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A Comparison Between 'Samaritan Suicides' and Living Samaritan Clients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

B. M. Barraclough
Affiliation:
M.R.C. Clinical Psychiatry Unit, Graylingwell Hospital, Chichester, Sussex
Marian Shea
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Southampton, SO9 5NH

Extract

‘The Samaritans' were founded in 1953 to help ‘the suicidal and despairing’. As with similar lay agencies abroad, their growth in the past ten years has been vigorous; they now have more than 120 branches in the United Kingdom and these branches attracted over 50,000 clients in 1969. The Samaritans' aims have been described in detail by Fox (1968), but their most important aim is still the prevention of suicide. Their success in attracting the suicidal and preventing their subsequent death must therefore be the criteria of their effectiveness.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1972 

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References

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