Suicide in Youth
Posted: Sunday, November 15, 2009
by Renee Kimberly Root
Ring of Fire Evangelistic Ministry
The most extensive description of the content in which development proceeds has been put forth in the ecological systems theory produced by Urie Bronfenbrenner. Ecological theories in general stress the need to understand development in terms of the everyday environment in which children are reared, a concern that is seldom the focus of many other theories. Commenting on the state of development psychology several decades ago, Bronfenbrenner claimed that much of contemporary developmental psychology is the science of the strange behavior of children in strange situations with strange adults for the briefest possible periods of time. Development, Bronfenbrenner believes, must be studied not only in the laboratory as it has been, but also in the homes, schools, neighborhoods, and communities in which it takes place" (Bukatko, 2008, p.28). Bronfenbrenner made a major contribution with his comprehensive portrait of the environment, the ecological forces and systems that exist at several different levels, and the bidirectional and reciprocal relationships that are existent among them. The core of the child's biological and psychological makeup, which includes a child's cognitive capacities and socioemotional and motivational properties, which include things like temperament and personality for responding to and acting on the environment. The microsystem is made up of the settings with the most immediate and direct impact on an individual's biological and psychological qualities. These would include the home, household members, social and educational circumstances which include classmates, teachers, and resources in the classroom and neighborhoods. This would also include the physical layout, friends and acquaintances. The mesosystem is made up of many interrelationships among the various settings within the microsystem. The family has opportunities and expectations, such as access to books, learning to read, emphasis on acquiring basic academic skills and socialization skills, and these may have influence on the child's experiences and successes in another microsystem, which would be the school. So a child with divorced parents living in different neighborhoods may face frequent moves between different homes. The problems of the living arrangement would be the range and kinds of friendships that the child could establish with other children. Development can be influenced by social, economic, political, religious and other settings either directly or indirectly by the impact through those who care for the child. The exosystem is made up of these types of factors. "In many countries today, for example, the child is seldom part of either parent's work environment. Nevertheless, the parent who encounters a difficult problem at work may bring frustrations home and express them through angry exchanges with members of the family. Urban renewal planned at city hall may have dramatic consequences for children and their interactions with peers, hopefully for the better, but perhaps not always with that effect. Skirmishes between rival villages or countries may bring poverty if the family breadwinner is killed in fighting" (Bukatko, 2008, p.29).
Suicide is a serious problem for youth. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in teens, and approximately 4,500 lives are lost each year. The three methods most used by teens in suicide are firearms, suffocation and poisoning. Some young people survive suicide, and a survey done on youth in grades 9 through 12 who attended private and public schools in the United States found that 15% of students seriously considered suicide, 11% reported creating a plan, and 7% reported they tried to take their life in the 12 months preceding the survey. The groups that are most at risk are the boys because they are more likely to succeed, and girls are more likely to attempt it without success. The culture is also a factor in suicide, such as Native American, Alaskan native, and Hispanic youth have the highest rates of suicide-related deaths. The survey also found Hispanic youths are more likely to attempt suicide than their Black and White, non-Hispanic peers. Bronfenbrenner's theory suggests the home environment, household members, and social and educational circumstances have an impact on the child's development and so this would be in the case of suicide. Some of the factors that may trigger suicide are loss of a loved one, parents' separation or divorce, breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, serious illness, a serious accident, chronic physical pain, loss of hope, being a victim of domestic violence, physical or verbal abuse, sexual abuse, feelings of being trapped or feelings that things will never get better, and inability to deal with a perceived experience that was humiliating. These possible causes could be found in the teenage years of development.
The first transition from the home environment is usually kindergarten as this is the start of formal education for most children. The second greatest transition, the change from grade school to a middle school, may cause the teen stress and could be a factor contributing to teen suicide. So, in the United States this transition is the visible sign of an end to childhood and the beginning of adolescence.
The cultural influences in the childhood years of elementary age children are the child's parents, school and such things as choice of religion. But, as a child becomes a teenager, the cultural influences are peers and outside influences such as rock bands and alternative religions, etc. A good example would be the influence of Hamas-affiliated mosques and how they recruit teenagers for suicide missions. Here is an example: "After a 13 year old boy failed to come home at his usual time one day, his mother asked neighborhood children if they had seen him. Several replied they saw him get into someone's car after school. When he returned that evening, he acknowledged that someone had picked him up after school and taken him to the Jamal Abdul-Nassar mosque and the future did not matter because it was his future to become a martyr and to go to heaven" (Levitt, 2006, p.137).
Suicide in teenagers has many causes, but I believe the experience a child has in the elementary years of life directly influences how problems will be addressed in the teen years. A teenager who has not had a positive elementary age experience will not deal with problems as a teenager and may see suicide as the only answer or a way to die as a martyr.
References Caruso, Kevin. (n.d.). Suicide causes. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from http://www.suicide.org/suicide-causes.html Joiner T., & Rudd, D. (2002). Suicide science: Expanding the boundaries. New York : Kluver Academic Publishers.
Levitt, M. (2006). Hamas: Politics, charity and terrorism in the service of Jihad. New Haven : Yale University Press.
Osborne, M. (2008). Inner world of a suicidal youth: What every parent and health professional should know. Westport , CT : Greenwood Publishing Group.
This Article has been viewed 206 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.