will cause
disequilibrium in the form of shame and guilt.
Too little expression will lead to disequilibrium
in the form of frustration, anger, and despair.
The psychological mechanism by which we keep the
two in balance
EGO is constantly shifting its center of gravity in an effort to
maintain or regain equilibrium. It does this primarily through
the use of cognitive or physical mediation, including
aggression.
Suicide occurs when EROS loses its capacity to seek expression, and EGO
loses its ability to regain equilibrium through cognitive or physical mediation

To define a typology scheme for
suicide, and to summarize the
dangers associated with each to
those who respond to this type of
crisis.
Learning Objectives
6.3

6.3 Suicide Typologies
For those who respond to threatened suicides, a unified theory is less important than an
understanding of the various types of suicide, and the risks they each pose for responders.
Suicide
Types of Suicide

• SELF-CONTEMPT
Suicide resulting from a hatred or dislike directed inwardly.
Examples may include the alcoholic who cannot stop drinking, or
the former soldier who committed war crimes and is now
succumbing to extreme guilt. Another example might be the
individual facing extreme financial hardship and feels they failed
their family.
• REVENGE
Suicide resulting from a desire to exact revenge on another
person. An example is the man who kills himself and his children
following a divorce, or the teenager who kills himself as an act of
revenge against his parents.
ANGER SUICIDE

• CHRONIC PHYSICAL
Suicide resulting from unending physical pain and suffering. Many
assisted suicides fall into this category. The person simply wants
relieved of their constant suffering.
• CHRONIC EMOTIONAL
Related to extreme depression. Like the chronic physical
suicide, this person simply wants to end their suffering. Some
assisted suicides have fallen into this category, however, because
mentally ill people are not terminally ill, assisted suicide for this
reason is illegal.
DESPAIR SUICIDE

• ACUTE SITUATIONAL
Suicide resulting from a sudden event that causes a deterioration
of the person’s self-identity. Examples include the man who loses
his career, the wife who loses her husband in an unwanted
divorce, or perhaps the pastor of a church caught trading child
pornography on the internet.
• ABANDONMENT
One of the most complex emotions in the human repertoire. It
results from an insecure attachment during childhood being
transferred to a significant other in adulthood. Suicide results from
an inability to emotionally separate from a significant other who
has already made the decision to do so. Many murder-suicides
fall in this category.
EGOISTIC SUICIDE

• RITUALISTIC
Suicide resulting from reasons external to the individual. They are seen as
sacrificial acts carried out for religious, spiritual, or political reasons.
Examples include the Kamikaze pilots of WWII Japan, and the various
mass suicides that have taken place among cults.
• ALTRUISTIC
Suicides resulting from a desire to avoid becoming a burden on others.
For example, the terminally ill patient who does not want his family to
bear the physical and financial hardship of caring for him.
• PRE-EMPTIVE
Suicides resulting from a person’s desire to end their life before their
personal circumstances worsen, such as a terminally ill individual or
someone sentenced to prison.
PROACTIVE SUICIDE

To list and summarize the techniques
and protocols for responding to and
de-escalating suicide.
Learning Objectives
6.4

6.4 De-escalating Suicide
1. ENGAGEMENT
2. ESTABLISH RAPPORT
3. LISTEN
4. OFFER HELP
5. GAIN COMMITMENT
THE FIVE STEPS OF INTERVENTION

6.4 De-escalating Suicide
The primary responsibility of a criminal justice professional
responding to a threatened suicide is to prevent the individual
from carrying it out. Their second priority is to get the individual
the psychiatric help they need.
Essentially all states have involuntary commitment laws. In most
states the police have the statutory authority to transport an
individual threatening suicide to a hospital or mental health
center for an involuntary commitment of 24 to 120 hours. During
this time the individual will be examined by a psychiatrist to
determine if they should be committed for a longer period of
time. If not, then they are released. Anyone committed
involuntarily for longer periods of time will be afforded due
process in a court of law.
INVOLVUNTARY COMMITMENTS

To summarize the special classes of
suicide.
Learning Objectives
6.5

6.5 Special Classes
When an individual provokes the police into shooting them to
fulfill their desire to commit suicide. Some do it because they
lack the courage to do it themselves. Others do it to justify their
feelings of self-contempt and a perceived need for
persecution.
One study by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department determined
that 11% of police shootings, and 13% of those that were
fatal, involved people who desired to end their lives.
Extremely dangerous for the responding officers. One Florida
study found that 60% of those killed by the police in this
manner either used or attempted to use their own weapons.
SUICIDE BY COP

6.5 Special Classes
Unlike adult suicide, most teen suicides are preventable if
parents, teachers, and police officers recognized the warning
signs…
• Talking or joking about death and suicide
• Writing poetry or drawing pictures related to death and suicide
• Withdrawing from family and friends
• Giving away possessions
• Significant changes in eating and sleeping habits
• Academic failure and a refusal to discuss academic plans
• A sudden interest in guns or other weapons
• Expressing feelings of hopelessness
• Self-mutilating behaviors
• Telling friends they are planning something “big”
• having trouble concentrating
TEEN SUICIDE

6.5 Special Classes
Almost all adolescent suicides result from problems related to
ATTACHMENT and IDENTITY-FORMATION.
ATTACHMENT = THE NEED TO BE LOVED BY OTHERS
IDENTITY-FORMATION = THE NEED TO LOVE ONESELF
Unlike adult suicide, teen suicide is almost always precipitated
by a particularly stressful event. They simply don’t have the life
experience to adequately process such an event and
consider available options. Instead, many times they process it
against the symbolism of songs, movies, and video games.
This can be extremely dangerous because the line between
reality and fantasy becomes blurred.
TEEN SUICIDE

6.5 Special Classes
• Suicide in America is highest among men 85 years of age
and older…twice as high as the rate for all men combined.
• Almost always men.
• Almost all elder suicides result from poor health or the loss of
a loved one.
• Seldom an impulsive act like adolescent suicide. Final plans
and preparations are typically made.
• Many police departments now have “Elder Services” officers
who are trained to deal with this and other elder-related issues.
ELDER SUICIDE

6.5 Special Classes
• SUICIDE PROFILES
There are two profiles that are used to help identify suicide
risks in jails…
Pretrial inmate
- 20-25 year old males
- unmarried, first time offenders
- 24 hours following their initial lockup
- Just before final disposition of the case (sentencing)
Sentenced Inmate
- Already convicted and sentenced to prison
- 30-35 year old males
- Sentenced for a longer period
- Loss of an appeal
- A fight with another inmate
- Victim of a sexual assault
- Learning of negative news about family
- Emotional breakdown related to isolation
SUICIDE IN PRISONS AND JAILS

6.5 Special Classes
• INMATE SCREENING
To reduce the risk of suicide in jails, corrections officers now
screen inmates to determine a risk classification. The most
common suicide risk indicators are:
1. The individual is intoxicated
2. They have a history of mental health treatment or previous suicide
3. they are very emotional, and express shame or guilt for their actions
4. The individual has been in prison before and states that he will not return
5. The individual has limited social support, and says no one cares about him
6. The individual is prescribed an anti-depressant or other psychotropic drugs
SUICIDE IN PRISONS AND JAILS

Suicide is the 8th leading cause of death in the U.S. The personal
and economic toll it takes is devastating.
There are many theories that attempt to explain suicide.
Some, such as Durkheim’s, look for external sociological causes.
Others, such as Freud’s, look for internal psychological factors.
There are certain intervention skills that are critical to de-
escalating suicide. They include
ENGAGEMENT, RAPPORT, LISTENING, OFFERING HELP, and
GAINING COMMITMENT.
Special classes of suicide that must be understood by criminal
justice professionals include TEEN SUICIDE, ELDER SUICIDE, and
suicide in prisons and jails. There are warning signs for each.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
6.1
6.2
6.4
6.5
Suicides can be typed as either
PROACTIVE, EGOISTIC, ANGER, or DESPAIR, with various subtypes
under each.
6.3

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why should the criminal justice system concern itself to the
extent it does with the crisis of suicide? Shouldn’t people
have the right to end their lives?
2. Discuss whether you believe suicide is primarily the result of
external sociological conditions and circumstances, or
more the result of internal psychological factors. Or is it a
combination of both?
3. Discuss some of the major differences between teen suicide
and adult suicide.

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