Suicide communication events: lay interpretation of the communication of suicidal ideation and intent

Social Science & Medicine
Gareth OwenChristabel Owens

Abstract

Previous research has shown that a majority of people communicate their suicidal ideas and intent prior to the act of suicide, but very little is known about the way in which these suicide communication events are interpreted by relatives, friends and significant others. A suicide communication event (SCE) is defined as a set of circumstances in which a person expresses suicidal feelings, thoughts, intentions or plans, either directly or indirectly, in interaction with other people in their social environment. In a qualitative study conducted in 2008-9 we collected narratives from people bereaved by suicide. Here we examine these narratives using an analytic framework derived from communication pragmatics and face-work theory. We analysed 14 cases of completed suicide drawn from coroner's case files in London, Southwest England and South Wales. We found that the SCEs described were potentially face-threatening situations requiring face-saving strategies, which often resulted in off-record, indirect, ambiguous, humorous and euphemistic communications. Listeners frequently found it difficult to judge the meaning and intention of utterances referring to suicide. The outcome was often misunderstanding and closure of the communicati...Continue Reading

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Citations

Sep 18, 2015·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Qijin ChengPaul S F Yip
Dec 3, 2015·The British Journal of Psychiatry : the Journal of Mental Science·Michael WesterlundDanuta Wasserman
Feb 11, 2015·Health & Social Care in the Community·Pooja SainiNavneet Kapur
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Jul 4, 2020·Journal of Evidence-based Social Work·Scott ParrottDavid L Albright
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