Attitudes towards Suicide: a Cross-Cultural Comparison Essay

Death is inescapable it is a natural process of the human race. While this is true, suicide is less understood, despite its frequent occurrence throughout history, in all cultures (Kastenbaum, 2007 Khan & Mian, 2010 Lester, 2013). Although there is no single, universally accepted definition of suicide, the definition offered by many leading organizations including, the World Health Organization (2015) American Psychological Association (2015) and Ministry of Health (2005, 2015), is that suicide is the act of purposely killing oneself. However, this is not the only definition of suicide found in the literature, Silverman (2006) reported that there are as many as 15 frequently referenced definitions of suicide. Although these definitions vary based on their theoretical orientations, which stem from numerous disciplines, such as psychology, psychiatry, sociology, public health and others, they share four essential characteristics. These include (1) the outcome of the suicidal act is death (2) the act is self-inflicted (3) the intent of the act is to end one's life and (4) at the time of the act, the person possesses a conscious awareness of the outcome (Silverman, 2006). Part one of the literature review will highlight the importance of suicide. The following themes will be discussed issues with suicide statistics and reasons for under-reporting, global suicide statistics, New Zealand suicide statistics, evidence-based suicide risk factors (static and dynamic risk factors), and the importance of suicide risk assessment and challenges that may hinder the process of proper risk assessment.
2.1.2. Global Suicide Statistics
Prior to presenting the most up-to-date global and national statistics on suicide, it is fundamental to first mention that there appears to be a general consensus that under-reporting is a common issue when it comes to suicide (Andriessen, 2006 De Leo, 2015 Hawton, 1986 Kring, Johnson, Davison, & Neale, 2012 Pritchard & Hansen, 2014 Tollefsen, Hem, & Ekeberg, 2012). A number of reasons have been put forward to help explain why suicide may be under-reported. For instance, the criteria and classification systems (e.g. coroner's examination, necessity of a suicide note) that help determine whether someone has died by suicide may be too narrow and may differ between countries (Andriessen, 2006). Hawton (1986) also points out that health professionals who decide whether or not a suicide has been committed vary depending upon the country (i.e. medical officers in the USA coroners in the UK). Furthermore, suicide verdicts are also influenced by various ethno-socio-cultural-religious factors in relation to how each country views suicide (Andriessen, 2006 Bhugra, 2012 Domino, 2005 Hjelmeland, 2011 Pritchard & Hansen, 2014). A current example of this is the Middle Eastern Islamic countries, where the majority of life aspects are guided by religion and cultural traditions, which strongly condemn suicide. Research indicates that there is a reluctance to report cases of suicide within Islamic nations (Colucci & Martin, 2008 Ineichen, 1998 Stack & Kposowa, 2011). Thus, these examples demonstrate that the true rate of suicide is likely to be under-estimated and hence these factors should always be kept in mind when evaluating suicide statistics.