OCR Text |
Show Utah Juveniles by Number of Criminal Offenses Referred to Juvenile Court: Suicide Victims Age 18 to 21, 8/96-4/97 and Population Age 18, 1995 Percent of Persons ¦ Utah 1995 Population Age 18 DSuicide Study Group Age 18-21 Number of Criminal and Status Offenses Referred to Juvenile Court juvenile justice is age dependent up to age 18, 24 suicide completers over the age of 18 were selected for detailed analysis. This group was compared to a control group of over 40,000 Utah juveniles who turned 18 during 1995 (see bar graph above). The study subjects were significantly different from controls in comparisons of the overall distribution of the number of offenses (Chi-square (df=5) =86.89, p<.001). Seventy-five percent of this group of suicide completers had contact with the juvenile justice system by age 18, verses 36% of the controls. Referral to the juvenile justice system was a risk factor for completed suicide, with an odds ratio of 5.2, and a 95% confidence interval of 2.3-12.0. The rates of total offenses per case in the suicide group were significantly different for controls from 6-7 offenses per case (p<.05), and this difference was even greater for 8 or more offenses per case, which included 38% of suicide subjects but only 4% of controls (p<.001). Division of Child and Family Services Records have been reviewed on 51 consecutive suicides. Forty-one percent (21) of the subjects had contact for financial or social services with this government agency. Twenty-one percent (11) of the youth suicides had an individual referral for either child abuse or neglect (see bar graph below). Of those subjects with Department of Child and Family Services Percent of Persons DCFS Contact Referral for Child Abuse/Neglect 14 |