Suicide, A Personal Problem

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Suicide, A Personal Problem?

• Introduction to Sociology

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• Internal Attribution/Internal Cause
• Mood Scales
• National Efforts
• Surgeon General

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Suicide Facts (National Institute of Mental
Health)

• Completed suicides, U.S., 1997
• Suicide was the 8th leading cause of death in the
  United States.
• The total number of suicide deaths was 30,535
• 1.3 of total deaths were from suicide.  By
  contrast, 31 were from diseases of the heart,
  23 were from malignant neoplasms (cancer), and
  7 from cerebrovascular disease (stroke), the
  three leading causes
• Suicide outnumbered homicides (19,846) by 3 to 2
• There were twice as many deaths due to suicide
  than deaths due to HIV/AIDS (16,516 ) suicides
• For More Info http//www.nimh.nih.gov/research/su
  ifact.htm

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Suicide and Gender

• More men than women die by suicide
• The gender ratio is  41
• 72 of all suicides are committed by white men
• 79 of all firearm suicides are committed by
  white men
• The highest suicide rates were for white men over
  85, who had a rate of 65/100,000. 

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Suicide And Age

• Suicide was the 3rd leading cause of death among
  young people 15 to 24 years of age, following
  unintentional injuries and homicide.  The rate
  was 11.5/100,000, or .01
• The suicide rate among children ages 10-14 was
  1.6/100,000, or 303 deaths among 19,040,000
  children in this age group.
• The suicide rate among adolescents aged 15-19 was
  9.5/100,000, or 1,802 deaths among 19,068,000
  adolescents in this age group
• The 1997 gender ratio for this age group was 51
  (males females)
• Among young people 20 to 24 years of age the
  suicide rate was 13.6/100,000, or 2,384 deaths
  among 17,512,000 people in this age group
• The 1997 gender ratio for this age group was 71
  (males females)

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Suicide and Ethnicity

• 1979-1992, suicide rates for Native Americans
  (includes American Indians and Alaska Natives)
  were about 1.5 times the national rates. suicides
  among young male Native Americans (15-24)
  accounted for 64 of all suicides by Native
  Americans.
• Suicide rates are higher than the national
  average for some groups of Asian Americans.
• While the suicide rate among young people is
  greatest among young white males, from 1980
  through 1996 the rate increased most rapidly
  among black males aged 15 to 19more than
  doubling from 3.6 per 100,000 to 8.1 per 100,000.
  
• It has been widely reported that gay and lesbian
  youth are two to three times more likely to
  commit suicide than other youth and that 30
  percent of all attempted or completed youth
  suicides are related to issues of sexual
  identity.
• In a survey of students Hispanic students
  (10.7) were significantly more likely than white
  students (6.3) to have reported a suicide
  attempt. Among Hispanic students, females (14.9)
  were more than twice as likely as males (7.2) to
  have reported a suicide attempt. But Hispanic
  male students (7.2) were significantly more
  likely than white male students (3.2) to report
  this behavior.
• http//www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/calltoaction
  /fact7.htm

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Attempted Suicide

• Attempted Suicides
• No annual national data on attempted suicide are
  available reliable scientific research, however,
  has found that
• There are an estimated 8-25 attempted suicides to
  one completion the ratio is higher in women and
  youth and lower in men and the elderly
• More women than men report a history of attempted
  suicide, with a gender ratio of 21
• The strongest risk factors for attempted suicide
  in adults are depression, alcohol abuse, cocaine
  use, and separation or divorce
• The strongest risk factors for attempted suicide
  in youth are depression, alcohol or other drug
  use disorder, and aggressive or disruptive
  behaviors
• For More Info http//www.nimh.nih.gov/research/su
  ifact.htm

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Suicide and Depression

• DID YOU KNOW?
• Of the many millions of Americans who suffer from
  depression in any given year, 80 can be
  effectively treated, but only 30 seek help and
  of that number, slightly more than half are
  accurately diagnosed and receive appropriate
  treatment.
• Every year, 500 Minnesotans die of suicide - and
  30,000 suicide deaths occur nationally.
• The 1 cause of suicide is untreated depression.
• http//www.save.org/
• Raw Suicide Statistics http//www.cdc.gov/ncipc/os
  p/mortdata.htm

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http//www.cdc.gov/ncipc/images/ypll95.gif
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Emile Durkheim

• An Early Example of Sociology

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Durkheim Suicide

• Observation Suicide, the most individual of
  choices,yet relatively constant for different
  groups from year to year.
• Theory Collective Consciousnessor common
  beliefs, values, norms that result from
  interactions within a social group (differs
  across groups).
• Predictions Anomie ? Suicide.
• Test Move beyond speculation, Statistics.

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Durkheims Terms

• Norms rules defining behavior that is expected
  or required within a group or situation.
• Anomie a situation of uncertainty over norms or
  normlessness.
• Reasoning--
• Deductive Theory to Observation.
• Inductive Observation to theory.

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Three Key Themes of Sociology

• Sociologists
• 1.Use a variety of theories, at several levels of
  analysis, to explain the social world.
• 2.Do scientific research to help formulate, test,
  and refine their theories.
• 3.Use a sociological perspective to understand
  our own life experiences and begin to solve
  serious social problems.