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Adolescents and Suicide: Restoring the Kin Network.

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Adolescents and Suicide: Restoring the Kin Network.
Language: English
Authors: Gutstein, Steven E., Rudd, M. David, Texas Univ., Austin. Hogg Foundation for Mental Health.
Availability: Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78713-7998.
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 31
Publication Date: 1988
Document Type: Reports - General
Descriptors: Adolescents, Case Studies, Extended Family, Family Involvement, Family Relationship, Intervention, Outcomes of Treatment, Prevention, Program Effectiveness, Psychotherapy, Suicide
Geographic Terms: U.S.; Texas
Abstract: This booklet describes Houston's Systemic Crisis Intervention Program (SCIP), an outpatient-based program for adolescents who have attempted suicide, used during the suicidal crisis period and based on the premise that children need a healthy kin system to serve as a buffer to the all too frequent crises of adolescence. The introduction presents two case studies of adolescents who have attempted suicide and background on the nuclear family's need for a health kin system in order to adapt successfully to major life transitions. The next section discusses current research on what propels youth to suicide and what prevents suicide, highlighting the disrupted kin network of the two adolescents presented earlier. Next, aspects of a healthy functioning kin network which functions as a good suicide deterrent is described. The rationale for the Systemic Crisis Intervention Program is presented. The treatment model, consisting of these parts is discussed: (1) providing an immediate emergency response which serves to maintain family members' anxiety within manageable limits; (2) mobilizing extended family members to become involved in the crisis; and (3) restructuring kin system relationships to provide successful long-term solutions to the current crisis. The effectiveness of the program was examined using 47 adolescents accepted for treatment and the results of the evaluation are discussed which showed that during the follow-up period of more than one year only two subjects engaged in suicidal behavior, neither of which resulted in physical harm, and that family and marital functioning improved during the treatment phase. (ABL)
Journal Code: RIEFEB1989
Entry Date: 1989
Accession Number: ED298409
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:This booklet describes Houston's Systemic Crisis Intervention Program (SCIP), an outpatient-based program for adolescents who have attempted suicide, used during the suicidal crisis period and based on the premise that children need a healthy kin system to serve as a buffer to the all too frequent crises of adolescence. The introduction presents two case studies of adolescents who have attempted suicide and background on the nuclear family's need for a health kin system in order to adapt successfully to major life transitions. The next section discusses current research on what propels youth to suicide and what prevents suicide, highlighting the disrupted kin network of the two adolescents presented earlier. Next, aspects of a healthy functioning kin network which functions as a good suicide deterrent is described. The rationale for the Systemic Crisis Intervention Program is presented. The treatment model, consisting of these parts is discussed: (1) providing an immediate emergency response which serves to maintain family members' anxiety within manageable limits; (2) mobilizing extended family members to become involved in the crisis; and (3) restructuring kin system relationships to provide successful long-term solutions to the current crisis. The effectiveness of the program was examined using 47 adolescents accepted for treatment and the results of the evaluation are discussed which showed that during the follow-up period of more than one year only two subjects engaged in suicidal behavior, neither of which resulted in physical harm, and that family and marital functioning improved during the treatment phase. (ABL)