School Threat Assessment Versus Suicide Assessment: Statewide Prevalence and Case Characteristics.

• NCJ Number: 254704
• Author(s): Anna. G. Burnette; Francis Huang; Jennifer L. Maeng; Dewey Cornell
• Date Published: 2019
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2014-CK-BX-0004
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Award: Student Threat Assessment as a Safe and Supportive Prevention Strategy

Annotation

Since an important policy question is whether the practice of suicide assessment in Virginia schools should become part of the state's threat assessment process, the current study compared threat assessment cases in Virginia schools that involved a threat to others with those involving a threat to self.

Abstract

Threat assessment is a violence prevention strategy used to investigate and respond to threats to harm others. In 2013, Virginia mandated the use of threat assessment teams for threats to self and to others, effectively subsuming suicide assessment with threat assessment and raising questions about the distinction between the two practices. In a statewide sample of 2,861 cases from 926 schools, there were more threats to self (60 percent) than others (35 percent), with only 5 percent involving threats to both self and others. Threats to self were more likely to be made by females (odds ratio [OR] = 3.38) and students with fewer prior disciplinary actions (OR = 0.48). Threats to self were much less likely to involve a weapon (OR = 0.07), but more likely to be attempted (OR = 1.50) and result in mental health services (OR = 2.96). They were much less likely to result in out of school suspensions (OR = 0.07), legal action (OR = 0.17), and/or changes in placement (OR = 0.53). Overall, these findings support a clear distinction between suicide and threat assessment. 3 tables and 49 references (publisher abstract modified)