Understanding the development of the concept of suicide through the use of early memory technique

Abstract

Early memories of adults were examined to assess the understanding of the concept of suicide )om childhood experiences. Two sets of early memories were gathered in which subjects recalled their earliest suicide m m o y and their earliest suicidal thought. Content analysis of these memories reuealed that between the ages of 8 and 12 initial exposure to suicide occurs predominately through impersonal means; at this level of suicide understanding, uncertainty surrounds the motivating factors of suicide. It was found that at approximateb age 14, a mature adult conception of suicide existed. This was a time period in which individuals, for the first time, were beginning to think about killing themselves as a solution to personal conflict or motional turmoil in their /;fee Findings support research relating to the areas of death conception and levels of cognitive functioning in children. Further areas of investigation are outlined.We are not born wanting to kill ourselves, nor do we have the knowledge available to us at birth to understand that we have the potential to choose death. From the moment a child is born, he or she begins to experience the world cognitively, affectively, and socially. How a child begins to acquire concepts such as life, death, or even suicide, are closely related to his or her level of cognitive functioning and learning experiences. Although an adult is able to deDana A. Clark, M. S., is a doctoral candidate in the Program in Counseling Psychology and Human Systems, Florida State University, and a psychology intern at the Federal Correctional Institution, Tallahassee, Florida.