Abstract:More than a century after Durkheim's sociological classic placed the subject of suicide as a concern at the heart of social science, ethnographic, crosscultural analyses of what lie behind people's attempts to take their own lives remain few in number. But by highlighting how the ethnographic method privileges a certain view of suicidal behaviour, we can go beyond the limited sociological and psychological approaches that define the field of 'suicidology' in terms of social and psychological 'pathology' to eng… Show more
“…In keeping with Fleischer [33] and Staples & Widger [34], we found suicidality to be clearly relational. During the last 60 years this relational aspect of suicidality repeatedly has been described in communicative terms as ‘symbol’ [35], ‘appeal’ [36], ‘manipulation’ [37] or ‘cry for help’ [38], and hence defined suicide as a communicative act.…”
BackgroundPrevious research has shown that men who adhere to traditional beliefs about masculinity have increased health risks compared to those who do not. Single marital status, unemployment, retirement, and physical illness are commonly known risk factors for male suicidal behavior. Most men struggling with these risk factors are, however, not suicidal. To find out more about what makes some men vulnerable to suicidal behavior, risk factors must be analyzed in light of men’s life history as well as the social context where they live their masculinity.MethodWe conducted semi-structured qualitative in-depth interviews with 15 men (20–76 years old) who were admitted to hospital after a suicidal act. We analyzed the data by means of qualitative content analysis with a directed approach. The analysis was directed by the participants’ reports on whether they had wanted to die or not at the time of the suicidal act. On this basis, they were divided into two groups: a “to die” and a “not to die” group. We then analyzed each group separately before comparing them.ResultsIn both groups, the main reason or trigger for the suicidal act were problems in intimate relationships. These problems were complex and connected to the men’s lived masculinity, ranging from shame, or tainted masculine honor, to taking responsibility as a man for the wife. Some men pointed to pain and ennui as reasons or triggers for their suicidal act. Only one in the “not to die” group took full responsibility for the suicidal act, whereas all but one did the same in the “to die” group. The men not taking responsibility described the suicidal act as involuntary because of either alcohol or a kind of “black-out”. Not taking responsibility for the act may be a way of preserving masculine identity.ConclusionRelationship problems are the main reason or trigger of the suicidal act for most participants, but in very different ways, mirroring lived masculinity. The most striking finding is the uniqueness of each story, questioning the utility of standardized suicide prevention efforts.
“…In keeping with Fleischer [33] and Staples & Widger [34], we found suicidality to be clearly relational. During the last 60 years this relational aspect of suicidality repeatedly has been described in communicative terms as ‘symbol’ [35], ‘appeal’ [36], ‘manipulation’ [37] or ‘cry for help’ [38], and hence defined suicide as a communicative act.…”
BackgroundPrevious research has shown that men who adhere to traditional beliefs about masculinity have increased health risks compared to those who do not. Single marital status, unemployment, retirement, and physical illness are commonly known risk factors for male suicidal behavior. Most men struggling with these risk factors are, however, not suicidal. To find out more about what makes some men vulnerable to suicidal behavior, risk factors must be analyzed in light of men’s life history as well as the social context where they live their masculinity.MethodWe conducted semi-structured qualitative in-depth interviews with 15 men (20–76 years old) who were admitted to hospital after a suicidal act. We analyzed the data by means of qualitative content analysis with a directed approach. The analysis was directed by the participants’ reports on whether they had wanted to die or not at the time of the suicidal act. On this basis, they were divided into two groups: a “to die” and a “not to die” group. We then analyzed each group separately before comparing them.ResultsIn both groups, the main reason or trigger for the suicidal act were problems in intimate relationships. These problems were complex and connected to the men’s lived masculinity, ranging from shame, or tainted masculine honor, to taking responsibility as a man for the wife. Some men pointed to pain and ennui as reasons or triggers for their suicidal act. Only one in the “not to die” group took full responsibility for the suicidal act, whereas all but one did the same in the “to die” group. The men not taking responsibility described the suicidal act as involuntary because of either alcohol or a kind of “black-out”. Not taking responsibility for the act may be a way of preserving masculine identity.ConclusionRelationship problems are the main reason or trigger of the suicidal act for most participants, but in very different ways, mirroring lived masculinity. The most striking finding is the uniqueness of each story, questioning the utility of standardized suicide prevention efforts.
“…Doing so can reveal how suicidal behavior is “remarkably similar across diverse contexts” (Staples & Widger, 2012:196). For example, in the broader anthropological scholarship on suicidal behavior, cultural conflict emerges as a key theme.…”
In this article, we explored the relationships among culture, family, and attempted suicide by U.S. Latinas. We analyzed qualitative interviews conducted with Latina teen suicide attempters (n = 10) and their parents. We also incorporated data collected from adolescents with no reported history of self-harm (n = 10) and their parents to examine why some individuals turned to suicide under similar experiences of cultural conflict. Our results revealed that Latina teens who attempted suicide lacked the resources to forge meaningful social ties. Without the tools to bridge experiences of cultural contradiction, girls in our sample described feeling isolated and alone. Under such conditions, adolescents turned to behaviors aimed at self-destruction. Unlike their peers who attempted suicide, adolescent Latinas with no lifetime history of attempted suicide were able to mobilize resources in ways that balanced experiences of acculturative tension by creating supportive relationships with other individuals.
“…As Price and Evans (, p. 45; 2009) argue, mental health approaches ‘tend to focus on the dramatic outcome of processes of stress in the form of suicide rather than the dynamics of social processes themselves which form the underlying causes of stress’. To better understand the complexity of suicide therefore requires ethnographic research approaches combined with ethical methodologies (see for instance Billaud ; Münster ; Staples and Widger ). As Staples and Widger (, p. 185) suggest, such approaches would ‘cast the problem in a new light and new terms’ and would enable scholars to:learn about how suicidal behaviours are imagined, talked about and practiced; how they relate to other kinds of behaviours and institutions; when and under what possibilities different people in the communities we study think suicide might arise and when it might not, when it might be ‘acceptable’ and when it might not; and how suicidal behavior does not begin with the ‘precipitating factor’ and end with the ‘suicidal act’, but extends deep into individual and collective pasts and futures.…”
Section: Problematising Discourses Of Suicidementioning
confidence: 99%
“…As Staples and Widger (, p. 185) suggest, such approaches would ‘cast the problem in a new light and new terms’ and would enable scholars to:learn about how suicidal behaviours are imagined, talked about and practiced; how they relate to other kinds of behaviours and institutions; when and under what possibilities different people in the communities we study think suicide might arise and when it might not, when it might be ‘acceptable’ and when it might not; and how suicidal behavior does not begin with the ‘precipitating factor’ and end with the ‘suicidal act’, but extends deep into individual and collective pasts and futures. (Staples and Widger , p. 199)…”
Section: Problematising Discourses Of Suicidementioning
The literature on suicide reveals an academic praxis that largely overlooks the group potentially at highest risk of suicide, namely older male farmers. Within the broader literature on suicide, a small and constrained body of articles has provided empirical evidence and review of the individual risk factors for older male suicides. The rural studies literature on suicide has predominantly focused on the risk factors of suicide for farmers and rural youth and the ways in which masculinities are implicated in suicide. This article engages with these literatures for what they might reveal about the suicides of older male farmers but also critiques their limitations and makes suggestions about potentially revealing avenues for empirical investigation. It argues that the suicides of older male farmers, both real and within discourse, raise complex questions concerning reasons for suicide, embedded within subjective, social and cultural contexts. Examination of cultures of farming masculinity, rural cultures of ageing and the ways in which old age and suicide are problematised may therefore provide critical insights into the suicides of older farming men.
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