Juvenile suicides in secure detention facilities: Correction of published rates

Abstract The calculation of previously published 1978 national rates of suicide of juveniles in jails, lockups, and juvenile detention centers is discussed. It is concluded that the derivation of those rates was flawed and that comparison of the reported rates with a U.S. juvenile suicide rate was misleading. Data from a 1978 jail census, findings on length of stay of juveniles in juvenile detention centers from a 1977 national study, the national suicide rate of persons aged 12 through 24 during 1979, and data used in derivation of the published rates are used to calculate substitute estimated rates of suicide of juveniles in adult jails and juvenile detention centers during 1978. The estimated rate for juveniles in adult jails is 2,041 per 100,000, and the rate for juveniles in juvenile detention centers is 57 per 100,000.