Tales of biographical disintegration: how parents make sense of their sons’ suicides

Owens, Christabel; Lambert, Helen; Lloyd, Kenneth E.; Donovan, Jacqueline

doi:10.1111/j.1467-9566.2007.01034.x

Cited by 73 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Whilst there is a broad literature on family and caregiver experiences (Baruch, 1981;Chamberlayne & King, 1997;Hinton & Levkoff, 1999;Pejlert, 2001;Harden, 2005), little research has focused specifically on sense-making in these groups, although Oldershaw et al (2008) do report briefly on sense-making strategies of parents whose children self-harm. Owens, Lambert, Lloyd & Donovan (2008) examine sensemaking in a group of parents in some detail, reporting and interpreting ways parents made sense of their sons' deaths by suicide.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Sense of an Unknown Terrain

et al. 2016

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Self-harm is common in young people, and can have profound effects on parents and other family members. We conducted narrative interviews with 41 parents and other family members of 38 young people, aged up to 25, who had self-harmed. Most of the participants were parents, but included one sibling and one spouse. This article reports experiences of the parent participants. A cross-case thematic analysis showed that most participants were bewildered by self-harm. The disruption to their world-view brought about by self-harm prompted many to undergo a process of 'sense-making' -by ruminative introspection, looking for information and building a new way of seeing -in order to understand and come to terms with self-harm. Most participants appeared to have been successful in making sense of self-harm, though not without considerable effort and emotional struggle. Our findings provide grounds for a deeper socio-cultural understanding of the impact of self-harm on parents.Keywords: Self-harm; adolescence; young adults; parents; families 3 Self-harm is defined as intentional self-injury or self-poisoning regardless of motive (Hawton, Saunders & O'Connor, 2012; Oldershaw, Richards, Simic & Scmidt, 2008). It is common in young people, with some studies reporting up to 38% of young adults engaging in self-harm (Andover, Primack, Gibb & Pepper, 2010). Between 10-17% of adolescents are said to selfharm (Hawton, Rodham, Evans & Weatherall, 2002;Klonsky, 2009). While some research suggests that rates of self-harm are comparable in men and women (Andover et al. 2010), international studies with large community samples show that self-harm occurs three to four times more often in female adolescents than in males (Hawton et al., 2002; Madge et al., 2008;O'Connor, Rasmussen, Miles & Hawton, 2009., Mars et al., 2014McMahon et al. 2014). While suicidal intent may or may not be involved, the most frequent motives for selfharm are intrapersonal -e.g. affect regulation, self-punishment (Klonsky, 2009) or interpersonal -e.g. appeal to others (Scoliers et al., 2009; Hjelmeland et al., 2002). Self-harm is frequently repeated (Hawton et al., 2002;Hawton, Bergen, Kapur, Cooper, Steeg et al., 2012) and often done in secret (Madge et al., 2008). While self-harm in young people often ceases by late adolescence or early adulthood (Moran et al., 2012) it can be a precursor of specific mental health problems (Mars et al., 2014). It also carries a significant risk of suicide .Previous qualitative research has explored the needs, perspectives and responses of parents to their children's self-harm (Byrne, Morgan, Fitzpatrick et al., 2008., Oldershaw et al., 2008Raphael, Clarke & Kumar, 2006). These studies found that parents were deeply distressed by self-harm and that they struggled to understand and cope with it. They often felt helpless and worried about future incidents of self-harm. Their anxieties were increased by feeling that they lacked the parenting skills to respond appropriately, in some cases, and that they did not always rece...

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“…Hawton et al (1998) and Cooper (1999) argue that the unburdening of this emotionally charged subject provides a starting point for looking back on the events leading up to the death. Emphasis was placed on encouraging participants to talk freely about their experiences and to "tell the story" in the way they chose (Owens, Lambert, Lloyd, & Donovan, 2008).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Continuing social presence of the dead: exploring suicide bereavement through online memorialisation

Bailey

Bell

Kennedy

2014

New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia

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The last 10 years have seen a rise in Internet sites commemorating those lost to suicide. These sites describe the life of the deceased and the afterlife of relatives, parents, friends or siblings who have been termed the "forgotten bereaved". It is clear that such sites have implications for continuing bonds and for what many commentators refer to as the continuing social presence of the dead. This paper presents interim findings from ongoing research which focuses on two aspects of suicide memorial websites. First, we explore the extent to which such sites help us understand how the Internet is enabling new ways of grieving and is, in effect, making new cultural scripts. Second, although there is a large body of writing on the management of trauma there is little evidence-based research. The paper draws on face-to-face interviews with owners of suicide memorial sites (family members and friends) and explores how the establishment and maintenance of such a site is an important part of the therapeutic process and how, for grieving relatives, making or contributing to such sites provides ways of managing trauma in the aftermath of a death by suicide.

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“…This model is distinct from the indigenous one, which is constructed from other issues, such as weaknesses in the process of constructing kinship and predation of the living by the dead. It is also noteworthy that biomedical understanding of "suicide by contagion" finds no echo, including in popular urban interpretative models about suicide (Owens et al, 2008;Lambert, 2012).…”

Section: The "Others" and Predationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Qualitative studies that use narratives of people related to suicides have been increasingly carried out (Hoifodt et al, 2007;Owens et al, 2008;Lambert, 2012). In these studies, the interviewees talk about the specific suicide of people to whom they were related.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Narrativas indígenas sobre suicídio no Alto Rio Negro, Brasil: tecendo sentidos

Souza

2016

Saude soc.

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Resumo Taxas de mortalidade por suicídio mais elevadas são recorrentemente encontradas em indígenas quando comparadas a populações circunvizinhas, inclusive em São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas, município brasileiro com maior percentual de autodeclarados indígenas. Entender como o suicídio é representado em contextos indígenas específicos é uma dimensão qualitativa, pouco explorada e relevante. O objetivo deste artigo foi analisar sete narrativas sobre sui cídio de um kumu (curandeiro tradicional) da mais populosa comunidade indígena de São Gabriel da Cachoeira. No processo analítico-interpretativo realizou-se uma dupla hermenêutica, ou seja, inter pretar a interpretação do narrador, buscando apoio na literatura etnográfica clássica e contemporânea, nas teorias sobre o processo de construção da pessoa e do parentesco no contexto ameríndio. A análise das narrativas permitiu reconstruir o suicídio como um fenômeno associado a conflitos que se ancoram pro fundamente em aspectos socioculturais e históricos dos povos indígenas daquela região, que remetem a tensões intergeracionais, de gênero e no campo do parentesco. O gerenciamento desses conflitos parece estar comprometido, já que estratégias tradicionais parecem perder a eficácia simbólica e outras não fo ram adequadamente encontradas para substituí-las. O consumo de álcool, embora seja um elemento im portante para compreensão do suicídio, não deveria ser tomado como elemento explicativo central, mas, sobretudo como um catalisador desses conflitos.

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Tales of biographical disintegration: how parents make sense of their sons’ suicides

Cited by 73 publications

References 38 publications

Making Sense of an Unknown Terrain

Making Sense of an Unknown Terrain

Continuing social presence of the dead: exploring suicide bereavement through online memorialisation

Narrativas indígenas sobre suicídio no Alto Rio Negro, Brasil: tecendo sentidos

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