Suicide as a Way of Belonging: Causes and Consequences of Cluster Suicides in Aboriginal Communities

Niezen, Ronald

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3075644

Cited by 22 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…A defining quality of these ''clusters'' is a paradox in which those who take their own lives are driven by a profound sense of social isolation and loneliness, yet act to end their suffering in ways closely resembling the suicidal acts of others, often in the same social milieu, demonstrating ''a linkage between individuals, a true group or collective behavior beyond the society's norms'' (Coleman, 1987, p. 3). I first encountered the influence of a cohort effect on self-destructive behaviour in 1999 during my work as an ethnographer in the northern Canadian aboriginal community of Cross Lake (Niezen, 2009). The intense concentration of self-destructive behaviour in this reservation village, it seemed to me, could not be understood without taking into consideration the powerful influence that an age group or cohort was having in normalizing the idea of suicide, and in providing examples of suicidal acts for others to witness-and even to follow.…”

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confidence: 99%

Internet suicide: Communities of affirmation and the lethality of communication

Niezen

2013

Transcult Psychiatry

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As a tool of instant information dissemination and social networking, the Internet has made possible the formation and affirmation of public identities based on personality traits that are usually characterized by clinicians as pathological. The wide variety of online communities of affirmation reveals new conditions for permissiveness and inclusiveness in expressions of these socially marginal and clinically pathologized identities. Much the same kind of discourse common to these online communities is evident in some suicide forums. Web sites with suicide as their central raison d'être, taken together, encompass a wide range of ideas and commitments, including many that provide collective affirmation outside of (and often with hostility toward) professional intervention. The paradox of a potentially life-affirming effect of such forums runs counter to a stark dualism between online therapy versus "prochoice" forums and, by extension, to simple models of the influence of ideas on the lethality of suicide. Different forums either intensify or mitigate self-destructive tendencies in ways that are significant for understanding the place of communication in the occurrence of suicide and for therapeutic practice.

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confidence: 99%

Internet suicide: Communities of affirmation and the lethality of communication

Niezen

2013

Transcult Psychiatry

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“…A collective romantic insecurity appears to have become common among many Inuit male youth. Niezen () argues that suicide may indeed be a way of belonging among youth in some Indigenous communities, and this might also be the case for the particular male norm of control and possession of girlfriends.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“The Weight on Our Shoulders Is Too Much, and We Are Falling”

Kral

2013

Med Anthropol Q

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Inuit youth suicide is at an epidemic level in the circumpolar north. Rapid culture change has left Inuit in a state of coloniality that destabilized their kin-based social organization, and in spite of advances in self-governance social problems such as suicide continue. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork I carried out in Nunavut, Canada (2004-2005), including 27 interviews with Inuit between the ages of 17 and 61, I examine male youth in particular in the context of recent colonial change, gender ideologies and behavior, youth autonomy, and the family. Anger is common among Inuit male youth, often directed toward girlfriends and parents, and suicide is embedded in some of these relationships. Many Inuit male youth are struggling with a new cultural model of love and sexuality. Inuit speak about a need for more responsible parenting. Evidence is beginning to show, however, that local, community-based suicide prevention may be working.

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“…Fifth, and finally, identity and status are inextricably tied to social emotions like pride and shame, and therefore, when thinking about patterns of suicidality, we must explore how structure and culture condition expectations and obligations, how identity and status performance are intimately driven by these expectations and obligations, and what types of options are available, accessible, and applicable for failing to meet these expectations and obligations. In short, these four principles need to be systematically applied to other cases, but it is clear that mass suicides, like the Jonestown cult suicide (Pescosolido, ), clusters like those in high schools (Mueller, ; Mueller & Abrutyn, ) or in indigenous communities (Niezen, ; Stevenson, ), or more generic patterns like spikes in suicide rates during recessions or among divorcées all can benefit from a more in‐depth theoretical framework, as can sociology's contribution to prevention.…”

Section: Final Thoughtsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Hindu Sati can teach us about the sociocultural and social psychological dynamics of suicide

Abrutyn

2017

J Theory Soc Behav

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By leveraging the case of Hindu sati, this paper elucidates the ways in which structure and culture condition suicidal behavior by way of social psychological and emotional dynamics. Conventionally, sati falls under Durkheim's discussion of altruistic suicides, or the self‐sacrifice of underindividuated or excessively integrated peoples like widows in traditional societies. In light of the fact that Durkheim's interpretation was based on uneven data, nineteenth century Eurocentric beliefs, and a theoretical framework that can no longer resist modification and elaboration, by reconsidering sati it is possible to sketch a new model that strengthens Durkheim's theory by making it more robust and generalizable. The following model is built on five principles. First, integration and regulation are not distinct causal forces, but overlapping contextual conditions. Second, to better explain the variation in suicidality across time and space, we must also pay attention to culture as it provides the underlying meanings of suicide that can increase the odds a person or class of persons become suicidal or are protected against suicidality. Third, structure still matters, but in many cases, the role power and power‐differentials play must be considered. Fourth, understanding why and how people choose suicide depends on incorporating identity and status processes. Fifth, because the expression of social emotions like shame are patterned by structural and cultural conditions, to understand how suicidality is socioculturally patterned we must further explore the link between identity/status, social emotions, and structure and culture.

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Suicide as a Way of Belonging: Causes and Consequences of Cluster Suicides in Aboriginal Communities

Cited by 22 publications

References 11 publications

Internet suicide: Communities of affirmation and the lethality of communication

Internet suicide: Communities of affirmation and the lethality of communication

“The Weight on Our Shoulders Is Too Much, and We Are Falling”

What Hindu Sati can teach us about the sociocultural and social psychological dynamics of suicide

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