Suicide Among Racial And Ethnic Minority Groups

Suicide is increasingly understood and predicted as an intersection of biological, psychological, cognitive, and sociocultural factors. We have some basic knowledge of these factors and how they interact, but presently we know very little about how culture can play a role as a variable that influences suicide. Suicide Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups will go a long way towards filling that gap by pulling together cutting edge empirical research from general cultural diversity literature and applying it to suicide assessment, treatment, and prevention theory and practice. By looking outside of the limited cross-cultural studies done within suicidal populations, the contributors – all established experts in both multicultural counseling and suicidology – expand the available empirical literature base in order to provide a deeper look into how culture can act as an important catalyst in suicidal intentions. Following theoretical overviews, the text focuses on six broad ethic groups classified in the literature (African American, American Indian, Asian American, European American, Hawaiian & Pacific Islander, and Hispanic), with a main chapter devoted to each, relating each culture to suicide research, highlighting specific variables within the culture that can influence suicide, and presenting appropriate treatment considerations. A final section of the book consists of practical applications within specific settings (therapy, outreach, schools, psychiatric services) and prevention and training issues.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.

Suicide is increasingly understood and predicted as an intersection of biological, psychological, cognitive, and sociocultural factors. We have some basic knowledge of these factors and how they interact, but presently we know very little about how culture can play a role as a variable that influences suicide. Suicide Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups will go a long way towards filling that gap by pulling together cutting edge empirical research from general cultural diversity literature and applying it to suicide assessment, treatment, and prevention theory and practice. By looking outside of the limited cross-cultural studies done within suicidal populations, the contributors – all established experts in both multicultural counseling and suicidology – expand the available empirical literature base in order to provide a deeper look into how culture can act as an important catalyst in suicidal intentions. Following theoretical overviews, the text focuses on six broad ethic groups classified in the literature (African American, American Indian, Asian American, European American, Hawaiian & Pacific Islander, and Hispanic), with a main chapter devoted to each, relating each culture to suicide research, highlighting specific variables within the culture that can influence suicide, and presenting appropriate treatment considerations. A final section of the book consists of practical applications within specific settings (therapy, outreach, schools, psychiatric services) and prevention and training issues.

Every year, about 30,000 people die by suicide in the U.S., and some 650,000 receive emergency treatment after a suicide attempt. Often, those most at risk are the least able to access professional help. Reducing Suicide provides a blueprint for addressing this tragic and costly problem: how we can build an appropriate infrastructure, conduct needed research, and improve our ability to recognize suicide risk and effectively intervene. Rich in data, the book also strikes an intensely personal chord, featuring compelling quotes about people's experience with suicide. The book explores the factors that raise a person's risk of suicide: psychological and biological factors including substance abuse, the link between childhood trauma and later suicide, and the impact of family life, economic status, religion, and other social and cultural conditions. The authors review the effectiveness of existing interventions, including mental health practitioners' ability to assess suicide risk among patients. They present lessons learned from the Air Force suicide prevention program and other prevention initiatives. And they identify barriers to effective research and treatment. This new volume will be of special interest to policy makers, administrators, researchers, practitioners, and journalists working in the field of mental health.

This book adds a vital and overlooked dimension—diversity—to suicide assessments and interventions The literature on the relationship between culture and suicide has historically been widely scattered and often difficult to find. Cultural Diversity and Suicide summarizes that widespread literature so that counselors can begin to include diversity issues as important variables that can help them become even more effective when conducting suicide assessments or interventions. For ease of reading, Cultural Diversity and Suicide is divided into chapters based on ethnicity. The book avoids broad generalizations whenever possible, thus each chapter specifically discusses critical within-group variables (issues relating to gender, age, religion, and sexuality) that should be considered when conducting suicide assessments and interventions. Each chapter includes at least one case study and incorporates clear headings that make it simple to find specific information. Cultural Diversity and Suicide is not a book of cookie-cutter approaches to suicide prevention, nor is it a primer for the novice. Rather, it has been carefully designed to help counselors and counselors-in-training gain a fuller understanding of the issues that may lead individuals from diverse backgrounds to consider suicide—and the cultural aspects of an individual’s heritage that can influence that person’s decision. Written for professionals who have a pre-existing understanding of how to work with suicidal clients, the book begins with a concise but essential overview of traditional suicide risk factors and a brief assessment model (an excellent “memory refresher”), and then moves quickly into specific diversity issues relevant to: European Americans African Americans Asian Americans Hispanic Americans Native Americans Cultural Diversity and Suicide explores ethnicity and its relationship to suicide (for example, suicide rate and reason differences based on ethnic group or ethnic identity), plus meaningful within-group variables such as: lesbian/gay/bisexual issues and the increase in suicide rate based on sexual orientation and sexual identity religious differences—suicide rates among various religious groups, religious differences in views of suicide, views of the afterlife, burial practices, and views of lesbian/gay/bisexual people cultural buffers, such as extended family and religious practice suicide prevention interventions based on cultural differences (essentially, how traditional suicide prevention programs can be altered to include new variables) This book is essential reading for everyone doing the vital work of conducting suicide assessments and interventions. Please consider making it part of your professional/teaching collection today.

This handbook examines research on youth suicide, analyzes recent data on suicide among adolescents, and addresses the subject matter as a serious public health concern. The book explores the research on youth suicide, examining its causes, new and innovative ways of determining suicide risk, and evidence-based intervention and prevention strategies. In addition, it focuses on specific under-studied populations, including adolescents belonging to ethnic, racial, and sexual minority groups, youth involved in the criminal justice system, and adolescents in foster care. The book discusses how culturally informed and targeted interventions can help to decrease suicide risk for these populations. Key areas of coverage include: Early childhood adversity, stress, and developmental pathways of suicide risk. The neurobiology of youth suicide. Suicide, self-harm, and the media. Assessment of youth suicidal behavior with explicit and implicit measures. Suicide-related risk among immigrant, ethnic, and racial minority youth. LGBTQ youth and suicide prevention. Psychosocial treatments for ethnoculturally diverse youth with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Technology-enhanced interventions and youth suicide prevention. The Handbook of Youth Suicide Prevention is an essential resource for researchers, professors, graduate students as well as clinicians, therapists, and other professionals in developmental psychology, social work, public health, pediatrics, family studies, child and adolescent psychiatry, school and educational psychology, and all interrelated disciplines. Chapters 8, 9 and 16 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.