Stakeholder Perspectives on the Stigma of Suicide Attempt Survivors

Abstract. Background: Past scholarly efforts to describe and measure the stigma surrounding suicide have largely viewed suicide stigma from the perspective of the general public. Aims: In the spirit of community-based participatory research (CBPR), the current study brought together a diverse stakeholder team to qualitatively investigate the suicide stigma as experienced by those most intimately affected by suicide. Method: Seven focus groups (n = 62) were conducted with suicide attempt survivors, family members of those who died by suicide, and suicide loss therapists. Results: Themes were derived for stereotypes (n = 30), prejudice (n = 3), and discrimination (n = 4). People who attempted suicide were seen as attention-seeking, selfish, incompetent, emotionally weak, and immoral. Participants described personal experiences of prejudice and discrimination, including those with health professionals. Conclusion: Participants experienced public stigma, self-stigma, and label avoidance. Analyses reveal that the stigma of suicide shares similarities with stereotypes of mental illness, but also includes some important differences. Attempt survivors may be subject to double stigma, which impedes recovery and access to care.

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Reflections of a community-based participatory researcher from the intersection of disability advocacy, engineering, and the academy

Action Research ◽

10.1177/1476750316636669 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 258-275 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Dora M Raymaker

Keyword(s):

Social Services ◽

Community Based Participatory Research ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Story Telling ◽

Research Setting ◽

Community Based ◽

Self Reflection ◽

Narrative Story ◽

Power And Resistance ◽

Personal Experiences

This article uses an evocative autoethnographic approach to explore the experience of being an insider-researcher in a community-based participatory research setting. Taking a holistic perspective and using the form of narrative story-telling, I examine the dynamics between the typically marginalizing (but sometimes empowering) experience of being an autistic woman and the typically privileging (but sometimes oppressive) experience of being an engineering professional, during a time of career upheaval. Themes of motivations and mentors, adversity from social services and the academy, belonging, the slipperiness of intersectional positioning, feedback cycles of opportunity, dichotomies of competence and inadequacy, heightened stakes, and power and resistance are explored through the narrative. While primarily leaving the narrative to speak for itself per the qualitative approach taken, the article concludes with a discussion of how the personal experiences described relate both to the broader work of insider-researchers within disability-related fields, and to misconceptions about self-reflection and capacity for story-telling in individuals on the autism spectrum.

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Exploring the public stigma of substance use disorder through community-based participatory research

Addiction Research & Theory ◽

10.1080/16066359.2017.1409890 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 323-329 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Katherine Nieweglowski ◽

Patrick W. Corrigan ◽

Tri Tyas ◽

Anastasia Tooley ◽

Rachel Dubke ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Substance Use ◽

Participatory Research ◽

Substance Use Disorder ◽

Community Based Participatory Research ◽

Public Stigma ◽

Community Based ◽

The Public

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Making Sense of the Public Stigma of Suicide

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000456 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (5) ◽

pp. 351-359 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Patrick W. Corrigan ◽

Lindsay Sheehan ◽

Maya A. Al-Khouja ◽

Keyword(s):

Discriminant Validity ◽

Community Based Participatory Research ◽

Public Stigma ◽

Conceptual Foundation ◽

The Public ◽

Making Sense ◽

Stigma Of Mental Illness ◽

Two Factors ◽

Prejudice And Discrimination ◽

Barrier To Care

Abstract. Background: Research suggests that stigma is a barrier to care for individuals who have attempted suicide. While extensive work has examined the stigma of mental illness, less research has focused on the public stigma of suicide. Existing measures of suicide stigma have lacked a conceptual foundation or have failed to include the perspectives of suicide stakeholders. Aims: This research draws on previous qualitative research with suicide stakeholders to create a measure of public suicide stigma. Method: This study used a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to define a factor structure for suicide stigma. The CBPR team used focus groups to generate items for each component of stigma (stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination). Two online surveys (N = 372; N = 243) asked members of the public to rate candidate items for stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. Results: Analyses revealed three factors for stereotypes (weak, crazy, distressed), two factors for prejudice (fear/distrust, anger), and three for discrimination (avoidance, disdain, coercion). Limitations: Results should be confirmed in other samples and further evidence gathered on convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity. Conclusion: The resulting 44-item Suicide Stigma Assessment Scale (SSAS) can be further validated and used to measure efficacy of stigma change interventions.

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Community-Based Participatory Research with Workers and Unions: Issues and Challenges

NEW SOLUTIONS A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy ◽

10.2190/ydyw-bvvp-xb8b-769y ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 47-51

Author(s):

Nina Wallerstein

Keyword(s):

Participatory Research ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Collaborative Work ◽

Community Based Participatory Research ◽

The Political ◽

Community Based ◽

The Core ◽

Ethical Context

Dr. June Fisher was an inspiration not only for the core principles of Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR), but also for the understanding of context, the political, social, and ethical context of how and where collaborative work takes place. This paper unpacks the values, assumptions, and dilemmas faced by health professionals interested in working in authentic partnerships with unions, associations of non-unionized workers, and management-worker teams. Issues of privilege, race, power, and participation are raised as topics to think about and negotiate honestly as our work unfolds in communities. Local CBPR efforts are placed in the context of globalization and we are asked to consider how to situate our struggles in the largest context, while not losing sight of our own personal and community contributions.

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Suicidal Behavior in Four Ethnic Groups in The Hague, 2002–2004

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910.30.2.63 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 63-67 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Irene Burger ◽

Albert M. van Hemert ◽

Willem J. Schudel ◽

Barend J.C. Middelkoop

Keyword(s):

Suicide Attempt ◽

Ethnic Groups ◽

Suicidal Behavior ◽

Emergency Service ◽

Attempted Suicide ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Specific Rate ◽

Completed Suicide ◽

The Hague ◽

Psychiatric Department

Background: Suicidal behavior is a severe public health problem. Aims: To determine the rates of attempted and completed suicide among ethnic groups in The Hague, The Netherlands (2002–2004). Methods: By analyzing data on attempted and completed suicide (from the psychiatric department of general medical hospitals; the psychiatric emergency service and the municipal coroners). Results: Turkish and Surinamese females aged 15–24 years were at highest risk for attempted suicide (age-specific rate 545 / 100,000 and 421 / 100,000 person-years, respectively). Both rates were significantly higher than in the same age group of Dutch females (246 / 100,000 person-years). Turkish (2%) and Surinamese (7%) had lower repeat suicide-attempt rates than did Dutch (16%) females aged 15–24. Significantly lower suicide-attempt rates were found for Surinamese than for Dutch females aged 35–54 years. Differences were not explained by socioeconomic living conditions. The ratio fatal/nonfatal events was 4.5 times higher in males than in females and varied across age, gender, and ethnicity strata. Completed suicide was rare among migrant females. No completed suicides were observed in the Turkish and Surinamese females aged 15–24 years. Conclusions: The study demonstrates a high risk of attempted suicide and a low risk of completed suicide among young Turkish and Surinamese females.

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Incidence of Completed and Attempted Suicide in Trabzon, Turkey

Crisis ◽

10.1027//0227-5910.23.1.3 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 3-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Mustafa Bilici ◽

Mehmet Bekaroğlu ◽

Çiçek Hocaoğlu ◽

Serhat Gürp&inodot;nar ◽

Cengiz Soylu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Suicide Risk ◽

Attempted Suicide ◽

Medical Center ◽

Study Data ◽

Public Prosecutor ◽

Suicide Method ◽

Hospital Data ◽

State Institute ◽

The Public ◽

Completed Suicide

Summary: Objective: Studies of completed and attempted suicide in Turkey are based on data of State Institute of Statistics (SIS) and emergency clinics of the large hospitals. This study seeks (1) to find, independent of the SIS and hospital data, the annual incidences of completed and attempted suicide in Trabzon, Turkey; (2) to examine the associated factors between the incidence of completed and attempted suicide. Method: The data are derived by using a method specially designed for this study. Data sources include emergency clinics in all hospitals, village clinics, the Forensic Medical Center of Trabzon, the Governorship of Trabzon, “mukhtars” (local village representatives) of neighborhoods, the Office of the Public Prosecutor of Trabzon, the Police Headquarters and Gendarmerie, and the local press organs. Results: The incidences of completed and attempted suicide per 100,000 inhabitants turned out to be 2.60 and 31.5, respectively, whereas the SIS reported the incidence of completed suicide to be 1.11 per 100,000 inhabitants in Trabzon in 1995. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that SIS data are inadequate for suicide research in Turkey. Our findings show that the risk of completed and attempted suicide is high in young, unmarried, and unemployed persons, and that these groups must be carefully evaluated for suicide risk. The study highlights the need for culture-specific research on suicidal behavior in Turkey.

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