Studying Scripts of Women, Men and Suicide: Qualitative-Method Development and Findings from Nepal

Abstract

Information about suicidal behavior in Nepal is limited. According to official records, suicide rates were high until the year 2000 and declined thereafter. Official records are considered unreliable and a gross undercounting of suicide cases, particularly female cases. Suicide research in Nepal has been mostly epidemiologic and hospital-based. Little is known about how suicide is understood by Nepali people in general—including dominant suicide attitudes and beliefs in Nepal. Suicide attitudes and beliefs, which are elements of a culture’s suicide scripts, predict actual suicidality. Drawing on suicide-script theory, we developed and used a semi-structured survey to explore Nepali beliefs about female and male suicide. The informants were adult (Mage = 28.4) university students (59% male). Female suicide was believed to be a response to the society-sanctioned oppression and abuse that women are subjected to, in their family and community. The prevention of female suicide was viewed as requiring dismantling ideologies, institutions, and customs (e.g., child marriage, dowry) that are oppressive to women, and ensuring that women are protected from violence and have equal social and economic rights and opportunities. Male suicide was believed to be a symptom of societal problems (e.g., unemployment) and of men’s psychological problems (e.g., their difficulties in managing emotions). The prevention of male suicide was viewed as requiring both societal (e.g., employment opportunities) and individual remedies (e.g., psychological counseling). This study’s findings suggest that a semi-structured survey can be a fruitful method to access the suicide scripts of cultures about which there is limited research.

Suicide Research with Refugee Communities: The Case for a Qualitative, Sociocultural, and Creative Approach

“…More gender specific research: Suicide is a deeply gendered issue (e.g., Canetto et al 2023) as gender norms, identities, expectations, and power relations have a major bearing on suicidality (Fullagar and O'Brien 2016). However, women's suicidal ideation is considered a 'lesser issue' and largely missing from suicide debates.…”

“…In Australia, for instance, people from refugee backgrounds are more vulnerable to self-harm and suicidal behaviour than the general population (Dudley 2003). While suicide rates for detained asylum seekers in Australia are documented (e.g., Procter et al 2018), data on resettled refugees are lacking because visa status is not recorded in suicide statistics (the problem of unreliable records is common in many countries; see, for instance, Canetto et al 2023 on the case of Nepal). Where data on such trends are more readily available, they show that the incidence of suicide and suicidal ideation among refugee communities in resettlement countries such as the United States (Ao et al 2016) and the United Kingdom (Tham et al 2023) is on the rise.…”