How Culture Shapes Suicidal Behavior

This book explores the role of culture in explaining suicidal behavior. Explanations based on the genes and physiology of individuals, and theories based on psychological variables have difficulty explaining the suicide rate of societies, as well as the occurrence of suicide in individuals. This book illustrates the strong role of culture in determining the suicide rate of societies by looking at the role of the major religion of a society, in particular, Islam, as well as national differences in suicide rates, and the variation of suicide rates within a nation (for example, over the states of the USA). Descriptions of suicidal behavior in some groups are provided, including African American slaves in the 1700s and 1800s, Siberian indigenous peoples, and the Roma. Cultural scripts for suicide are described, such as seppuku, sati, and victim-precipitated homicide, and types of suicide in which the staging of the suicidal act is determined by the culture. Finally, it is argued that, not only does culture have an impact on the suicide rate of a society, but also that culture is the primary determinant of the staging of the suicidal act, that is, the location chosen for suicide (for example, at home versus away from home), the method chosen for suicide, the clothes worn, the motive for the suicidal act, and other choices that the would-be suicide has to make.