Sociological autopsy: an integrated approach to the study of suicide in men

Social Science & Medicine
Jonathan ScourfieldMichael Shiner

Abstract

This paper's main aim is to argue the methodological case for a particular approach to researching the sociology of suicide. By way of illustrating the use of this approach it also offers some brief examples of substantive findings about the gendered character of men's suicides. The first half of the article explains and justifies the research approach. This is a qualitatively-driven mixed method and dual paradigm study of individual suicides. It is a sociological study which draws on the tradition of psychological autopsies of suicide; hence the term 'sociological autopsy'. The second half of the article offers brief illustrative findings from a specific research project which employed the sociological autopsy approach. This was a study of 100 suicide case files from a coroner's office in the UK. There is discussion of common sense assumptions about suicide in men; the construction of evidence in case files; a typology of gendered suicides where relationship breakdown seems to be the principal trigger; and the value of case-based analysis, with a single case discussed in some detail.

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Citations

Feb 9, 2016·Sociology of Health & Illness·Sharon MallonGerard Leavey
May 7, 2013·Asian Journal of Psychiatry·Saxby PridmoreJulie Appleton
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Oct 21, 2020·Omega·Anisur Rahman KhanRefiloe Makama
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Mar 23, 2021·Sociology of Health & Illness·Jo River, Michael Flood
Mar 30, 2021·Social Science & Medicine·Cara RichardsonRory C O'Connor
Jun 3, 2021·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Cara RichardsonRory C O'Connor
Jul 22, 2021·Transcultural Psychiatry·Marcus Yu Lung ChiuKang Li Wong
Aug 28, 2021·Frontiers in Psychiatry·Monique SéguinCharles-Édouard Notredame

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