An Action Research Framework for Religion and the Stigma of Suicide

Abstract

Religious beliefs and practices have historically been intertwined with stigmatizing attitudes and responses to suicide, including stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. Understanding the relationship between religion and suicide stigma requires identifying specific religious beliefs and practices about suicide and how these are informed by broader worldviews, such as ethics, anthropology, and afterlife beliefs. Yet, research in this area has been complicated by the complex multidimensional nature of stigma and the diversity of religious beliefs and practices, even within religious traditions. Moreover, contrary arguments about the role of religious views of suicide in suicide prevention, specifically whether religious stigma is protective or instead contributes to risk, have obscured the interpretation of findings. This paper aims to advance research on this topic by first summarizing pertinent empirical findings and theoretical perspectives on public and personal stigma towards people with suicidal ideation (PWSI), people with suicidal behavior (PWSB), and suicide loss survivors (SLS). Secondly, a culturally nuanced action research framework (ARF) of religious stigma towards suicide is provided to guide future research. According to this ARF, research should advance strategically by investigating associations of religious beliefs and practices with stigmatization, identifying empowering resources within particular religious traditions, supporting suicide prevention efforts, and developing effective interventions to support PWSI, PWSB, and SLS. Moreover, such research efforts ought to equip religious leaders, and healthcare professionals working with religious individuals, to reduce stigma towards suicide and further the goal of suicide prevention.

Suicide literacy mediates the path from religiosity to suicide stigma among Muslim community adults: Cross-sectional data from four Arab countries

“…It is of note, however, that these findings may be hindered by the heterogeneity of the sample; given that Muslim participants involved in this study were from diverse cultures, ethnic-racial, and legal backgrounds (Eskin et al, 2020). It is imperative to point to the fact that religion is intimately related to culture (Alothman & Fogarty, 2020; Saroglou & Cohen, 2011) and ethno-racial identity (Lehmann et al, 2021); hence the importance of considering the cultural background when exploring how religion and religiosity impact people’s views of suicide. For this reason, we focused in the present study on exploring the relationship between religiosity and suicide stigma in Muslim people from a similar Arab social and cultural context.…”

“…However, empirical evidence on the association between religiosity and suicide related stigma remains, to date, scarce and inconclusive (Fanegan et al, 2022). Indeed, most of research attention on religion and suicide has been given to religion’s protective role against suicide (Lehmann et al, 2021). Moreover, the vast majority of previous studies on stigma mainly focused on mental illness stigma, with only a dearth of literature on stigma toward suicide (Rimkeviciene et al, 2019); whereas research suggests that suicide stigma is a distinct construct from mental illness stigma (Corrigan et al, 2017; Rimkeviciene et al, 2019).…”

“…In the face of these observations, Gearing and Alonzo (Gearing & Alonzo, 2018) strongly asked for additional research on how major religious traditions could relate to suicide stigma. Such research may help advance our understanding of how to effectively respond to the problem of suicide through both minimizing stigma and preventing suicidal behavior (Lehmann et al, 2021). All this points to the alarming need to further investigate the complex and under-researched link between religiosity and suicide stigma in Arab Muslim contexts.…”

Sociodemographic and precipitating circumstances associated with suicide among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: A survival analysis.

“…Exposure to social stigma may create barriers to utilizing psychological treatment because of shame and unwillingness to burden others (K. G. Yang et al, 2020). AAPI individuals may internalize stigmatizing societal beliefs that setback their recovery process (Ran et al, 2021) and increase distress and risk of suicidality (Lehmann et al, 2021). The cultural stigma associated with suicide behaviors includes family conflict, perceived discrimination, intergenerational conflict, community exclusion, and ethnic identity (Cheng et al, 2010;Karasz et al, 2019;Subica et al, 2019).…”