Youth Suicide
Today, suicide is a controversial area within society. For youth, suicide is the third highest reason for death in the United States (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). This paper will highlight the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) position of youth suicide, the opposing view of youth suicide, critiques of both positions, and my personal position of youth suicide.
Social Work Position
The Nasional Association of Social Workers (NASW) has recognized youth suicide and has a position regarding the controversy. The NASW (2015) pointed out that suicide is a public health problem. There are several reasons why the NASW sees suicide as a public health problem. The first reason why suicide is a public health
…show more content…
Social workers follow a code of ethics that outlines the importance of relationships. Social workers must have strong relationships with people to improve the well-being of their clients (NASW, 2008). If the suicide prevention and intervention is damaging to the client social worker relationships, it is crossing an ethical dilemma. Furthermore, the code of ethics also states that social workers should promote dignity and worth of their clients (NASW, 2008). If the client does not feel they are not a part of the suicide intervention their dignity and worth might …show more content…
I believe youth suicide should be treated as a public health issue. Close friends of mine have struggled with suicidal thoughts. Although a challenge, the people I have encountered who have struggled with suicide were glad to have overcome it. Since then, they have greatly improved their lives. Not to mention I am very glad they are still alive. My friends are important to me and I am unsure how much different my life would be without them. Culture also impacts my beliefs surrounding youth suicide. In the society I live in suicide is a taboo and not talked about too often. When it is talked about it is through social media. Some social media idealizes suicide while others are trying to scare the viewers into being nicer. Social media was much more influential when I was a youth myself. The videos and shows I saw related to youth suicide made me cautious about how I treated people because I ever wanted someone I knew to commit suicide like in the media. My upbringing also has a lot to do with my position on youth suicide. I grew up in a religious household that held the believed if you committed suicide you would go to “hell.” I do not hold these beliefs specifically, but I believe the message they were trying to get across is important; Life is precious. Although life is hard sometimes, I believe each person has the potential to make a difference and help other human beings around them. Each life is
Approximately, five teenagers attempted suicide each day (Haesler 2010 para. 1). The fact makes some group of people (especially the ones who are part of the society) concerned. Somehow, youth suicide will result in an unintentional sign for help (Carr-Gregg 2003, para. 1). Communities related to the victims will be affected mentally and they will feel grief, pain, and loss that are so great that it overcomes the economic ...
In 2012, there were an alarming number of suicides among young people in Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware (Fowler, Crosby, Parks, & Ivey, 2013). According to a collaborative investigative report that was done by the Division of Violence Prevention (DVP), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were eleven suicides committed by young people who ranged in ages from 12 to 21 years old within a five month period of time in Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware (Fowler et al., 2013). In that same five month period of time there were 116 youth who attempted to commit suicide (Fowler et al., 2013). These incidents drew a great deal of community alarm for two primary reasons. The first reason was the number of suicide deaths in the first quarter of 2012 exceeded the number of suicide deaths typically reported in this two county area in an entire year (Fowler et al., 2013). According to Fowler et al. (2013), from 2009-2011, the typical annual number of deaths by suicide among young peop...
The CASW Code of Ethics outlines a number of values that guide the social work profession. These include (1) Respect for the Inherent Dignity and Worth of Persons; (2) Pursuit of Social Justice; and (3) Service to Humanity (CASW, 2005a). The first value of Respecting the Inherent Dignity and Worth of Persons advocates for the protection of individuals because it encompasses the right to self-determination, human rights, and the right to informed consent (CASW, 2005a, p.4). Notwithstanding, one principle found in this value also supports the protection of society, encouraging social workers to "... uphold the right of society to impose limitations on the self-determination of individuals, when such limitations protect individuals from self-harm and from harming others (CASW, 2005a, p.4). This first value from the Code of Ethics makes it confusing for social workers because it guides them to advocate for human rights and self-determination, while justifying limitations in order to prevent harm to the individual or society.
Some ethical issues associated in the end of life decision is that the social worker may be catoring to their own needs instead of the clients. Social workers, in general, works on enhancing ones’ life, which might seem counterintuitive to ending it, creating an ethical dilemma (Shulman, 2012, p. 253).
A 17 year old boy, Douglas Stewart, came home from school to find his mother lying on the sofa with a strained back. Being concerned for her he rubbed her back briefly then put on some easy listening music. Douglas then proceeded downstairs to his bedroom. Two of his friends came to the door. His mother waited to see if he would return to answer it; minutes later she answered and then yelled for him to come up. When he did not come, she went downstairs to get him. That is when she found him strangled and her son’s body dangling from the ceiling. This is a senseless tragic sight for a mother to endure. The mortality rate from suicide in 1996 showed 9.5 per 100,000 for 15-19 year olds. This also shows boys are four times more likely to commit suicide then girls. However, girls are twice as likely to attempt suicide. (American 1996) It is imperative to reverse this trend and in doing so we need to understand the characteristics, behaviors and events associated with youth suicide.
There are many things which can drive a teen to commit suicide some of them are as simple as making fun of the “fat” kid in class; others can come from the mental images from witnessing a shooting. There are four major issues which contribute to teen suicide such as depression, family problems, risk factors, and teens reactions to there climate. Depression, unfortunately, is one of the biggest factors of today’s teenage suicide problems and some of the reasons for it are from the student’s own peers, “being depressed is triggered by loss or rejection (Joan 59).” Depression can be f...
...., & Links, P. S. (2008b). Whose life is it anyway? An exploration of five contemporary ethical issues that pertain to the psychiatric nursing care of the person who is suicidal: Part two. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 17, 246-254. doi:10/1111/j.1447-0349.2008.00540.x
Teen suicide should never be on the minds of our youth. It’s a dreadful circumstance that happens almost on a daily basis. I chose this topic for my core assessment because I can relate to this topic. My cousin committed suicide when he was 19 years old. The pain and suffering that we as a family went through can’t even be described. Some say that people who commit suicide are selfish cowards who don’t think of their families when they act. Others say that the individual isn’t in their right mind to comprehend what is going on. I usually tend to lean towards the last assumption because personally, I feel that my cousin never committed suicide, his state of mind did. Teen suicide is one of the leading causes of death for adolescents in addition to accidents such as vehicles and drugs. My future career in law enforcement will deal with teen suicides. It’s inevitable. In addition, it’s the police officers responsibility as well as the families, and schools to detect the risk and prevent these suicidal behaviors by these teenagers. Yet, how are people supposed to know what teens are feeling deep down inside? Most teenagers can hide or act their feelings like professionals. Personally the best way to know what your teens are thinking or going through is talk to them on a daily basis; whether it’s at the dinner table or even while watching television. These measures will change your teenager’s life because he/she will know that someone cares and loves them.
Suicide amongst young people has increased greatly in the past 25 years in the US( young men and women 15-24) Women and suicide has increased the least with 250 percent, men has soared to over 300 percent. The US is now ranked the highest in the world for suicide. Until recently suicide amongst the young men and women accounted for less than 5 percent of suicide. It has increased with the increase in population of youth. Young men 15-24 now account for more than 20 percent of the male suicides.
Reamer explains that values are important in regard to “The nature of social work’s mission; the relationships that social workers have with clients, colleagues, and members of society; the methods of intervention that social workers use in their work, and the resolution of ethical dilemmas in practice” (p. 15). Reamer discusses the importance of ethical decision making and ethical risk management in regards to any ethical dilemma a social worker may face. Reamer also explores how our values can challenge our profession; opposing or conflicting personal, professional, cultural and religious values in particular. Other ethical issues include confidentiality, privacy, divided loyalties, professional boundaries, dual relationships, conflicts of interest, and a client’s free will or determinism (Reamer,
Suicidal tendencies in adolescents begin around the ages of 10 through 19, with warning signs, prevention, treatment, and the causes and effects it has on the human psyche. Suicide is when someone decides to take his or her own life because and are suffering from a painful mental treatable illness and have lost hope in who they are. Because when hope is lost, some feel like suicide is the only solution to truly make the adolescents pain go away permanently. Scientific evidence that shows the people who have committed suicide had a diagnosable treatable mental disorder or substance abuse disorder (The National Institute of Mental Health, 2010). Those people might have been suffering from illness such as depression, mood disorders, personality disorders and or suffering from bullying. Being a victim of bullying can be linked to suicidal thoughts as well as behavior in adolescents. Other causes might also include having family problems at home, problems at work, school and or with school peers. Suicide is a serious problem though it not only affects the victim, but it also affects family members, loved ones, along with friends.
Suicide is a much bigger problem than society will admit; the causes, methods, and prevention need to be discussed more openly. Committing suicide probably sounds like a foreign idea to most people, but to the people who think about it, they deal with it every day. More importantly, the question is what leads people to kill themselves? In general, most people do not want to actually kill themselves, even though many people joke about it on a daily basis. Being human, we all have a certain amount of will to live.
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.
Teen suicide as an extremely complex tragedy, that unfortunately happens all the time throughout the United States. There are friends, parents, and peers that are facing the misfortune of losing a young, close, loved one to suicide. Most people don't realize that adolescent suicide is common. They don't want to believe how often this occurs in the secure environment found in the small towns of America, as well as in its largest cities.
Everyone everywhere should care about teenage suicide because depression, anxiety and racism which most people have or receive lead to suicide thoughts or attempts, when someone commits it affects the family members and/or the community, finally the media has a huge role in “copycat” suicides. First of all depression, anxiety and experiencing racism leads to suicidal thoughts or attempts. In a true story on Teen Health and Wellness called “Jazmyn’s Story”, Jazmyn stated “I slowly fell into a pit of depression” and this depression lead to cutting herself to try to relive her emotion pain but evidently did not work. Then because of depression and physical harm she lead herself towards the path of suicide. (1) Her turning point was one day at school when some boys in her class asked her “Why haven’t you committed suicide yet?