Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

When things fall apart: Gender and suicide across the life-course

Shiner, Michael, Scourfield, Jonathan Bryn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6218-8158, Fincham, Ben and Langer, Susanne 2009. When things fall apart: Gender and suicide across the life-course. Social Science & Medicine 69 (5) , pp. 738-746. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.06.014

[thumbnail of ScourfieldWhen_things_fall_apart_final_2009.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version
Download (115kB) | Preview

Abstract

Young men are often considered to be at particular risk of suicide, but such claims are partial and potentially misleading. Drawing on official statistics and an innovative, qualitatively driven, mixed method sociological autopsy of individual suicides, the authors of this paper argue that the vulnerability of ‘young’ men to suicide is often exaggerated and that insufficient attention is paid to the diverse social circumstances of suicidal men and women across the life course. Detailed analysis of 100 case files selected from a single coroner's office in the UK reveals that patterns of suicide can be seen to map on to conventional features of a socially structured life course, with young people in crisis, mid-life gendered patterns of work and family and older people in decline. Particular attention is drawn to suicide among those in mid-life and to the role of the social bond, especially in the form of attachment. Relationship breakdown is considered in some detail because it is central to understanding the demography of suicide and the significance of social bonds.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Uncontrolled Keywords: UK; Suicide; Life course; Social bonds; Gender; Sociological autopsy
Publisher: Elsevier
ISSN: 0277-9536
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 30 March 2016
Last Modified: 05 May 2023 14:20
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/13925

Citation Data

Cited 73 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics