Suicide in Jails: A Preliminary Study in Los Angeles (IN: Jail House Blues, ed. by B Danto)

Documented are data on suicides of 26 detainees in county jails in 1964 & 1971. Attention is given to drug & alcohol abuse, anxiety, & suicide-proneness of detainees in general. The jail, having the majority of unsentenced prisoners, experienced only 1 suicide during the study period. This low incidence of suicide is attributed to architechtural factors – such as virtual absence of projections in cells – & expeditious management of apparently suicidal prisoners.