Preventing Adolescent Suicidal Behavior: Integrating Sociology and Public Health

This chapter characterizes the burden of suicidal behavior among adolescents. It describes the public health approach to preventing adolescent suicidal behavior, which includes assessing the problem; identifying causes or risk and protective factors; developing and evaluating programs; and implementing and disseminating findings. The chapter gives numbers on the extent of the problem among adolescents, describing the numbers, rates and trends of fatal and nonfatal suicidal behavior among youth then a summary of what is known about the community- and societal-level risk and protective factors of the problem is presented, showing where sociology and public health complement each other. Lastly, the authors list several community- and societal-level prevention programs and the implications for what can be done to prevent adolescent suicidal behavior. Which of the types of suicidal behavior identified by Durkheim (i.e., anomic, egoistic, fatalistic, and altruistic) are addressed by modern prevention programs? Introduction When a young person dies as a result of suicide, it is often viewed by society as a terrible tragedy. This kind of death seems particularly devastating to relatives, friends, and community members. Those who knew the deceased, such as parents, siblings, classmates, coaches, and neighbors, are frequently left wondering if they could have done something to prevent that young person's death. One such death was that of Garrett Lee Smith, son of former US Senator Gordon H. Smith (R–Oregon). In September 2003, Garrett, then a 21-year-old college student, died by suicide. Smith proposed the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, which recognized suicide as a leading cause of death among youth aged 10 to 24 years (Babington, 2006). In 2004, President George W. Bush signed the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, authorizing $82 million for suicideprevention and awareness programs at colleges (US Library of Congress, 2004). Suicidal behavior presents a major challenge to public health in the United States and around the world (World Health Organization, 2014). Though fatal (suicide) and nonfatal (suicide attempts) suicidal behavior is a public health concern across the lifespan, it is of particular importance for youth aged 10–24 years. According to the most recent data, in 2013, suicide claimed the lives of 41,149 people and was the tenth leading cause of death overall in the United States, accounting for about 1.6 percent of all deaths (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2005).