Depression, suicide, and suicide prevention in schizophrenia

Suicide is the single largest cause of premature death among individuals with schizophrenia. Furthermore, epidemiological data indicate that nearly 80% of patients with the diagnosis of schizophrenia will experience a major depressive episode at some time during their lifetime. This report reviews recent findings relative to the risk of suicide in schizophrenia, including data from the Chestnut Lodge longitudinal study of schizophrenia subtypes and symptom domains. Paradoxically, those patients with schizophrenia who are most likely to recover or experience a good outcome are also those at greatest risk for suicide. The reduction of morbidity and mortality in schizophrenia should include depression and suicidality as targets for both psychopharmacological and psychosocial treatment.     

Intelligence testing in the year 2000

The future evolution of intelligence is likely to move them in the direction of measuring multiple aspects of ability. Tasks will be less abstract and closer to the life experiences of the individual. Parallel tests will be available in a variety of languages and dialects. The metric will change from the present formula to a separate score for each measured ability, normed in relation to a variety of cultural and lignuistic backgrounds. The dominance of environment will be firmly established and the “constancy” issue will be burried. The scores will be used for short-term predictions and decisions, related especially to schooling, and the idea of making “life” predictions or sorting children according to long-term “tracks” will fade. Will we still call them intelligence tests?     

Learnings from Durkheim and beyond: the economy and suicide

This empirical study commemorates Durkheim's contribution to suicidology by reviewing his own and his followers' formulation of the relationship between the business cycle and suicide. Three distinctive sociological theories of suicide, including Durkheim's, were identified to link the suicide rate to the socio-economic environment of the society. A real-income hypothesis of suicide was developed to capture (a) the positive impact of the economy on suicide, (b) the curvilinear impact of the economy on suicide implied by Durkheim's proposition, and (3) the interplay of both economic and sociological variables on suicide. Another implication from the reformulation is that there may exist a positive natural rate of suicide for any society. These two hypotheses were tested using the 1990 census data for the continental states of the United States. Some conclusions and suggestions were drawn for future research.     

Helpline: suicide prevention at a suicide site

In an effort to reduce the number of suicides from the Mid-Hutson Bridge in Poughkeepsie, New York, the Dutchess County Department of Mental Hygiene and the New York State Bridge Authority jointly established a suicide prevention phone on the bridge, which is directly connected to a 24-hour psychiatric emergency service. This program is the first known one in which a dedicated suicide prevention helpline has been installed at a site of known suicides and linked with a mental health service. After 2 years of operation, the phone has been used 30 times; the data suggest that most would-be jumpers are ambivalent enough about dying that they will reach out for help/contact if the opportunity exists, and, as a consequence, can be saved.     

The role of the clergyman in suicide prevention

Pastoral Psychology -     

The economy and suicide in Japan, 1985-2000

From 1985-2000, unemployment was the strongest correlate of Japanese suicide rates.     

External versus internal attributions in suicide and their implications for crisis intervention and suicide prevention

The concept of belief of locus of control is explored for its relevance in crisis intervention and suicide prevention. Although research into the association has produced inconsistent findings, the counselor has rich possibilities for intervention, especially if belief in locus of control is explored along with feelings of powerlessness and helplessness.     

Cultural considerations in adolescent suicide prevention and psychosocial treatment

Ethnic groups differ in rates of suicidal behaviors among youths, the context within which suicidal behavior occurs (e.g., different precipitants, vulnerability and protective factors, and reactions to suicidal behaviors), and patterns of help-seeking. In this article, the authors discuss the cultural context of suicidal behavior among African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and Latino adolescents, and the implications of these contexts for suicide prevention and treatment. Several cross-cutting issues are discussed, including acculturative stress and protective factors within cultures; the roles of religion and spirituality and the family in culturally sensitive interventions; different manifestations and interpretations of distress in different cultures; and the impact of stigma and cultural distrust on help-seeking. The needs for culturally sensitive and community- based interventions are discussed, along with future opportunities for research in intervention development and evaluation.     

Gun control, gun ownership, and suicide prevention

The relationship of the extent of gun ownership and the strictness of gun control laws to suicide and homicide rates in the nine major geographic regions of the United States was explored. Gun ownership, rather than the strictness of gun control laws, was found to be the strongest correlate of the rates of suicide and homicide by guns. Regions with a higher extent of gun ownership had higher rates of suicide and homicide by firearms.     

2000年我国道教研究综述

道教属于中国土生土长的传统宗教,但是对他的研究,在宗教学研究中则是较为薄弱的。２０世纪初,学术界开始对道教进行研究,但到５０年代,成果寥寥。仅有少量的专著与论文而已。８０年代以前,道教的研究主要局限于《太平经》和与农民起义有关的一些研究,真正开始有规模的研究,是在８０年代以后,特别是四川大学宗教研究所培养了大量的学者,并以道教研究为其特色,为当代中国的道教研究打下了基础。２０００年我国道教著作出版了２４本,属于研究类型的著作有１０本,约占总数的二分之一弱。 唐大潮著《明清之际道教“三教合一”思想…     

Correctional Literature and Other Resources

The preceding articles offer many new and exciting ideas in the field of corrections. As counselors, community workers, and educators, you may now have more specific questions regarding an area that is of particular interest to you. There are many new-approaches in penology and widespread manifestations of the old. Presented here is a wide cross section of some of the newest and boldest thinking in the correctional field.