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Research proposal about suicide
Sociological issues surrounding suicides
Sociological issues surrounding suicides
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The subject of suicide is taboo in our society. Despite this fact and the efforts of society in general trying to minimize the reality of suicide, there are still people who are intrigued by the act. This intrigue could be due to the large number of people who die by suicide. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15-24 and the 9th leading cause of death overall (Timmermans 311). The intrigue and minimization of suicide in our society contrast. When suicide is not being romanticized or hidden, there is shame and stigma surrounding it. Ignoring, romanticizing, and shaming the act of suicide is problematic because suicide is a serious social problem that needs to be addressed openly, accurately, and without judgment. …show more content…
Their story is told by boys who lived in the same neighborhood and attended the same school. It is likely that the suicides of the Lisbon girls were so intriguing to the boys because of the girls’ incredible beauty and the lives that they led. While the girls’ father was more relaxed and easygoing, their mother was restrictive and controlling. With a mother like Mrs. Lisbon, it is easy for one to come to the conclusion that the girls were aching for freedom. Given that they eventually became prisoners of their own home, it is likely that the girls were depressed and sought the only out they could …show more content…
He was trying to prevent the villainization, shaming, and stigma. Whatever his reasoning, falsifying the manner of death is a problem as there is concern in our society about the accuracy of the reporting of suicides. According to David Satcher, the US Surgeon General from 1998-2002, “it is generally accepted that not all suicides are reported as such” (Timmermans 311). Forensic pathologists work hard to ensure that death certificates have the correct manner of death despite often facing pressure from loved ones to reflect the death as an accident or in some cases, a homicide (Timmermans 322). While it is not always easy for forensic pathologists to determine manner of death due to outside pressures and inability to truly know the intent of the victim, they strive to fully analyze each case and determine whether the evidence points to a suicide or a different manner of death (Timmermans
Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides The virgin suicide’s was written by Jeffrey Eugenides it was an interesting and fun Filled novel. There were stressful things that take place that lead to the twist and turns within it, The story is told by men looking back who grew up in the same neighborhood as the Lisbon girls, their lives had forever been changed by their fierce, awkward obsession with the five young sisters: Therese, Mary, Bonnie, Lux, and Cecilia. The men noticed and became very into the sisters when Cecilia tried to commit suicide. She was the first sister to attempt suicide among all the Lisbon sisters. She cut her wrists with her father’s razor blade and laid in a bathtub full of water… she laid in the bathtub full of water so that the blood would bleed out of her faster.
When a death occurs suddenly, unexpectedly and from unnatural or unknown causes, a forensic scientist has the duty to gather and analyze evidence to determine whether the victim died from a previously undiagnosed disease or infection or from a homicide, suicide or accident (Lurigio, 2009). When considering suicide as the probable cause of death, we are looking at the act of intentionally killing oneself through one’s own effort or with the assistance of another (Sever, 2009). The resolution of the manner of death by a forensic pathologist as suicide is based on a series of factors which eliminate natural causes of death, homicide and accident (Geberth, 2013, p.55). The cause of death is also determined by the medical examiner in conjunction with the crime scene investigator; however, it can only be determined after a thorough investigation is concluded. Therefore, in the complicated process of doing a death investigation there are several mistakes that should be avoided, which are discussed in Geberth’s article, Seven Mistakes in Suicide Investigation (2013). Mistakes in doing any death investigation affect the integrity of the evidence in determining the cause of death and in its admissibility in court.
When one first thinks of mythology the first things that first come to mind are probably stories of Greek gods and goddesses, and the humans that prayed to them. We often forget that mythology does not end or begin with the Greeks. Authors have been using mythology for many would say centuries as a source for symbols, characters, situations, or images that conjures up universal feedback. In the case of “The Virgin Suicides” by Jeffrey Eugenides one of the archetypes that we see play out throughout the novel is the one of The Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary in “The Virgin Suicides” represents a sense of foreshadowing at the beginning and towards the end of the book, provide an allegory between the Libson girls and The Virgin Mary, and help deeper define the Libson girls.
Suicide AwarenessVoices of Education (SAVE) proclaims, “When a person faces his grief, allows his feelings to come, speaks of his grief...it is then that the focus is to move from death and dying and to promote...
In a study released by Brown University, their psychology department shed some light on common myths and facts surrounded suicide. These m...
In fact, this infatuation continues even as they grow up, get married and approach middle age since, to them, “no other women can ever measure up to the ideal of the Lisbon girls” (Kirby). They admit that the girls are still in their collective mind, and that the memories make them “... happier with dreams than wives” (Eugenides 126). Analysis of this relationship is also featured in much of the scholarly writing on Eugenides’ novel, and it has been argued that the boys relationship is an obsessive one, that “...despite the fact that they appear to be collectors of the girls' possessions, it is actually the collection of mementos that possess them” (Kostova 49). However, no matter how deep or loyal their attraction is, it is clear the girls are the object of their sexual desire. They demonstrate this numerous times, including when they describe Lux as a succubus, when they respond to girls making contact after many months of isolation by playing love songs, and when Peter Sissen considers stealing a used tampon from the garbage to show to the other boys. Even at their noblest moment, when they go to rescue the girls, one boy ruins the chivalrous act by commenting “These girls make me crazy. If I could just feel one of them up just once,” (Eugenides 159). He doesn’t even distinguish which girl, because he doesn’t view them as individuals. In her paper, Kostova goes as far as to say “the many [narrators]
The second of the sources was Lucy Tonic’s article, Analysis of “The Virgin Suicides”. Tonic brings to the forefront a metaphoric viewpoint. To begin with, she has the suspicion that Cecilia, the first of the Lisbon girls to commit suicide was being sexually abused throughout the film by her father. For instance, Tonic claims, “There was some underlying event taking place that was disguised. Unlike Cecilia’s four sisters, who shared two rooms between them, Cecilia for some reason had her own room.” Tonic reveals that it is odd the youngest of the four girls gets her own room. Additionally, ...
Khan, M. M., & Mian, A. I. (2010). ‘The one truly serious philosophical problem’: Ethical aspects of suicide. International Review Of Psychiatry, 22 (3), 288-293. doi:10.3109/09540261.2010.484017
“Suicide is a major public health issue; it takes the life of over a million people a year.” (“Suicide Widely”) Suicide is a growing epidemic that has very negative effects and views against it. Suicide is immoral because it is said to taint your soul. Numerous side effects from it can help you understand why it is wrong. Families and friendships are torn apart by the destructive acts. Understandably, people considering killing themselves aren’t immoral because at that point you’re able to go get help and tell someone how you’re feeling. I hope to encourage more awareness for this issue to save more lives and encourage more communication.
Durkheim was a functionalist, and theorised that a holistic social narrative could be identified which would explain individual behaviour. He argued that, whilst society was made up of its members, it was greater than the sum of its parts, and was an external pressure that determined the behaviour of the individuals within it. At that time, suicide rates in Europe were rising, and so the causes of suicide were on the agenda. Since suicide is seen as an intrinsically personal and individual action, establishing it as having societal causes would be a strong defence for Durkheim’s functionalist perspective. Durkheim used the comparative method to study the official suicide rates of various European countries. While he was not the first to notice the patterns and proportional changes of suicide rates between different groups in European societies, it was this fact that was the foundation of his theory – why did some groups consistently have much higher rates than others? This supports the idea that it was the external pressures placed on certain groups within society that induced higher rates of suicide, and is the basis of Durkheim’s work.
He also mentioned that it would be an issue of trust because since the time of Hippocrates, physicians are sworn to heal and not harm their patients. They have a good point on their views on physician-assisted suicide however, when there is nothing a doctor can no longer do for a terminally ill patient who is due to die, they should follow and respect the patients' wishes. The basic principles of their profession is doing everything they can for their patients, and doing what’s best for them. Sometimes assisted suicide is what a patient wants, and is the most humane thing to do, and the doctor should respect
Set in 1970s Michigan, The Virgin Suicides (1999) tells the story of the five Lisbon sisters from the perspective of four neighborhood boys, whose narration throughout the movie describes the girls’ lives, personalities, and deaths. Therese, Mary, Bonnie, Lux, and Cecilia Lisbon (listed oldest to youngest) live at home with their two overly strict and protective parents. The film opens up with thirteen-year-old Cecilia attempting to kill herself by slitting her wrists in the bathtub. Cecilia’s psychiatrist claims that it was simply a cry for attention, and that she didn’t intend to succeed. He suggests the girls be allowed to participate in social events, and stresses that it would benefit them to be around
“Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain” (I-10). Ending a life is a big step in the wrong direction for most. Suicide is the killing of oneself. Suicide happens every day, and everyday a family’s life is changed. Something needs to be done to raise awareness of that startling fact. Suicide is a much bigger problem than society will admit; the causes, methods, and prevention need to be discussed more openly.
Now the eighth-leading cause of death overall in the U.S. and the third-leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years, suicide has become the subject of much recent focus. U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, for instance, recently announced his Call to Action to Prevent Suicide, 1999, an initiative intended to increase public awareness, promote intervention strategies, and enhance research. The media, too, has been paying very close attention to the subject of suicide, writing articles and books and running news stories. Suicide among our nation’s youth, a population very vulnerable to self-destructive emotions, has perhaps received the most discussion of late. Maybe this is because teenage suicide seems the most tragic—lives lost before they’ve even started. Yet, while all of this recent focus is good, it’s only the beginning. We cannot continue to lose so many lives unnecessarily.
Suicide has become a critical, national problem and the extent of this is mind-boggling. Suicides have been proven to be one of the leading causes of death among college students. According to Webters dictionary “suicide is the act killing oneself on purpose”. It derived from the Latin sui, meaning “self”, and caedere, which means “to kill”. But this is just a definition, because an actual suicide holds different meanings to people such as tragic, shocking, a relief, a cry for help, a shame, heroic, the right choice, punishment, revenge, protest, anger, a mistake, desperate, hurtful and many more. But why do people, like college students who have their entire future ahead of them, simply give up hope and turn their heads away from life and commit suicide. There are several causes of suicide, recent incidents of suicide on college campuses, warning signs from a suicidal. I blame the Constitution and the United States law for not taking any hard initiative on the subject of suicide. I also impose the choice of the media, which is reflecting and portraying suicide towards a wrong direction. However most important questions remain: can the growing epidemic of suicide be solved, what are communities doing about it and what can they do to help?