A Retrospective Review of Risk Factors for Suicide in Looked After and Accommodated Children in Glasgow

Abstract

The present report was requested by the Glasgow Child Protection Committee (CPC) to complement the Significant Case Review (SCR) process in the city. The focus on young people who had taken their own lives was considered following concerns that the SCR process for individual cases is not sufficiently focussed on understanding risk factors, but instead concentrates on procedural aspects of each case as a means of future prevention and risk reduction. The five cases selected for inclusion in this report were those identified by the SCR sub-group as those young people who had committed suicide between 2006 – 2012 and were, or had been looked after and accommodated. Methodology involved a comprehensive analysis of social work case files and health files where available, and analysis of relevant documents including any SCR reports. In effect the work was a case study approach to the investigation due to the small number of cases included.