| SHORT-TERM OBJECTIVES | THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS |
| 1. Identify any high-risk characteristics associated with previous suicide activity. (1) | 1. Assess for high-risk characteristics inherent in any of the client's previous suicide activities (e.g., did the activity result in medical attention; was it performed with a firearm; was the client under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the incident; was the client motivated at the time by feelings of hopelessness and helplessness connected to current social, economic, or neighborhood stressors; was the activity calculated for rescue, self-interrupted, or was it accidentally stopped against the client's wishes). |
| 2. Identify specifics of current suicide ideation and/or intent. (2, 3, 4) | 2. Explore the motivation or goal for the current suicide intent with the client (e.g., escape from hopeless economic, social, or environmental stressors; a passivity toward life because of consistent experiences with poverty, violence, or death; an expressed method of curing rampant chemical dependence).
3. Explore whether the client has any formalized plan for the suicide intent (e.g., will a firearm be used and is it currently or readily available, has a time or place been chosen, has he written a suicide note).
4. Explore whether the client has shared his intent with anyone in his social environment (e.g., wife, minister, or friend) or if he has no identified resource and currently is in social isolation. |
| 3. Provide information on personal experiences with high-risk behavioral markers for suicide in African American males. (5, 6, 7) | 5. Assess the client for the high-risk African American male suicide marker of cocaine/crack, heroin, and injectable drug abuse; examine for age of onset, current usage, readiness to change, supportive environment, losses because of dependency, or concurrent disorders.
6. Assess the client for the high-risk African American male suicide marker of firearm possession; examine for consistency of possession, motivational factors (e.g., unrealistically high levels of distrust, suspiciousness, or realistic fears of neighborhood violence), and whether the weapon has been used in violent activity.
7. Assess the client for the high-risk African American male suicide marker of adopting a self-destructive lifestyle in a deprived living environment (e.g., carries an attitude of “I am ready to die”; has witnessed death by homicide; lives in an environment marked by underemployment, nonnurturing social institutions, impoverished and/or segregated conditions; easily engages in fatalistic behaviors, which may include acts of victim-provoked suicide). |
| 4. Provide information on personal experiences with high-risk emotional markers for suicide in African American males. (8) | 8. Assess the client for the high-risk African American male suicide marker of depression (e.g., low self-esteem, social withdrawal, anhedonia, sleep disturbance, increase in anger/hostility, or low energy levels). |
| 5. Provide information on personal experiences with high-risk social markers for suicide in African American males. (9, 10, 11) | 9. Assess the client for the high-risk African American male suicide marker of isolation from traditional community institutions (e.g., no sense of family cohesion or nurturing from religious organizations or a demonstrated sense of “being out on the streets”).
10. Assess the client for the high-risk African American male suicide marker of low occupational and economic hopes and realities; evaluate current occupational status, educational level and socioeconomic environment, and hopes and aspirations to improve current socioeconomic status.
11. Assess the client for the high-risk African American male suicide marker of being raised in a highly dysfunctional family; examine for a history of physical abuse, incest, extrafamilial sexual abuse, or marital conflicts within the current family or the family of origin. |
| 6. Cooperate with psychological testing designed to evaluate conditions correlated to elevated suicide risk in African American males. (12) | 12. Assess the client's risk factors for completed suicide by administering psychological tests most commonly used for this purpose (e.g., MMPI-2, Suicide Probability Scale, Beck Hopelessness Inventory, Reasons for Living Inventory). |
| 7. Designated community resource individuals agree to support the client in his recovery from hopelessness. (13, 14) | 13. Develop a list of citizens with knowledge of the current crisis and with whom the client may agree to involve in the treatment plan (e.g., minister, personal physician, community outreach professional,... |
