Riverside Trauma Center Researches Correctional Officer Suicide

Researchers at our Riverside Trauma Center, Northeastern University, and at the Office of Strategic Planning and Research at the Massachusetts Department of Correction recently received a $500,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice for a study on correctional officer suicide.

It was shocking to learn that the rate of suicide among correctional officers in Massachusetts since 2010 has been at least five times higher than the national average and almost eight times higher than the overall suicide rate in the state. The grant will allow for the first comprehensive study of suicide among correctional officers and will identify key suicide risk factors. It will also address the impact of suicides on the overall climate of the correctional institutions.

Our Trauma Center will provide expertise, consultation, and training throughout the different phases of this three-year grant. We are pleased to participate and use what we have learned after more than a decade of work on the issue of suicide.

~Scott M. Bock, Founder and President/CEO