Year: 1989 Source: Australian Psychologist, v.24, no.3, (November 1989), p.325-342 SIEC No: 19910817

The author studied the 9 reported deaths in custody in Queensland in 1986-87. Findings support a cluster interpretation of at least 8 of the deaths, which constitute 40% of the total number of Aboriginal suicide deaths in police custody in Queensland since 1980. Suggestion, imitation, & modeling seemed to be likely mediators of this cluster effect, but they occur in a distinctive cultural context & in response to a nested set of interdependent causal factors. (35 refs.)