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Podcasts Take Two
Why do jails pose such a high risk of suicide?
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Jul 29, 2015
Listen 9:22
Why do jails pose such a high risk of suicide?
There are still questions to be answered in the case of Sandra Bland, the woman who was found dead in a jail cell in Texas two weeks ago.
In this undated frame from video provided by the Waller County Sheriff's Department, Sandra Bland stands before a desk at Waller County Jail in Hempstead, Texas.
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There are still questions to be answered in the case of Sandra Bland, the woman who was found dead in a jail cell in Texas two weeks ago.

There are still questions to be answered in the case of Sandra Bland, the woman who was found dead in a jail cell in Texas two weeks ago.

Bland's family members have questioned the medical examiner's finding that she took her own life, and multiple investigations into her death are underway.

Regardless of what the final determination is in Sandra Bland's case, the fact remains that suicide in jails is an all too common phenomenon. The suicide rate in jails is even higher than it is in prisons.

Dr. Thomas White, a clinical psychologist and expert on jail and prison suicide, joins Take Two to explain why jails pose such a high suicide risk.