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When things fall apart: Gender and suicide across the life-course

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  • Shiner, Michael
  • Scourfield, Jonathan
  • Fincham, Ben
  • Langer, Susanne

Abstract

Young men are often considered to be at particular risk of suicide, but such claims are partial and potentially misleading. Drawing on official statistics and an innovative, qualitatively driven, mixed method sociological autopsy of individual suicides, the authors of this paper argue that the vulnerability of 'young' men to suicide is often exaggerated and that insufficient attention is paid to the diverse social circumstances of suicidal men and women across the life course. Detailed analysis of 100 case files selected from a single coroner's office in the UK reveals that patterns of suicide can be seen to map on to conventional features of a socially structured life course, with young people in crisis, mid-life gendered patterns of work and family and older people in decline. Particular attention is drawn to suicide among those in mid-life and to the role of the social bond, especially in the form of attachment. Relationship breakdown is considered in some detail because it is central to understanding the demography of suicide and the significance of social bonds.

Suggested Citation

  • Shiner, Michael & Scourfield, Jonathan & Fincham, Ben & Langer, Susanne, 2009. "When things fall apart: Gender and suicide across the life-course," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 738-746, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:69:y:2009:i:5:p:738-746
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gunnell, David & Middleton, Nicos & Whitley, Elise & Dorling, Daniel & Frankel, Stephen, 2003. "Why are suicide rates rising in young men but falling in the elderly?--a time-series analysis of trends in England and Wales 1950-1998," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(4), pages 595-611, August.
    2. John Helliwell, 2007. "Well-Being and Social Capital: Does Suicide Pose a Puzzle?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 81(3), pages 455-496, May.
    3. Berkman, Lisa F. & Glass, Thomas & Brissette, Ian & Seeman, Teresa E., 2000. "From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 843-857, September.
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    1. Belur, Jyoti & Tilley, Nick & Daruwalla, Nayreen & Kumar, Meena & Tiwari, Vinay & Osrin, David, 2014. "The social construction of ‘dowry deaths’," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 1-9.
    2. Claire Warrington, 2019. "Repeated Police Mental Health Act Detentions in England and Wales: Trauma and Recurrent Suicidality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-15, November.
    3. Cara Richardson & Adele Dickson & Kathryn A. Robb & Rory C. O’Connor, 2021. "The Male Experience of Suicide Attempts and Recovery: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-15, May.
    4. Scourfield, Jonathan & Fincham, Ben & Langer, Susanne & Shiner, Michael, 2012. "Sociological autopsy: An integrated approach to the study of suicide in men," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(4), pages 466-473.
    5. Marzano, Lisa & Hawton, Keith & Rivlin, Adrienne & Fazel, Seena, 2011. "Psychosocial influences on prisoner suicide: A case-control study of near-lethal self-harm in women prisoners," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(6), pages 874-883, March.

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