Safe Rhode Island:  
Violence and Injury Prevention Program

Suicide* 

• Previous suicide attempt
• Mental disorders--particularly mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder
• Co-occurring mental and alcohol and substance abuse disorders
• Family history of suicide
• Hopelessness
• Impulsive and /or aggressive tendencies
• Barriers to accessing mental health treatment
• Relational, social, work, or financial loss
• Physical illness
• Easy Access to lethal methods, especially guns
• Unwillingness to seek help because of stigma attached to mental and substance abuse disorders and/or suicidal thoughts
• Influence of significant people--family members, celebrities, peers who have died by suicide--both through direct personal contact or inappropriate media representations
• Cultural and religious beliefs--for instance, the belief that suicide is a noble resolution of a personal dilemma
• Local epidemics of suicide that have a contagious influence
• Isolation, a feeling of being cut off from other people

* (Source: The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Suicide, 1999)

Other Violence*

Community Factors:

Availability of firearms
Community laws/norms that favor drug use, firearms, and crime
Violence in the media
Low attachment to neighborhood
Extreme economic deprivation

Family Factors:

History of violence
Family conflict
Family management problems
Favorable parental attitudes and involvement in violence

School Factors:

Early academic failure
Lack of commitment to school
Early/persistent antisocial behavior

Individual/Peer Factors:

Childhood victimization
Friends engage in violence
Early initiation of violence
Constitutional factors
Unemployment/economic instability
Lack of recognition/stake in the community
Disconnection from support systems

*(Source: Catalano, R., and Hawkins, J.D. (1995). Communities that Care: Risk-Focused Prevention Using the Social Development Strategy. Seattle, WA: Developmental Research and Programs, Inc.)

Unintentional Injuries*

Unintentional Injury represents a broad category of injuries with many influencing factors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of risk factors for unintentional injury, rather is intended to capture the known risk factors for the major leading causes of injury death and disability.

Individual:

• Alcohol and other drugs
• Difficulty in hearing
• Drinking and driving
• Early child development
• Excessive speed
• Extreme youth and inexperience
• Firearm accessibility and availability
• Highway laws and the extent to which they are obeyed
• Lack of adequate supervision
• Lack of skill
• Lack of training
• Medical impairment and aging
• Poor judgmentSeat belt use/ Safety seat use
• Smoke alarm use
• Use of protective devises

Environmental

• Building design, defect, or failure
• Equipment design, defect, or failure
• Improperly labeled and stored toxic substances
• Ladders/ walkers/ wheel chairs
• Poor driving conditions
• Poor or absent road warnings
• Product design, defect, or failure
• Roadway maintenanceR
• ough ground
• Rugs
• Slippery ground

*(Based on Injury Control: A Guide to the Causes and Prevention of Trauma, 1985)