The main objective of this book is to provide a detailed understanding of the relationship between bullying, suicide, and homicide and to offer an assessment and response strategy that is useful for mental health professionals who work with children. It will help readers understand that bullying is not a part of childhood development, but rather an aberrant behavior that for the victim can lead to adverse decisions, such as suicide and homicide. Specific topics covered include the identification of risk factors of suicide and homicide for someone who is being bullied; characteristics of bullying that are more traumatic and therefore carry more risk; analysis of homicide risk within the context of American school shooters; four "indelible links" that thread through bullying, suicide, and homicide that take on particular significance and point to a need for a heightened awareness on the part of professionals working with victims; and appropriate assessment and intervention strategies. This text also intends to challenge the prevailing idea that suicide is about death; instead, it is about escape, which can make it seem to be a viable option (although a poor one) for children who experience suicide ideation as a result of bullying and can find no other form of escape. 1. Persistent Bullying and Suicide as a Viable Option. 2. Effective School and Community Response. 3. Inconspicuous Partners: Bullying, Suicide, and Homicide. 4. Indelible Links: Persistence, Hopelessness, Burdensome, and Alienation. 5. Dimensions of the Bullying Experience. 6. The Bullying Lethality Screening System (BLSS) for Use by Professionals. 7. Deciding the Right Course of Action. 80 Suicide Assessment in the Context of Bullying. 9. Threat Assessment: When Risk Turns from Self to Others. 10. Inside the School Counselors Office: Practical Application of the BLSS. |
